| LONDON (apologies for length) | |
| Posted by: sergius 06:11 pm EST 01/03/18 | |
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| THE TWILIGHT ZONE--at the Almeida. Ann Washburn has adapted five or six classic TZ episodes but can't find a single point of view. It's ambitious, but it doesn't cohere, a shame since on paper the idea--there's no real subject--seems to suit her sensibility. The timely political allusions further throw things off. DICK WHITTINGTON--A stitch of a panto at The Palladium. Julian Clary holds court (really, really holds court) and Elaine Page sends herself up (and up and up). The high camp and low comedy here are a strange, disjunctive mix--not sure what kids might make of this--but it somehow works. The show is basically a delirious paean to d**k jokes if you can picture such a thing. In a big, "family," Christmas panto, it's subversive and a kind of heaven. DREAMGIRLS--on steroids. The Savoy stage is small so the show feels cramped AND amped. But it's mostly well played with a few exceptions. DREAMGIRLS still packs a wallop; it's a great near through-composed work of musical theatre. Nicholaw keeps things moving even if his choreography regularly veers off period. PINOCCHIO--at the National. Still a work in progress it seems. There are some lovely things here, mostly stage and design effects, but what's soulful about the story gets lost. Pinocchio's quest to be real is a wish to feel. As such, the show rightly wants to exalt feeling, but it needs more of it. Another show that, to its credit, is and isn't for children. FOLLIES--A fine, elegiac production, it fills the Olivier beautifully. The largest and maybe the most haunted rendition yet of Sondheim's great ode to romantic ambivalence and regret. Needless to say, a work of penetrating compassion. And of art. HAIR--a 50th (!) anniversary production at The Vaults, an abandoned tube station turned theatre. It nicely captures the style and spirit of HAIR's original incarnation, at least as I imagine it. A game and convincingly raffish cast brings back some of the edge that the last NY production, which nonetheless was better sung, lacked. TITUS ANDRONICUS--This RSC production starts as a revenge tragedy and ends as a gruesome comedy which seems about right. TA is notoriously unwieldy--many feel it's unplayable--and that's one reason it's rarely performed. But as Grand Guignol it puts SWEENEY TODD to shame. As is so often the case with the RSC, the performances are uniformly good, here with an overlay of gory gusto. THE FERRYMAN--Jez Butterworth's new mytho-poetic family chronicle is also a history of "the troubles," England's longstanding conflict with Northern Ireland. The play is somewhat melodramatic and surprisingly cliched--a senile seer and an innocent savant in one play!--but it still casts a spell. Richly designed and played, it's a splendidly detailed depiction of a sprawling, volatile family tortured by history. GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY--The best use for theatrical purposes of a single writer's songbook I've seen. Conor McPherson uses Dylan as a sort of counterpoint to his story into which they are adroitly interpolated. The songs are beautifully arranged and sung. They amplify and deepen McPherson's narrative which, though nothing especially new, is sharply spare. The show is unevenly cast, and this detracts from its impact which is still stirring. BARNUM--at the Menier Chocolate Factory. Nicely played all around--and IN the round--with the unfortunate exception of the actor playing Barnum who is about as out of his depth as it's possible to be. Everyone's working frantically to distract from the hole in the show's center. This musical is slight as it is, a barely Barnum just sinks it. EVERYBODY'S TALKING ABOUT JAMIE (though not this title)--Sweet and infectious in every way that shows like this are meant to be sweet and infectious. It hops from one tried and true trope to another, but the lead actor is winning and the show hits its well worn marks with vigorous aplomb. A surfeit of catchy tunes and big, open-hearted ballads keep the ball bouncing. |
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