The Archives: "To die upon a kiss"

Othello

The Arts Centre, Warwick

Cast

Othello … Patrice Naiambana

Iago … Michael Gould

Desdemona … Natalia Tena

Cassio … Alex Hassell

Emilia … Tamzin Griffin

Roderigo … Marcello Magni

Brabantio … Hannes Flaschberger

Duke of Venice … Clive Mendus

Montano … Matthew Wilson

Bianca … Cath Whitefield

Gratiano … Glyn Pritchard

Lodovico … Robert Vernon

Fool … Miltos Yerolemou

Military Clerk … Flora Nicholson

Soldier … Osi Okerafor

                   Caleb Roew

I attended this second performance of Othello, again with the school, because of my fondness for the playrather than any need to study it. While it did not quite match my previous experience of the performance, it was nontheless an enjoyable piece with some interesting innovations.

Let us start with the good. Michael Gould, while not matching the devious cunning of Neal Foster's Iago, was a more everyman villain, convincing as the humble ensign, we can see why Othello and Cassio put their trust in him. Also effective was Tamzin Griffin as Iago's wife Emilia, Marcello Magni as the comically gulled Roderigo, and Miltos Yerolemou providing traditional Shakesperian comic relief as a Fool.


Of course, Othello is always a challenge, and while Patrice Naimbaia brought gravitas to the role, he struggled to elicit much sympathy for the great man's plight. Natalia Tena's Desdemona was a more fiery interpretation than most, but she ocassionally struggled with the verse. She also preceded a love scene with Othello by dancing topless, which seemed rather gratuitous, though appreciated by the students in the audience.


However, the play did introduce an interesting device by introducing the spirit of Desdemona's father Brabantio come to her the night she dies and recount the story of her mother's maid and the willow song. As the texts are nearly five hundred years old, it is refreshing to see new slants put on familiar pieces. 


So, once again, Othello provides entertainment, but leaves us rooting for the anatagonist, which begs the question, 'Did Shakespeare write his villains too well?'


Theatre Notes

• Natalia Tena made her first filmed appearance in About a Boy and is perhaps most known for portraying Nymphadora Tonks in the Harry Potter series.
•  Miltos Yerolemou also portrayed the Fool in the RSC's production of Twelth Night at the Courtyard Theatre.

All for one... and free for all!

Monty Python’s Spamalot

Friday 15^th April at De Montfort Hall, Leicester

Cast

King Arthur… Phill Jupitus

Patsy… Todd Carty

The Lady of the Lake… Jessica Martin

Sir Bedevere/Dennis’s Mother/Concorde/Guard… Robin Armstrong

Sir Robin/Mayor… Samuel Holmes

Prince Herbert/Historian/Not Dead Fred/Minstrel… David Langham

Sir Dennis Galahad/The Black Knight/Prince Herbert’s Father… Simon Lipkin

Sir Lancelot/The French Taunter/Knight of Ni/Tim the Enchanter… Graham MacDuff

God… Eric Idle

Ensemble… Philip Catchpole

Ensemble… Rachel Knowles

Ensemble… Kit Orton

Ensemble… Amy Papa

Swing… Tim Bonser

Swing… Paul Bullion

Swing… Persephone Fitzpatrick

I attended this touring production of Spamalot with my fellow Python fan Jake, without knowing a great deal about the show. Of course I had seen 'The Holy Grail' on numerous occassions, but I was unsure how Spamalot would measure up. Fortunately, I was not disappointed.

After some initial furoar upon realising we had arrived at the theatre sans tickets, we took our seats only to notice that the music playing for the overture was the Liberty Bell theme, the opening credits music from Monty Python's Flying Circus, the first of many mythology gags to be found that evening. Most of the joy of the show was to be found watching familiar gags unfurl before your eyes, so much so that you were almost disappointed when they were broken up by unfamiliar musical numbers. Aside from the original Python songs, the only number from the piece I had knowledge of beforehand was the amusingly titled 'You Won't Suceed on Broadway (If You Don't Have Any Jews). While I had enjoyed this number from the original production, I could not see how they would make this work this side of the pond. I was pleasantly surprised to see the number replaced with a ditty entitled 'You Won't Suceed in Showbiz (If You Don't Have a Star)' which featured cameos from the likes of Ozzy Osbourne and Susan Boyle. 

