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Tag: Doncaster Cast

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Gypsy Queen – National Tour

    THEATRE REVIEW | Gypsy Queen – National Tour

    ★★★| Gypsy Queen – National Tour

    In a story set in the testosterone-fuelled world of boxing, “Gorgeous” George O’Connell, a street brawler from the travelling community is approached to be coached professionally for the sport by a local gym owner. But George’s deepest secret cannot be contained when openly gay boxer Dane “The Pain” Sampson makes a move on him in the changing rooms. The two men fall in love as George tries to come to terms with his sexuality, but they face their biggest fight when George’s internalised homophobia rises to the fore and his actions lead to a tragedy that neither of them could ever have envisaged.

    Photo Credit – PR Supplied

    In 2015, boxer Tyson Fury caused controversy by stating in an interview that homosexuality was one of three components that would see “the devil come home”. The comments caused a media storm, a backlash against the boxer and demands for him to be removed from the BBC Sports Personality of the Year shortlist. This play by award-winning playwright Rob Wright throws, and squarely lands, a counter punch at those comments by not only telling the story of gay men in the middle of the ultra-masculine environment of the sport, but by also putting forward a gay central character whose background is not that dissimilar to the background of Fury himself.

    Using two actors to portray all of the characters in the story, the play has a script with charm, warmth and some genuinely funny moments, as the pair struggle with their relationships with their parents, their fledgeling relationship with each other and the pressures and prejudices of both their professional and personal communities. The set, comprising of a changing room bench, is repositioned to transport the scenes to the various locations, and the characters demarcations come from the use of simple costume changes and some nifty versatility from the two-hander cast.

    Rob Ward centrally plays Gorgeous George with a cocksure swagger and confidence; whereas Ryan Clayton balances this out with a measured performance as Dane, played with a sensitive vulnerability. But it is Clayton’s performance of Mrs O’Connell, the foul-mouthed but well-meaning matriarch of George’s family that turned out to be a scene stealer.

    Whilst the presentation and performance of the show could do with a little polishing, there is a lot to recommend it. With its 70 minute runtime, the play is well written, well-paced and laced with humour, allowing the central message to come through without ever sounding preachy. The uncertainty portrayed by George in coming out is something that many gay men will relate to, and the exploration of the underlying homoeroticism in such a masculine sport is a welcome and timely one.

    Gypsy Queen is a funny, poignant, thought-provoking and relevant piece of theatre and one which is well worth catching.

    The show contains full frontal nudity, scenes of a sexual nature and strong language. Gypsy Queen is currently on national tour and details can be found at http://www.gypsyqueentour.com/ . The show was reviewed at Doncaster CAST Theatre, who has The Faaaabulous Ceri Dupree Show coming soon. Visit https://castindoncaster.com/ for details.

    Photo Credit – PR supplied

     

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Northern Ballet’s Jane Eyre

    ★★★ |  Northern Ballet’s Jane Eyre

    In an adaptation of Charlotte Bronte’s iconic novel, Jane Eyre is an orphan who is treated cruelly by her Aunt and sent to an institute for young girls. From there, she moves to work at Thornfield Manor as a governess and swiftly falls in love with her employer, Mr Rochester. But the Manor House harbours dark secrets, and as their love grows, Jane’s independence and fiery temperament surfaces as those secrets are revealed.

    Trying to cram the complex and multi-layered classic novel into a 100 minute ballet was always going to be a difficult challenge, and one which choreographer Cathy Marson takes on with confidence.  The staging of the ballet itself is inventive, with the use of curtains which are moved and positioned across the stage to effectively and cleverly convey both the confines of Thornfield Manor House and the sweeping moors.

    At times the choreography was beautifully done, leaning far more towards the contemporary rather than the traditional, with a lot of delicate lifts, floor work and precise movement, contrasting moments of tender intimacy with complex ensemble pieces. Both Dreda Blow and Javier Torres’ performances were more than noteworthy and displayed their professional competence; whilst overall, the supporting company’s movements were of their usual high quality.

    Whilst the technical excellence of the company meant foot sure and stumble-free performances, the production did falter slightly over the issues of narrative and characterisation. The novel itself portrays so many aspects of Jane’s life, and the ballet hits most of the significant events, but with so much to cover within so little time, the narrative felt rushed, superficial and unclear; whereas the characterisations were not as clearly defined as one would hope, leading to further confusion.

