#Laura Camden Fringe Review

[pubtheatres1]

LAURA Written and performed by Elina Alminas The Etcetera Theatre 5-6 August 2017 Part of Camden Fringe ‘Alminas is a force of nature’ ★★★★ Jilted at the altar (for the third time apparently), Laura is gonna have this wedding anyway, groom or no groom. The audience become the wedding guests, and over an hour this ‘vintage inspired wedding fail party’ sees Laura reach soaring, manic highs, and excruciating, dismal lows. The definition of tragi-comedy, Elina Alminas exploits her superb rapport with the audience to play with our emotions as we watch the building up and breaking down of a woman in the throes of a personal crisis. Alminas is a force of nature; entering in a clear state of distress, the energy never wanes, but shoots off in a variety of unexpected and exciting directions. Alminas is clearly a gifted comic, but she also has the nous to deliver painful emotional sincerity alongside it. There are moments of true pain, and she plays them as such, pulling on our heart strings and ultimately heightening the comedy as a result. The performance is full of bravery; Alminas (literally) hurls herself into it, and into the audience as well. It is easy to miscalculate audience involvement, but Alminas melts ours hearts, terrifies us, then melts our hearts all over again. It was a true joy to be involved in. The piece itself is paced well; and is structured well emotionally. It is so much more than a blundering maniacal woman crumbling after yet another rejection (although it does also have that). It’s observation on self-love is particularly striking. It doesn’t shy away from the difficulty so many women have in allowing themselves show self-compassion, of celebrating the individual, without needing outside validation. When she decides that this is a good thing and that this is the marriage of herself to herself, I genuinely wanted to get up and celebrate with her. It’s a bit like watching Lear in the storm, if Lear wore a wedding dress and tried to OD on Xanax and chocolate cake. The only thing I would say is Alminas needs to make sure she keeps herself open to the rest of the audience when she has someone on stage with her; she’s so focused on them which is wonderful but it was the only time I felt slightly cut off from what was happening. The perfect marriage of comedy and heart, I’m very excited to see what happens to this show next. Follow her here to stay updated – https://twitter.com/elinaalminas Verity Williams is a poet, actor, playwright, dog enthusiast and committed gin drinker (not necessarily in that order). Born and raised in Dorset, Verity has a BA in English and Drama from Royal Holloway, an MA in Creative Writing from Bath Spa and an MA in Acting from East 15. @Verity_W_

[thetheatrereviewer]

[Review:] DINNER THEATRE, The Bread and Roses Theatre, London.

[Review:] DINNER THEATRE, The Bread and Roses Theatre, London. “A glorious cast but an imbalanced dramatic text.” 3.5 ★

Written by Laura May Price and directed by Beth Wilson, Dinner Theatre was recently staged at The Bread and Roses Theatre as part of the Camden Fringe. To book your tickets to any of the Fringe events, click here.  I have a mixed response to this performance. On one hand, it offers tremendous comedy, both in writing and through its excellent performers; and on the other, it offers more sincere…

[londontheatre]

Final casting is announced today for the 50th anniversary production of Joe Orton’s darkly comic masterpiece, LOOT.

Joining the previously announced rising British stars Calvin Demba (Evening Standard Emerging Talent Award nominee, The Red Lion, National Theatre) and Sam Frenchum (Private Peaceful, Grantchester) and the award-winning Sinéad Matthews (Mrs Elvsted in Ivo van Hove’s Hedda Gabler, National Theatre), are Christopher Fulford (Winston Churchill in Werner Herzog’s Queen of the Desert, The Crucible, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), Ian Redford (The Alchemist, Mad World My Master, Candide, all for the RSC) and Raphael Bar (national tour of Out of Order) with Anah Ruddin.

LOOT – from the same producers as the recent sell-out hit The Boys in the Band – is directed by Michael Fentiman, whose credits include two acclaimed shows for the Royal Shakespeare Company as well as the critically-acclaimed hit, Raising Martha.

It will run at London’s Park Theatre from 17 August – 24 September. It will then transfer to the Watermill Theatre, Newbury, Berkshire, from 28 September – 21 October. Park Theatre press night: Wednesday 23 August at 7.00pm.

