Tuesday 31 May 2011

Review: Kafka's Monkey @ The Young Vic (27/5/11)


It is rare in today’s theatrical climate that the downright-crazy dreams of a maverick writer can make any London stage at all, let alone a space in the highly sought after Young Vic. Yet this show has defied logic to go one step further and prove to be a HUGE success.

The Prompt loves intimate shows in studio theatres (you may have seen his review of Operation Greenfield at the Soho Theatre), and the space at the Young Vic is excellent; perfect for a one- man (or woman) fifty-two minutes of calculated madness with undertones of existentialist dogma and overtones of extreme maniacal comedy, phew!

Most striking is Kathryn Hunter’s incredible movement within her character. All students of Britain’s drama academies (that The Prompt has met at least) seem to hold a certain fascination with pretending to be apes: animal study their favourite classes by a country mile.... And it thus seems that former ‘Fragments’ actress Hunter has landed a dream role, but oh! How so very ape-like she is... 

Flailing limbs, arched spine, conspicuous gait; the monkey creeps up the aisle through the audience with an intense stare fixed on the rear wall, stops, retreats stage-wards, pausing only to ruffle an audience member’s hair, and produces... a banana.

This is a pattern repeated throughout the show: dark, thought provoking scenes and dialogue cast in a surreal shadow are suddenly broken-in-two by a single moment of inspired comedy- allowing the audience a moment to catch their breath before plunging headfirst again into this compelling story of a single ape’s hopeless struggle for freedom within a falsely perceived ‘luxury captivity’.
The Prompt would thoroughly recommend this show, though its run is coming to an end, and is hugely looking forward to the exciting range of performances coming to the Young Vic over the next year-or-so (Patrick Stewart playing Shakespeare!!!!!!). A triumph.

***** (5 stars issued by Mr T. Prompt)

Review: Operation Greenfield @ Soho Theatre (23/05/2011)


The scene is set in the packed out bar at the foot of the Soho Theatre. A lone reporter struggles through the crowd towards Dominic Conway- Male Lead, Operation Greenfield...

The Prompt: Sorry to interrupt! (Interrupting)  I’d just like to congratulate you on a fantastic performance...
D. Conway: Well thanks!
The Prompt: You wouldn’t mind awfully saying a few words for a fledgling theatre publication would you? (Sheepish)
 D. Conway: Er... (Pauses to think) Blimey...
...

Well Dominic, you successfully summed up Little Bulb’s latest offering in a single word; Operation Greenfield is simply astounding, and deserves all the accolades it has received from unanimously overwhelmed critics during its short residency at the Soho Theatre.

Let’s start with the venue itself- the Soho Theatre is the perfect setting for this intimate production: large enough for an audience capable of creating a ‘big-theatre’ atmosphere yet so personal that each and every viewer seems to become part of the action, and the proverbial ‘4th wall’ sets its foundations not at the front of the stage but at the very rear of the auditorium...

The performance space itself tells its own story. Little Bulb have managed to assemble a bizarre and eclectic range of props ranging from the daft to the antique, the guitar to the step-ladder, the bizarre to the outright-ridiculous. 

This only adds to the surreal nature of the show; as four backwater bible-bashers grow from awkward Christian-Club-Kids to awkward Christian-folk-rockers right in-front of the audiences very eyes, they seem to journey through the recognized milestones of growing-up  without ever really growing up at all. It struck The Prompt early on that at no point during the performance was any of the action at all cringe-worthy, as is the norm nowadays with teen-comedies such as The Inbetweeners, and the audience seemed to laugh with the characters on stage rather than at them- making for a refreshing, comfortable and highly enjoyable viewing experience.

One cannot bypass the immense musical talents of the cast, particularly Dominic/Daniel- whose guitar soloing has to be the product of literally YEARS of bedroom rocking (The Prompt knows about this. Trust.), and from the outset the group consistently broke into some fantastically crafted, genre spanning original compositions worthy of any respectable band. 

All in all this show is simply sensational; fantastically acted and intelligently choreographed, whilst every scene is perfectly crafted in a fresh and wonderfully innovative manner. An all round success!

***** (Five stars issued by Mr T. Prompt.)