THEATRE | Previews & Reviews
REVIEW MUSICAL TOUR SPAMALOT King’s Theatre, Glasgow, Mon 1–Sat 6 Jun. Reviewed at Edinburgh Playhouse ●●●●●
Spamalot likes to have it both ways – both mercilessly mocking the conventions of stage musicals, and also relying on them for its success. It’s the same with the show’s connections with its parent movie, Monty Python and the Holy Grail – on the one hand it’s a fresh reinterpretation, but on the other it relies on prior knowledge of iconic scenes to appreciate how they’ve been rethought. The unstoppable juggernaut of gags veers close to pantomime
at times, with songs name-checking Mary Berry and Sharon Osborne, and even a bit of reluctant audience participation. The pace is brisk, bordering on frenetic, which means that some of the magical strangeness of the original is cast aside in favour of humour that’s a bit more mundane.
Joe Pasquale makes a surprisingly strong King Arthur, though, with a gentle nobility and bewilderment at the madness erupting around him – as well as a nice line in show-stopping ad libs. Todd Carty is luxury casting as the largely wordless Patsy, the king’s servant-cum-horse impersonator, but his shameless mugging brings alive the character’s bafflement. Things burst into vivid life, however, when Sarah Earnshaw as the Lady of the Lake is on stage – she’s spine-tingling in blues numbers and torch songs, but she’s got a finely judged sense of comedy too, especially as a stroppy diva sidelined in act two.
The rest of the ensemble are energetic and convincing – Richard Kent stands out as a gleefully un-PC, camper-than- Christmas Prince Herbert – even if the sound balance sometimes leaves their words hard to decipher. The show could probably do with a little more time and space to breathe, but as a night of musical comedy, it’s slick, smoothly delivered and ruthlessly effective. (David Kettle)
S A D L A C O A O J
PREVIEW AWARD-WINNING ADAPTATION THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, Tue 28 Apr–Sat 9 May
Although Mark Haddon regarded his novel as ‘unstageable’, Simon Stephens’ adaptation of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time has won seven Olivier Awards and opened on Broadway last year. As an example of how the National Theatre in London is capable of making populist and intelligent theatre, The Curious Incident places dynamic staging at the service of Stephens’ script. For Stephens, however, the story itself accounts for its popularity. ‘It’s a story about family . . . I think it’s a celebration of the capacity for bravery in the most unlikely of environments. Stories of bravery resonate. Stories of families resonate.’
Director Marianne Elliot, an admitted fan of the
novel, brought in physical theatre specialists Frantic Assembly. ‘They filled out all the dots and made it beautiful basically,’ she notes. Telling the story of a young man with a disorder
on the autistic spectrum, Elliot’s direction captures the book's disorientating energy, with the conflicting levels of narrative – the hero tells his adventure in the style of a mystery thriller – used to ensure the emotional intensity is expressed through a spectacular, entertaining production. (Gareth K Vile)
106 THE LIST 2 Apr–4 Jun 2015
PREVIEW POST-VISUAL THEATRE LAST DREAM (ON EARTH) Tron Theatre, Glasgow, until Sat 4 Apr, then touring Scotland
Although known as a scenographer – his collaborations with Vanishing Point have made him one of Scotland’s most celebrated stage designers – Kai Fischer’s latest production moves towards post-visual theatre. The entwined stories, of cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin and refugees on a life- changing journey, are told primarily through sound, with the audience wearing headphones. Using a transcript of Gagarin’s conversations with his control team during his time in space – which Fischer first read in his youth – and material gathered from refugees, the unconventional format came from Fischer’s creative process.
‘I spent a week in Malta in a refugee camp,’ he explains. ‘It became central to us that the piece is about listening, and creating your own images: the audience is going to listen to a world that is created by the musicians and the sound designer.’ Despite the difference between the two adventures – mankind’s ascent to space, and the escape from terrible conditions on earth – Fischer’s intention is to allow the stories to tell themselves: the way they are experienced connects to his desire not to obscure the subject with spectacle, but offer a more immediate engagement. (Gareth K Vile)
PREVIEW ARIKA EPISODE 7 UEINZZ THEATRE COMPANY Tramway, Glasgow, Fri 17–Sun 19 Apr
Within Arika’s Episode 7 (We Can’t Live Without Our Lives), the appearance of Ueinzz Theatre Company draws a remarkable connection between caring and performance. The company were formed in 1996 inside a psychiatric institution and their shows sit somewhere between an open rehearsal and a live ‘happening’. While many companies boast that they challenge accepted ideas about theatre, Ueinzz roam into territory that questions the boundary between art and life.
Arika’s attempts to define the company – they
are offering workshops and performance over the weekend – encourage the idea that its foundation as part of a support group has defined their working practice. The ‘origin myth’ – that they were given their name by a usually silent member, and its meaning is elusive – speaks to the abstract, almost mystical nature of the company. While their performances do use some traditional fixtures of theatre, they have a strikingly flexible attitude that permits sudden changes. Ueinzz are not merely an example of how Arika is
constantly evolving beyond music into performance, but also their willingness to make alliances with artists who push the format, offering something not experienced before in Scotland. (Gareth K Vile)
G R E B N E G Ö M F F O H K N R B
I