When it premiered five decades ago, LOOT shocked and delighted audiences in equal measure and it scooped the Best Play of the Year Award in the 1967 Evening Standard Awards. This production commemorates three 50-year anniversaries: Joe Orton’s death on 9 August 1967; LOOT’s first award-winning West End season at the Criterion Theatre; and the momentous, transformative passing in July 1967 of The Sexual Offences Act, which partially decriminalised homosexual acts in private between two men over the age of 21.

Loot – The Plot Uproarious slapstick meets dubious morals as two young friends, Hal (Frenchum) and Dennis (Demba), stash the proceeds of a bank robbery in an occupied coffin, attempting to hide their spoils from the attentions of a psychopathic policeman, a gold-digging nurse and a grieving widower. LOOT was named one of the National Theatre’s “100 Plays of the Century”. Sixties style icon Michael Caine loved it so much he saw it six times in 1967. Another fan was Beatle Paul McCartney.

THE CAST Raphael Bar (Meadows) His recent theatre credits include a national tour of Out of Order directed by Ray Cooney, The Club and Break Time (Tristan Bates), If My Heart Was A Closed Camera (Chelsea Theatre), Reprehensible Men (Camden Fringe), Skewed Judgement (Cockpit Theatre). On film he played the title role in the movie Pericles.

Calvin Demba (Dennis) Calvin had an early break in C4’s Hollyoaks then secured the lead in the hit youth drama Youngers. His other roles include a show-stopping turn in the award-winning play Routes at the Royal Court and the film London Road. He wrote and starred in his first short film RueBoy and will soon be seen in the action film sequel Kingsman 2: The Golden Circle.

Sam Frenchum (Hal) Sam trained at RADA. He recently had a featured starring role in six episodes of Grantchester as Gary Bell, a mentally-challenged teenager sentenced to hang for murder that was really an accident. He was Jimmy Parsons in the film Private Peaceful. As a member of the National Youth Theatre he was Dave in Our Days Of Rage (Old Vic Tunnels), Jack in Saucy Jack and the Space Vixens (Edinburgh Festival), and Orlando in As You Like It, directed by Fiona Laird.

Christopher Fulford (Truscott) A regular face in British TV and film for over 20 years, he made an early mark playing green-haired punk Alex in the short-lived two-series ITV sitcom, Sorry, I’m A Stranger Here Myself. Memorably he appeared as a suspected child murderer in Cracker, he played Castor Van Bethoven in the movie Immortal Beloved and he starred as Napoleon in the BBC adaptation of Scarlet and Black alongside the then virtually unknown Ewan McGregor and Rachel Weisz. More recently, he appeared in the ITV1 dramas Whitechapel and Collision, as a suicidal Prime Minister in the TV series The Last Enemy, and as Winston Churchill in Werner Herzog’s movie, Queen of the Desert. On stage he was Rev Parriss in Timothy Sheader’s production of The Crucible at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, The River Line at Jermyn Street Theatre, Nightingale and Chase directed by Richard Wilson at the Royal Court, The Indian Boy at the RSC and as ”A” in Crave as part of the Sarah Kane Season in Sheffield.

Sinéad Matthews (Nurse McMahon) Sinéad trained at RADA. Her stage roles include Mrs. Elvsted in Ivo van Hove’s recent Hedda Gabler (National Theatre), Laura in Giving (Hampstead), Jane in Evening at The Talk House (NT), Heather in Wasp (Hampstead). As Hedvig in The Wild Duck, directed by Michael Grandage at the Donmar Warehouse, she won the Ian Charleson Award for Outstanding Newcomer. On film she was Queen Victoria in Mike Leigh’s Mr Turner, Miss Topsey in Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang, Alice in Mike Leigh’s Happy Go Lucky.

Ian Redford (McLeavy) Ian’s extensive theatre credits includeThe Alchemist (RSC/Barbican), Mad World My Master (RSC), Candide (RSC), Our Country’s Good (Out Of Joint), Brimstone and Treacle (Arcola), The Gatekeeper (Manchester Royal Exchange), Love the Sinner (National Theatre), Six Degrees of Separation (Old Vic), Helen (The Globe), Romeo & Juliet (The Globe). TV includes; New Tricks, Mary and Martha, Boogeyman. Film includes; The Trial of the King Killers, I.D, The Remains of the Day, Just Like a Woman.