    Overall, adapting Jaye Eyre is a huge task and one which is beautifully staged and performed, but the juxtaposition of the contemporary dance and the period setting, coupled with the rushed narrative amounts to a production which is enjoyable, but doesn’t quite come together to be more than the sum of its parts.

    Jane Eyre had its world premiere at CAST Theatre, Doncaster; who hosts a varied range of performances. Visit their website at www.castindoncaster.com for full details. Northern Ballet is currently touring Jane Eyre, with productions of 1984, Romeo & Juliet, Wuthering Heights and Beauty and the Beast to follow later on this year. Visit www.northernballet.com for details.

     

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Wayne McGregor’s Random Dance: FAR – CAST Theatre, Doncaster

    ★★★ | FAR – CAST Theatre, Doncaster

    Based on an 18th-century text, Flesh in the Age of Reason, (hence the acronym, FAR), choreographer Wayne McGregor’s piece ventures into the relationship between the flesh and the mind. Utilising a backdrop of a pin board of thousands of LED’s, glistening and twinkling like the firing of neurological pathways, a troupe of ten incredibly agile and flexible dancers intertwined and knotted together their bodies as they conveyed how ideas are formed and spread into the physicality of creativity.

    Minimalist lighting enhanced the piece, showcasing the dancers and their incredible suppleness. The fluidity of their movement was visually intriguing as they contorted their bodies in a heady mix of extended limbs, ripples and head rolls, working throughout the performance with a professional determination and intensity. The piece left me in no doubt as to the talent of the cast, with their precision movements and the sheer power of their toned and muscular physicality contrasting with the flaccidity of some of their more exaggerated double-jointed dance steps.

    The accompanying soundtrack started promisingly, with subtlety and a classic feel to it, as a duet of barefooted dancers performed a tender routine flanked by four torch bearers, but soon descended into a more industrial auditory landscape, with its constant clatters, pulses, bangs and harsh rasps which assaulted the audience with little discernible melody. The brief respites of a more traditional score were occasional and welcome, but not frequent enough and one could only think about how different the piece could have been with the addition of a more forgiving acoustic accompaniment.

    The piece is challenging, with an absence of an easily identifiable narrative and a feeling of a number of short pieces knitted together, but it ultimately left me feeling somewhat confused, with the theme of the interplay between art and science being conveyed less precisely than the movements displayed on stage. However, where McGregor does succeed is the demonstration of what can be achieved by the body when pushed to its physical limits in tandem with allowing the mind to be creative; and whether you appreciate the abstract nature of the piece or not, there is much to be admired in the physicality of the performance created.

    More information on the company can be found at http://www.randomdance.org/home . FAR was viewed at Doncaster Cast Theatre; who has a varied selection of mainstream and niche productions in their current season.

  • The untold story of Bletchley Park And Alan Turing comes to Cast, Doncaster

    Following the recent 70th anniversary celebrations of VE Day, Idle Motion’s That Is All You Need To Know brings the untold story of Bletchley Park to Cast, Doncaster on Wednesday 17 June in a stunning piece of visual theatre.

    Total Theatre Award nominated Idle Motion takes the audience back to 1940s England and the melting pot of Britain’s greatest minds; to the eccentric country house whose grounds, filled with chess champions, Oxbridge graduates and young debutantes. Among these were the visionary Alan Turing (recently portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch in Oscar nominated The Imitation Game), the exceptional Gordon Welchman, and the thousands of dynamic women whose work was the hidden heroism of the war.

    Idle Motion are one of the countries leading visual theatre companies who tour nationally and internationally to critical acclaim. They integrate playful stagecraft with innovative video projection to create highly visual theatre that places human stories at the heart of the work. Their humorous and sensitive past productions include the Edinburgh Fringe Sell-Out Borges and I, and The Seagull Effect exploring a couple’s crumbling relationship as Britain is hit by the unexpected 1987 storm.

    Alan Turing was prosecuted for his homosexuality in 1952, Idle Motion learned about his life and subsequent premature death (while researching chaos theory for The Seagull Effect) before he was posthumously pardoned in 2013. Fascinated by this British mathematician, cryptologist and co-author of the foundations of computer science, the Idle Motion team intended to base their next work on his life story.

