Tag: Birmingham Rep

★★★★★ – So emotional, I couldn’t help but cry.

Credit: Jack Ladenburg

Last night was one of those nights where you sit there, and for the whole of the two hours you felt so lucky to be a theatre reviewer. I didn’t think theatre could touch a person that deep, in the way that William Nicholson’s Shadowlands undoubtedly did.

“Shadowlands is based on events that occurred in the lives of two real people – C.S Lewis and Joy (Davidman) Gresham (…) I have used parts of their story, not used other parts, and imagined the rest.” – William Nicholson.

‘Jack’ Lewis and Joy Davidman were played by Stephen Boxer and Amanda Ryan respectively, and I will never see the two actors as themselves again. C.S Lewis and Joy were resurrected and put on stage for the audience of the 21^st Century to see the marvel that his world was, and the imagination he had, through William Nicholson’s own genius take on Chronicles of Narnia legend’s life. The portrayal was too surreal to be called acting. For a week only, the two lives come alive and let us in to see the lives that lived in and around C.S Lewis’.

Credit: Jack Ladenburg     

The formidable writing of Nicholson astonishingly captivates C.S Lewis and you were reminded of Narnia, as the story was told. I particularly adored the moment in which Lewis sparked the notion of magic with young Douglas, who wanted to believe in it so bad. Having seen The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe at Christmas at the Birmingham Rep, I was gleefully pleased to see some features used for this. It made the experience so much more magical.

It is rare not to be able to control your lacrimal glands in public, but this story pushed them out of you whether you liked it or not. And I wasn’t the only one, with sniffles and other crying-like noises surrounding me, the whole theatre could not help but give in to the emotions of the heart-breaking story. One couple were so engrossed that were constantly saying: “Oh dear” as the action darkened.

The subliminal acting, combined with almost too-good-to-be-true storytelling by William Nicholson evoked emotions that could not help but escape the depths of the human soul. “The happiness now, is part of the pain then.” Said Joy when she was on holiday with Jack, as the dreaded end was near, which touched so many people.

Other acting, from Denis Lill (Warnie), Simon Shackleton (Prf Christopher Riley) and all the others contributed to the fullness of the play, and created exquisite drama which helped bring to life the man who made so many of our childhoods magical and filled with wonder.

Shadowlands plays at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre until 4 June.

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★★★★★ | Twelfth Night

If Adventure Time were to come up with an episode of Twelfth Night, what was seen last night, created by Filter theatre company, would be what you would see. A lunatic, ‘filter-less’, bold and a surprising production that literally got you on your feet playing with balls.

Nerves start to unsettle when one gets an invitation to watch ‘another’ production of Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare. But those were soon soothed when we walked in to The House of the Birmingham Repertory Theatre to come upon what looked like a set for a band. If one could sum up Filter’s creation, it would be: ‘A Shakespeare Rave’. My leg certainly didn’t stop bobbing up and down to the music.

The quadruple –threat cast multi- part and multi-instrument played with energy that was coming from the power sockets. Electric like no other. Harry Jardine, who played Orsino and Aguecheek must have got his muscles from the rehearsals, for he was continuously running, summersaulting switching characters so efficiently that one would get dizzy after a few blinks of an eye. Effortless performance and Harry still managed to speak in blank verse to an excellent standard. Ferdy Roberts, who redirected Twelfth Night alongside Oliver Dimsdale, played Malvolio to a degree of mastery. The ‘don’t-know-what-you’re-going-to-get’ type actor kept the audience on their toes, as Ferdy sauntered around as Malvolio capturing the danger of the character. At the same time, rocking out with his air guitar solo, and stripping off to his yellow stockings which capitalised the ‘b’ of bold. Dan Poole as Toby Belch was hilarious and had comedic timing down to a ‘t’. Olivia Darnley who played Olivia was funny and charming, and did formidably well in the scenes where she tried to seduce the male characters. All in all, everyone had an incredible talent that brought the show alive, ingredients of which have led me to see this as my favourite Twelfth Night production I have ever seen!

The highlight for me was when Harry as Aguecheek asked/made me get on stage with the rest of the cast. He did this because I missed his Velcro cap when throwing the ball at his head. So, Harry kindly allowed me another chance, but I missed again. In the end I had to wear a cap like his to which the audience were given balls to throw at us. I loved it! This tour should be a sell-out and where dates need to be bolted on for more to see!

Twelfth Night plays at The Birmingham Rep until the 16th April 2016, 0121 236 4455

★★★★★ Single Spies | Divided in to two separate plays –‘An Englishman Abroad’ and ‘A Question of Attribution’, ‘Single Spies’ conveys an era in which spying and mistrust was a fashion statement.

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