The Creative Team Director Michael Fentiman Designer Gabriella Slade Lighting Design Elliot Griggs Sound Design Max Pappenheim Casting Director Stephen Moore CDG

Produced by Tom O’Connell, James Seabright and The Watermill Theatre in association with King’s Head Theatre and Park Theatre.

John Kingsley “Joe” Orton (1 January 1933 – 9 August 1967) Between 1963 when his first play was accepted and 1967 when he died, aged just 34, in a frenzied hammer attack in a murder-suicide at the hand of his jealous partner, Kenneth Halliwell, Joe Orton emerged as a playwright of international reputation.

Fascinated with the macabre, he wrote just a handful of plays, including Entertaining Mr Sloane and What The Butler Saw, but his impact was huge. His reviews ranged from praise to outrage, and the term “Ortonesque”, describing work characterised by a similarly dark yet farcical cynicism, was in common useage. Like Oscar Wilde before him, Orton’s plays scandalised audiences, but his wit made the outrage scintillating.

At the time of his death, aged 34, he was the toast of London, he had an award-winning West End play, two more plays broadcast on TV, was appearing on TV chat shows and had been commissioned to write a movie script for The Beatles. In the end, his death was more lurid than anything he put on stage and made front page news.

LISTINGS INFO Tom O’Connell, James Seabright and The Watermill Theatre in association with King’s Head Theatre and Park Theatre present

LOOT by Joe Orton Thursday 17 August – Saturday 24 September

Park Theatre Clifton Terrace Finsbury Park London, N4 3JP

http://ift.tt/2vBSNKD LondonTheatre1.com

[pubtheatres1]

RE:PRODUCTION by Jenna May Hobbs Old Joint Stock Theatre, Birmingham, 17th June Exeter Boat Shed 13 &14 July Etcetera Theatre 9-13th August (Camden Fringe) Directed by Suzanna Ward, Produced by White Slate Theatre Told in the style of a drama-documentary aimed at older children, this is the story of a perfect millennial couple, stumbling into early middle age, and their first crisis. He has always wanted to be a father, she has always wanted to be a scientist. Irresistible urge meets immoveable object. The child-like tone of the piece and one-dimensional characters verge on absurdism, as the couple work their way through hard science and even harder life choices, playing out their story, from their meeting at university, through courtship and to marriage. Dan Burman (as Tom) and Catherine Nicholson (Karen) are superb throughout, slipping effortlessly across the fourth wall, playing not only themselves but also a rich cast of parents, peers and colleagues. Wickedly funny and well observed, the chemistry and movement of the pair is humorous and effective, mime flowing into dance. The tooth-paste morning routine was hilarious; the bedtime drink and sleepy cuddles, gave a heart-warming glimpse of their perfect love. Sound design, and the effective but economic props and set, by the company themselves, support the development of the story well. There are some lovely moments; their meeting in a coffee shop, the first date, the proposal. We start to care about the characters, the documentary drops away, and we expect head into the dark heart of the drama. But we wait in vain for anything dramatic to happen. About two thirds of the way through the writing falters. The trope of the piece, (as if one was attempting to explain an early existential crisis to a fifteen-year-old), inhibits proper plot or character development, and Hobbs struggles to find a resolution. The failure of either character to change, to grow, becomes annoying. Perfect Tom becomes cloyingly pompous. Karen is apparently unaffected by the risk of abandonment, as she drives her relationship onto the rocks. Both remain nice; baffled, but unchanged by the unanswerable question that faces them, unaware that the paradox that they face is the first of many, that this is not the end of the story, but merely the end of the beginning. The piece feels like Act 1 of a great, early mid-life crisis play. There is the hint of a dark resolution, but of the ‘blink and you’ll miss it variety’. An entertaining and challenging piece shat explores a question that many young women face, superbly set and well executed. Photography: Jake Cunningham Etcetera Theatre 9th-13th August 12.30pm for Camden Fringe. Link here: http://www.camdenfringe.com/show.php?acts_id=958 Reviewer Laura Thomas