    Following research into Turing’s incredible work during the Second World War at Bletchley Park and visits to the site itself, the Idle Motion team realised that Bletchley Park was full of astounding stories and people. What stood out most remarkably was that the thousands of people who worked there kept it all a secret throughout the war and for most of their lives, and this was the story the company wanted to tell.

    Artistic Director Paul Slater read Gordon Welchman’s ‘The Hut Six Story- Breaking the Enigma Codes’, first published in 1982 and written in the 1970s. This book was one of the earliest memoirs of life at the park to be published after the ‘secret’ history came out in 1974. The style of the writing in and the insights it gave to the life and work provided an ideal foundation to the wider story of the Park itself and the structure of That Is All You Need To Know.

    That Is All You Need to Know incorporates correspondence; including Turing’s 1952 “Yours in distress” letter to his friend and fellow mathematician Norman Routledge shortly before pleading guilty to gross indecency; and voice overs of interviews with veterans who worked there during the war from the Bletchley Park archives .

    Using personal testimony and multimedia on a stage busy with filing cabinets and typewriters; That is All You Need to Know is an insightful, innovative and immersive celebration of the remarkable men and women who cracked the Enigma code. The play is a celebration of humanities ability to solve the impossible, to crack the most complex of problems, and of the extraordinary people whose quiet work changed the course of our history.

    Tickets for That Is All You Need To Know on Wednesday 17 June at 7.30pm are £15 adults / £13 concessions* available from Cast’s Box Office on 01302 303 959 or castindoncaster.com.

  • THEATRE REVIEW | 4 X 4 Cast Theatre, Doncaster

    ★★ | 4 X 4 Cast Theatre, Doncaster

    In an original fusion art form, where the gentle poise and delicacy of ballet meets the frenetic pace of juggling, progressive troupe ‘Gandini Juggling’ explore bringing order to chaos using mathematics, numbers, patterns and regularity in 4×4 as two very different sets of skills melt together.

    Using symmetry, routine, repeating themes and the formation of geometric patterns, the intertwining of the two art forms proved to be a serene and strangely hypnotic experience at times. The sound of the original score by Nimrod Borenstein combined with the rhythmic chanting, the gentle thudding of the juggling and the performers bodies as percussion instruments; whilst, visually, the patterns formed by both objects flying through the air and the unison of the cast as they interweaved their respective skills and blended around each other came together to create visual and acoustic patterns which both soothed and stimulated simultaneously.

    Breaking down the individual elements of the performance, the entire cast displayed talent, skill and a dedication to their art. The string ensemble score was beautiful at times, bringing with it the flavour of an Eastern European influence; the dancers were accomplished, supple and foot sure in their performance and the jugglers were well timed, rehearsed and solid.

    However, despite their skill and talent, the show was uneven in its pace and presentation. It certainly had its moments where you were mesmerised by the movements on stage, but equally, the themes of symmetry and repetition led to the show itself feeling rather repetitive and almost as if it were going back over itself. There is absolutely no denying the talent of the cast overall, but despite some interesting visuals, wry humour and skilled performances, this show, unfortunately, didn’t quite come together to equal the sum of its parts.

    4×4 was seen at CAST Theatre, Doncaster, who have a launched their new season, which features a variety of performances from a number of dance companies including Phoenix Dance Theatre and Northern Ballet. For details of their full programme, see http://castindoncaster.com/ .

    4×4 is on national tour at a number of venues across the country until 19th September 2015. Full details of the company, their tours and their work can be found at http://www.gandinijuggling.com/en

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Kes, Doncaster Cast Theatre

    ★★★ | Kes, Doncaster Cast Theatre

    In a small, northern working class community in the 1960s, Billy Casper’s life is not the easiest. He struggles with reading and writing, is picked on at school, bullied by his older brother and neglected by his uncaring mother. With nothing in his future but the prospect of leaving school and working in the coal mine, his future is bleak. When Billy finds and trains a wild kestrel, his life begins to find a purpose and meaning. But the cruelty of life strikes him a devastating blow.

    Produced by Cast Theatre and combining a mix of professional actors and amateur performers from the area, this new production of Barry Hines’ classic novel was adapted and performed to mark Cast Theatre’s first birthday.

