THEGAYUK

Tag: Birmingham Rep

All the latest breaking news on the Birmingham Rep. Browse The THEGAYUK’s complete collection of features and commentary on the Birmingham Rep and the LGBT+ community.

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Macbeth, Birmingham Rep

    When a story is often told, there is a risk of it getting old, however, with Carrie Cracknell and Lucy Guerin’s Macbeth told the same story but through a completely new lens. It was Stargate meets Resident Evil bent of Macbeth. It had moving chambers and symbols that lit up, just like in the pyramids of the former film, and it had the underground facility feel of Resident Evil, with dim lights, almost appearing like they were trapped in the sewers. ★★★★

    Having watched Macbeth the film starring Michael Fassbender, expectations were always going to be high. With this production, you just didn’t know what you were going to get, which made it so much more exciting, and John Heffernan’s Macbeth was his own, and it was genius.

    The marvel that was the set made the show start before the actors had even walked on, as the tunnel type design, by Lizzie Clachan, let your mind loose imagining what would be happening first. The set is worthy of stealing all awards for a production’s visual masterpiece.

    When the show did start, and through to the end there were no disappointments with the visual of this Macbeth, as every scene was coloured differently with physicality that was otherworldly. Particularly the witches of Macbeth, played by Ana Beatriz Meireles, Jessie Oshodi and Clemmie Sveaas, who stunned the senses with their movement, voice and visual shapes they created as an instrument of telling the story. I was glad to see them throughout the performance.

    John Heffernan owned the show with his careful, precise, yet troubled portrayal of Macbeth, where the transitions of the character were strategic and well thought out. There were no exaggerations or contrivance, and there were plenty of shades of Macbeth oozing out of Heffernan, and I particularly loved the end where his last soliloquy was quiet and understated, giving it more a solid effect, as it drew people in to listen.

    Unfortunately, Anna Maxwell Martin’s Lady Macbeth was not on the same level. The way she spoke was too quick, making it hard to understand what she was saying, and also overly predictable with presenting herself as mad throughout, not showing much depth to the character. The mad scene became expected and obvious.

    Overall, a stunning visual and an outstanding version of Shakespeare’s Macbeth that needs to be seen all over the country and beyond.

    Macbeth plays at The Birmingham Rep until 30th January, 0121 236 4455

     

     

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Lady Lust, Birmingham Rep

    Lust be a lady tonight. ★★★★★

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  • THEATRE REVIEW: The Snowman, The Birmingham Rep

    The Snowman is a children’s picture book created by Raymond Briggs and was first published in 1978. The Snowman was televised as a 26-minute animated adaptation on the 26th of December 1982, Channel 4, and it conquered many people’s hearts thereon. It is also a production that has graced The Birmingham Repertory Theatre since 1993. ★★★ (more…)

  • THEATRE REVIEW | The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, The Birmingham Rep

    ★★★ – a delicious journey into Narnia

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  • THEATRE REVIEW | Dead Dog in a Suitcase (and other love songs)

    ★★★★ – packed with explosive surprises. (more…)

  • THEATRE REVIEW | King Charles III, Birmingham Rep

    ★★★★ – regally captivating.

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  • THEATRE REVIEW | Jeeves & Wooster in Perfect Nonsense: Hilarity at its best

    ★★★★ | Jeeves & Wooster in Perfect Nonsense

    Jeeves and Wooster played by Jason Thorpe and Robert Webb respectively, bring to The Birmingham Rep a delightful and hilarious performance of Perfect Nonsense with actor Christopher Ryan. There is an initial gag before the curtains go up by a speaker announcing that phones should be switched off, for it might interrupt the first performance of Mr Wooster and he might feel nervous. Of course, merriment ensued.

    Perfect Nonsense tells a story of Wooster and his butler Jeeves who are putting on a play, but it is Wooster’s debut so he starts the show with running through his part and calming himself by saying: ‘How hard can acting be?’ Jeeves had cleverly set everything up so Wooster pretty much walks on to the intricate set that he has just been describing, as it is rolled on, on wheels, and displayed behind him as he turns around. It was so efficient that it surprises Wooster every time.

