Theatre
Sl lAKE'SPl .ARt
TWELFT H NIGHT
Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Tue 25—Sat 29 Oct; King’s Theatre, Edinburgh, Tue 1—Sat 5 Nov
A career in television might make you rich and famous, but it can also leave you saddled with a catchphrase that haunts you to the grave. Despite starting his acting career in repertory theatre in the 19705, Matthew Kelly surprised us all with his stage prowess in 2004‘s Of Mice and Men. It was a performance that won him an Olivier Award, and went some way towards wiping out the memory of panto dames and ‘tonight, Matthew, I’m going to be . . .’.
Back on the boards, playing the thoroughly detestable Malvolio in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, Kelly is once again turning heads. ‘lt’s strange what television does to actors. People forget that’s what they actually are,’ says the play’s director, Patrick Mason. ‘Matthew is a wonderful actor with immense experience and range.’ Kelly is just one of a talented bunch of actors who have made Mason’s life easier during his bid for narrative clarity. The last and arguably most masterful of Shakespeare’s romantic comedies, Twelfth Night is a melange of cross-dressing and mistaken identity. Avoiding audience confusion was paramount for Mason.
‘l’ve edited it very carefully to keep it clear, and we‘ve gone for contemporary costumes to give audiences an immediate visual identification of each character and their situation,’ he says. ‘The plot is still complicated, but it’s an uncluttered presentation which moves very fast. It’s like television writing - Shakespeare cuts right into the middle of situations with no warm up, but I think nowadays we can follow that slightly better, because we’re used to film and television.’ Kelly’s TV days might prove useful after all.
(Kelly Apter)
“ " " $ . 9 * in. I‘ .5“'..- w‘ ‘ ‘§‘§“ "'5‘.
86 THE LIST ’20 Oct 1% Nov 1’00")
Mt lSlCAl GYPSY 0000 Dundee Rep, until
Sat
22 Oct
.2.
‘3;
If you managed to catch Dundee Rep's Flora the Red Menace. you'll know this talented ensemble approach the musical genre with versatility and panache. In their latest show. based on the book by Arthur
I aurents With lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and music by Jule Styne. they tell the tale of the first ever striptease artiste. Gypsy Rose l ee.
Showbiz mother from hell. Mama Rose (Ann l onise Ross). pushes her two reluctant daughters, June (Gail Watson) and louise (Emily Winter) into the VaudeVillian limelight. But pushy just doesn't pay and June elopes. haying grown weary of her mother's overbearing control. Desperate for the show to go on. Rose turns her attentions to Louise. but With one shove too far a Burlesque striptease star is born.
James Brining directs a classy production packed With stylish performances and some wonderfully humorous touches and quirky detail. On Neil \i’Varmington's theatrically themed set With flouncy red rich curtains and tWinkling lightbulbs. Watson superbly engages as the overgrown. sugary-sweet Broadway baby While the delectable Winter beautifully blossoms from awkward variety chorus girl to outrageous exhibitionist. But Ross really makes the show her own and brings the monstrous Rose alive With energy. Vitality and Vigour. This is a delightfully entertaining show. bringing a dose of
RFVIVAI A TASTE OF HONEY oooo
old-fashioned theatrical glamour to the contemporary Scottish stage. (Michelle Macintyre)
PREVIEW
JEAN-BAPTISTE
Tramway, Glasgow, Thu 20—Sat 22 Oct
The love affair between contemporary theatre and multimedia is a relationship all too often riddled with compromise. Limitations in budget. experience and indeed time often lead to crudely created film incorporated into live performance. Taking the technique to a stylistically refined level of cinematic theatre is Wayn Traub. creator of Jean-Baptiste. the sequel (and indeed second instalment of his planned trilogy). to the critically acclaimed Maria Dolores. ‘When yOu use something on stage, every medium has to be used on a high level,‘ says Traub.
Applying the same processes as that of a professional filmmaker. Traub worked extensively both on the creative preparation of his script and in sOurcIng adequate funding to satisfy his 'artistic choices' — including producing a movie quality film and acquiring a full orchestra to record the soundtrack. Described as a 'cinema- opera'. Traub's original work (in French with subtitles) continues his examination of Christian iconography and ritual through a balanced and often humorous poetic cacophony of music. film and drama. It promises to be an atmospheric. excmng and startlingly unique piece of work well worth experiencing. (Michelle Macintyre)
North Edinburgh Arts Centre Thu 27 Oct, then touring
The mad. Vibrant and clattering agit prop of Joan Littlewood's Theatre WOrkshop had been a shock to the British theatre establishment Since long before her production of the then teenage Sheila Delaney's drama in 1958. But this piece had the added traumatic effect of entering the theatrical mainstream. Delaney's characters were not those of Osborne's slumming middle-classes. but genuinely working folk. With few options in life. For all that. they approach their world With
undiminished Vigoiir and (Oie de vivre.
In it. teenage Salford lass Jo (Samantha Young) battles her mother (Jennifer Black) over the damp and cramped space they inhabit. The mother departs With nouveau riche alcoholic lout Peter (Alan Steele). leaving Jo to deal with a pregnancy by her briefly appearing black sailor boyfriend. She gets assistance from a young gay art student (Martin O'Connor) and the two set up a family of
their own. before old problems return.
Guy Hollands‘ production for TAG shows an unashamed retro look. recreating the appearance and feel of the old theatre workshop through Neil Warinington's over-coloured fairy-lit frame around an abstract downrnarket bedsit. This complements the skilful segues in and out of naturalisrn of the text. which mixes claustrophobic drama With audience address to powerful and often funny effect. lhe performances are all strong. With Black's old slapper making her last bid for stability chiming cleverly With Young's wonderfully nuanced young girl With no place to take her dreams. A grand night out. (Steve Cramer)