Michael Cox looks at Shakespeare: The Man from Stratford, Five Guys Named Moe and Beautiful Burnout.
Today was a bit of an odd day for the simple fact that I saw three productions that were completely different in style, structure and staging but nonetheless suffered the same weakness.
First up was Shakespeare: The Man from Stratford (****). Performed with relish by Simon Callow, the production is primarily a two-hour history lesson. Jonathan Bate’s script is punctuated with numerous monologues and scenes from the Bard’s work and is a combination of fact and guesswork on the course of Shakespeare’s life that uses the famous ‘Seven Ages’ speech from As You Like It for its basic structure.
Callow is no novice in performing Shakespeare, and that flare and passion of his is constantly evident. He has no problem going back and forth between performance and lecturer, and his many characters are each rich in detail. Bate’s script makes a solid and compelling case against all of the conspiracy theories of Shakespeare’s authorship and gives logical reasons for why he wrote some of the plays and characters.
However, the production does play more like a ‘greatest hits’ with its almost sporadic use of Shakespeare’s words, and though many great moments are put on stage, few of them are very rousing. The end result is a very competent production that does make Shakespeare accessible to those who may fear him, but it won’t turn any non-believer into a fanatic.
Five Guys Named Moe (****) was written before the huge onslaught of jukebox musicals hit the West End and Broadway. The story, about a down-and-out who’s in the process of drinking himself into oblivion after a bad breakup when five singers magically appear in order to stop his bad ways, is nothing more than an excuse to perform a number of songs by the great (and perhaps underappreciated) Louis Jordan.
But what great songs they are. And even better, book writer Clarke Peters is appearing as the lead. Most may go to see ‘that guy from The Wire’, but they will see how versatile and talented Peters is onstage. He is joined by five equally strong actors playing the five titular Moes and a live jazz band, all of whom perform with great aplomb.
It’s also a great production. Wonderfully theatrical yet never out of control, Moe is as much a musical celebration of life and love as it is a confident cabaret. It’s flashy, loud, highly energetic and constantly entertaining. If there is a hiccup, it’s in the fact that, as great as every song is, there isn’t that one showstopper that delivers an emotional sucker punch. No matter; Five Guys Named Moe is still a great musical and shouldn’t be missed.
Speaking of sucker punches, Beautiful Burnout (****) is the National Theatre of Scotland’s almost yearly venture onto the Fringe (they missed last year). Using a bag of theatrical tricks, the play looks at a group of young amateur boxers and their hard-driving trainer as they rise up the ranks.
Bryony Lavery’s script is a fully-fleshed story filled with twists and insight. It not only makes the athletes and their trainer into three-dimensional human beings but also takes the time to show the effect the sport has on one of the character’s mother. It also cleverly inserts boxing trivia, making sure that those who don’t follow the sport have enough facts to understand everything but ensuring that such exposition doesn’t bore those in the know.
It’s also full of wonderful performances. Ryan Fletcher and Taqi Nazeer are both excellent as the two main contenders. They not only come across as interesting people but also as convincing athletes, and their final match hurts as much as it amazes for the simple fact you care so much about both that you don’t want there to be a looser. They are joined on stage by five equally brilliant performers, each of whom comes across as fully formed and sympathetic.
The directional team of Scott Graham and Steven Hoggart are as much on show as the cast, combining hard realism with some beautifully choreographed physicality. At times brutally life-like and other times highly abstract, the staging and choreography is constantly inventive and never dull.
However, as with the other productions, what this is missing is that final shock to the system that would make the theatrical journey emotionally satisfying. It does have a well handled ending, but, with all of the action that occurs and information given throughout the play, the conclusion is more inevitable than shocking. The result is still a clear victory of a production that is worth seeing, even if it wins by points rather than a decisive knockout.
So, an overall worthy day of theatre made up of three productions that were solidly good but just missing out on greatness.
Tomorrow sees me at productions a bit more ‘fringe’, including RSAMD’s Spring Awakening and How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse: Reloaded.
RSS