    Perfect Nonsense, directed by Olivier Award winner Sean Foley, is currently touring the UK, and it is peppered with comedy, suspense, and a little drama, especially when Wooster is blackmailed by half the characters, who all want the silver cow creamer.

    Robert, Jason and Christopher combined made the show extra special, as each contributed to the amusement by exaggerating facial expressions that provided the effect they wanted: to bring the house down with laughter.

    Robert Webb, whose credits are endless, but one would immediately recognise him as Jeremy Usborne from the Peep Show, had an innate ability of moving his body to suit the action and it made the transition between scenes even funnier. He even simulated Michael Jackson’s famous moonwalk to travel between scenes. Webb reprised the role like a duck to water and carried the show with relentless energy and flair.

    Jason Thorpe, whose theatre credits include: From Morning to Midnight, His Dark Materials and What the Butler Saw, lends his ingenious acting ability and comedic timing to Jeeves, Wooster’s butler. He also convincingly multi-part plays other roles in the show, and to each one he gives a special touch that supports Wooster’s storytelling. His characterisation of Stiffy was sublime.

    Christopher Ryan most famous for playing Mike in 1982-1984 TV series: Young Ones, portrays the character of Seppings who plays all other roles with an enthusiasm and persistence that would put anyone my age to shame. Christopher dominates the stage with his flair of movement with one second portraying Wooster’s aunty Dahlia and in the next Roderick Spode who is described as being 6ft 9in when Ryan is nowhere near that height at all.

    The set was a masterpiece of the steady yet unpredictable design of Alice Power whose recent design credits include: The Walworth Farce; and A Mad World My Masters by Thomas Middleton. Power designed a set that was so effortlessly mutable, that it became part of the comedy, as the sets were pushed on and pictures were rolled up and down a photo frame via a rotating handle.

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Back Down: Cheeky, Dramatic and Sincere

    Back Down is an intense play by Steven Camden aka Polarbear, whose excitement stems from writing dialogue and unashamedly falls in love with his own ‘Brummie’ story, and the action centralises itself on the friendship of three ‘brummie’ friends: Zia, Tommy and Luke. ★★★★ (more…)

  • THEATRE REVIEW | The Honey Man, The Birmingham Rep

    ★★★★ | The Honey Man, The Birmingham Rep

    Sweet, Charming and Sincere.

    The Honey Man, written and acted by the extremely talented Tyrone Huggins and elegantly directed by Emma Bernard, delights the Birmingham Rep Door with an evening of sweetness, surprise and wonder, as we see the Honey Man captivating the soul of the young character Misty. The audience are quickly gripped too.

    The Honey Man tells the story of two very different backgrounds: the wealthy and white high class via a teenage girl who is seen constantly battling with boredom, yet she appears to trying anything she can to get away from working; and the segregated and left to rot class represented by a West Indian gentleman whose past time and lifelong dedication is looking after bees.

    The drama revolves around the mystery of the Honey Man’s bees’ deaths, and the incessant preoccupation of finding the solution to the problem. Misty spills into Honey Man’s home when he happens to open the door to visit his allotment, much to her surprise, for she thought that the overgrown cottage that he lived in was uninhabited, and the ideal place to smoke cannabis away from the Concorde Manner, which was her home. They have conflictive dialogue at the start, but the enigma of the Honey Man flirts with curiosity of this young girl. She is so enthralled that she promises to help him find a cure, which happens to be living in her dad’s gardens.

    Two very special moments live in my memory from this theatre performance. The first being the Honey Man showing Misty how bees dance and he does this with the sweetness that a granddad might have when playing with his young granddaughter. He creates bee sounds and physicalises movements that show bees moving about the hive which enchant her. Misty misses her grandmother very much, so it seems that she sees Honey Man as a replacement for the relationship she had worshipped with her grandmother. By the end, they establish a special and unique bond.

    Tyrone Huggins masterminds contemporary writing with exalting a current issue that is affecting the planet today: the deforestation of lands and the fragmentation of wild habitats, both of which are ruining a lot of animals’ lives, particularly bees, who cannot pollinate and ensure the growth of plants. Huggins gave the audience a secret pleasure, for he played The Honey Man himself. The accuracy of emotion and the intricacy of character portrayal don Huggins a heavy-weight champion of contemporary drama, as he creates two parallel worlds that are crying for help, and when they meet they seem to be each other’s salvation.