And speaking of stars, what of the actual performers? Phill Jupitus puts his own slant on the role of King Arthur (and I'm sure we can forgive his brief moment of corpsing when confronted with the Knights Who Up Until Recently Said 'Ni') while Todd Carty gleefully gives his all to 'Always Look on the Bright Side of Life' in the expanded role of Patsy, Arthur's trusty manservant. The third 'star', Jessica Martin, has probably the gutsiest voice in the cast, which she uses to great effect in the amusing second act numer 'Whatever Happened to My Part'. Supporting players fill the reminder of the roles effectively, with honourable mention to the closeted Sir Lancelot (Graham MacDuff), the aptly titled Sir Robin the Not So Brave (Samuel Holmes) and a fun little recorded cameo from Eric Idle as God. An amusing evening all around.

Theatre Notes

• Phill Jupitus, whilst most famous for being a team captain on Never Mind the Buzzcocks, also portrayed Edna Turnblad in Hairspray.

"Each man you meet in the street isn't one man but two!"

Jekyll & Hyde

Saturday 9^th April 2011 at the Hippodrome, Birmingham

Cast

Dr. Henry Jekyll/Edward Hyde… Marti Pellow

Lucy… Sabrina Carter

Emma… Sarah Earnshaw

Sir Danvers… David Delve

Utterson… Mark McGee

Lady Beaconsfield/Nellie… Amira Matthews

Simon Stride… Michael Taibi

General Glossop… Martin Dickinson

Sir Archibald Proops… Matt Stevens

Lord Savage/Spider… Jacob Chapman

Bishop of Basingstoke… Jon De Ville

Poole… James Gant

Bisset… Daniel Robinson

Ensemble… Carolyn Maitland

Ensemble… Alexandra Grierson

Ensemble… Grace Gardner

Ensemble/Swing… Rob Copeland

Ensemble/Swing… Kerri Watt

I was bought tickets for this touring production of Jekyll and Hyde for my birthday by my sister, having only had minimal knowledge of this stage production, which was limited to a recording David Hasselhoff singing 'Alive!'. Incidentally, that one number was the only disappointment for me in this sinister production, for in my opinion, "The Hoff" sang it better.

But I digress. Clearly a star vehicle for Pellow, whose excellent singing voice managed to draw attention away from his sub-par acting as Henry Jekyll (as Hyde however, he was quite terrifying) and his Confrontation duet is an excellent example of how well he differentiated the two characters. Sabrina Carter demonstrated the best performance in the piece as the down-on-her-luck "working girl" Lucy, both vocally and acting wise, her singing making the hair stand up on the back of your neck (whilst her scenes with Hyde do the same, but for very different reasons). The ensemble numbers were also highly entertaining, particularly "Bitch, Bitch, Bitch" and the Act 2 opening number "Murder, Murder!", which featured some delightful black comedy "You're next Savage!". My only complaints are of several lyrics which were painful bad (rhyming "horizon" with "eyes on") for example, and an underdeveloped secondary cast (while in Sarah Earnshaw's case, this is a disappointment, you can clearly see her potential in her brief scenes, with Jekyll's friend Utterson it is perhaps a small mercy, acting this wooden hasn't been seen since Gormenghast's Andrew Robinson). 

To conclude, this was a most entertaining, if ocassionally frightening performance, although I'm quite certain that, in reality, if you were to brush your hair over your face and start wearing a top hat, you wouldn't suddenly be mistaken for another person. Ah well.

Theatre Notes

• Marti Pellow, whilst primarily known for being part of 'Wet, Wet, Wet', has always made numerous appearances on stage, as Billy Flynn in Chicago and as the Arbiter in the Chess concert.
• Both Sabrina Carter and Sarah Earnshaw appeared in Wicked on the West End, Carter understudying Elphaba and Earnshaw acting as understudy and later standby Glinda from 2006 until this production.