    Jacob James Beswick stood out as young Billy Casper, looking every bit the part of the downtrodden youngster and filling the character with a balance of dread, pessimism towards the future and occasional glimmers of optimism. Beswick garnered a genuine empathy from the audience, especially during the shows closing scenes. Sally Carman, best known as Kelly McGuire in Shameless, was in familiar territory with her performance as Mrs Casper, and the incredibly handsome Ben Burman rounded off the family as vindictive half-brother, Jud. The majority of the cast were made up of amateur performers, making this local theatre in more ways than one and providing a cast who, as a whole, were pleasingly slick and polished and who had clearly honed their skills with the assistance of their professional contemporaries.

    The set was detailed, using a combination of projected backdrops and sliding panels to create different parts of the town, keeping the presentation simple but effective. The transitions between scenes were smoothly done and the original music, composed by Dom Coyote, added just the right amount of atmosphere. The lighting was kept low key, complementing the play’s gritty and dark subject matter and the story nicely gathered pace as it progressed. However, even in the intimate theatre space, the lack of microphones led to a few moments where it was difficult to hear what was being said, but this is a minor criticism of the production overall. The show has occasional moments of light humour, which were a welcome relief but which never detracted from the story or mood of the piece and the handful of local references added a nice touch. The show was engaging, enjoyable and a worthy choice and adaptation to celebrate the success of the theatre over the last 12 months.

    Kes is currently playing at Doncaster Cast until the 13th September 2014. Tickets can be booked online at http://castindoncaster.com , in person at the box office or on the telephone on 01302 303959.

  • THEATRE REVIEW | The Freedom Of Freewill, Doncaster Cast Theatre

    ★★★ | The Freedom Of Freewill, Doncaster Cast Theatre

    Doncaster has a rising star. Nestled amongst the urban redevelopment of the town centre, proudly placed at the side of a large open space is the Cast Theatre. There is little doubt that this impressive little theatre is going to be the centrepiece of Doncaster’s growing cultural scene. Providing a mixed programme of everything from comedy to jazz, modern dance to international acts, Cast also has one significant thing at heart – the community.

    TGUK was kindly invited along to a performance of “The Freedom of Freewill”, am abstract piece of contemporary dance, which was thought provoking and visually interesting; exploring the best and worst of human nature. Asking the question about what is freedom, and is one person’s freedom actually another person’s oppression, the show combined music, dance and visual imagery to confront the audience with images and themes which pushed at comfort zones and garnered a genuine reaction from the audience. The six young local dancers were talented and contorted into a number of shapes using their bodies, challenging the audience and forcing different viewpoints to be considered. The show is now embarking on a European tour, but it was a credit to the young performers and the production company, Urban Conceptz Theatre, who created and produced in association with Cast Theatre.

    That is where Cast Theatre is a little different. It nurtures local talent and offers an opportunity for all to be part of it – whether that is through one of their open auditions or simply as a welcome member of the audience. The venue itself is a modern and fresh looking building, all straight lines and right angles from the exterior, but inside, giving way to curved architecture and providing a visually interesting foyer, which extends the length of the building. One of the things that was immediately noticeable was the friendliness of the staff, who were more than helpful and polite. The foyer harbours a café, which provides three menus throughout the day and a selection of drinks, which is ideal for that pre-show tipple or some tapas to share with friends.

    Inside the theatre itself, it is a small and intimate venue, with very comfy seats and, for those tall ones amongst us, a generous amount of leg room. The modern interior was striking and the large tubular chandelier with its neon pink lighting looked perfectly in place. The sound in the auditorium, for this performance, was crystal clear, loud and full of bass, which suited the show perfectly. The air conditioning kept an ambient temperature, whilst never being invasive and the closeness to the stage drew you right into the performance.

    Cast was an absolutely delightful venue and one which genuinely deserves the support of the local community and those in its proximity. It is the equivalent of those little independent niche cinemas that have been springing up all over the country and its blend of independent productions of song, dance, theatre and music provide for one unique venue.

    Cast is a theatre which is a little different. It provides a performance venue for the community and specialises in its own productions, providing an opportunity for talent, both from the local area and beyond, to perform. They are one of the sponsors of Doncaster Pride 2014 and their venue will be the backdrop to this year’s re-launched Pride event. The team from Cast will be there on the day; alongside The Gay UK who will also be there; some come and find both of us and say hello.

    You can find out more about Cast’s upcoming productions by visiting their website (http://castindoncaster.com/ ); following them on Twitter (@castindoncaster) or on facebook (https://www.facebook.com/castindoncaster)