    The Birmingham Rep graces us with an actress whose professional debut is The Honey Man. Beatrice Allen commands the stage most delicately, but with a hint of rawness to it too. Allen’s portrayal of Misty is both engrossing and overwhelming, and even though she may lack experience, this does not show on stage, as she matches Huggins’ ingenuity pretty convincingly.

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Unknown Male

    ★★★★ | Unknown Male

    Unknown Male depicts a tragic story of Heather who has recently got a job as train a conductor. All is very well. Until, after the tunnel, a person jumps off the platform on to her incoming train.

    The story revolves around Heather and her coping mechanisms, or the lack of; Emily, her daughter who has been trying to comfort her mum, but unsuccessful, so she decides to investigate who the victim who was run over by her mum’s train; and Mark, Heather’s boyfriend, who also has trouble relighting Heather’s will to live, and deviates from the house to very familiar territory.

    Unknown Male brings to the Rep Stage a topic that is rarely talked about, and if it is, then the story tends to emphasise the sympathy of the individuals who died under the train. However, Stephanie Ridings ambitiously captivates the audience with the other side of the story: the victim being the person who ran over the individual. Excellently portrayed and greatly realised under the direction of Nick Walker. Both visions equally combine the success in delving deep into the topic and expertly deliver the content where, with a quick glance at the audience, there was evidence of a few tears being shed with many eyes.

    This was also achieved by the brilliant cast that consisted of Lorraine Stanley as Heather; Phoebe Frances-Brown as Emily; and Mark was played by Ged Simmons.

    The three actors conveyed the emotions brilliantly. Particularly, Lorraine’s conveyance of Heather, whose emotion range was a phenomenon. Stanley portrays Heather more than convincingly, to the point of thinking one was sitting in the family’s front room with a feeling of awkwardness as the drama ensued. Ged did a sterling job with Mark, as he evidenced on stage what a person in his position might go through and the ability to explore the dark sides of a man whose world is ripping apart. Finally, Phoebe delights the spectators with her portrayal of a young teenager; the actress, of course is older than Emily, but she shows an innocence and defiance of Emily’s age in a subliminal way.

    Stephanie Ridings does the Birmingham Rep Foundry proud, as she showcases the ability to create a piece of theatre in a way that transports the audience from a seat at The Door, to a seat inside Heather’s flat most magnificently, drawing every person on to the tragedy explored in Unknown Male.

    The set was minimalist, but was used to great effect; especially in the very last scene, as it was converted to a train station platform, to which Emily is found standing over.

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Fleabag: Epically Entertaining and Daringly Dirty

    ★★★★★ | Fleabag

    Fleabag is a kind of play where you are unsure of what you will be watching. Especially as the sign on the theatre entrance read: ‘Warning: References to sex’.

    Fleabag is a one-woman sixty-minute show that portrays the life of one young woman in the most hilarious, sympathetic and filthy fashion. Loved it. It starts in an interview setting, and then it trails off to her hot encounters and her needing to take ‘hot’ photos of herself to please her many admirers. ‘Take A Dirty Picture For Me’ comes to mind.

    It all happens in the space of 48 hours, and whilst it is funny in the writing, it shows great depth when the theme of feminism is introduced in an almost caricature way. Maddie Rice played the role master-mindedly. She makes her character appear ‘laddish’ and pertaining to be a player.

    Though many things she did and said were crude and filthy, if a bloke said and did the same things as Maddie, to his ‘blokey’ mates, no one would batter an eyelid. But because it was a female, some audience members cringed with discomfort.

    Maddie Rice plays the unnamed character with utter and sheer brilliance. Her wit and humour were 10/10. It was that funny that I thought I had booked tickets to see a stand-up comedian at ‘Live at the Apollo’ show. Maddie really captured the role as written by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, with precision and dedication. It felt as though the role was written for her.

    Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s writing was a delicious treat to our ears, and a true and daring piece of work that was worthy of the full-house show it received.