3 Minute review on Avenue Q

Urishima Taro

This was a strange play but very cleverly done. The story was about a boy who met a girl, unfortunately she lived under the sea. The boy Urishima Taro, lived with his mother, one day he went to sea in his boat and there was a storm where he met the turtle he had saved days previous, the turtle led him down to the depths of the sea towards safety. It turns out that the turtle was a princess; the princess and Urishima Taro spent the day together and fell in love. She gives him a choice of staying with her or going back, he chooses to stay with the princess. However when he does return to the surface the princess gives him a box, everything has been destroyed, and he opens the box, it is his age.

The whole performance was done by one person and she controlled puppets, these were life like puppets as she had made them from a mould from her face and then adapted them. She made them have different characteristics and ‘walks’, one had a hunched back another was taller than she was. The movements were so life like you felt that you were watching more than one person on stage.

Also on stage, stage left, there was a little screen, where on certain parts, showing Urishima Taro going to sea she made a puppet show with miniature versions of the other life like puppets. Also she had a projection screen at the back where when there was the scene where the princess and Urishima Taro made love, we saw the outlines of the bodies, this was very effective, we saw what was happening without feeling uncomfortable.

There was an after show talk where the actor and her partner, who created the idea of it, told us that the idea was discovering the relationship between puppet and human, she also showed us how the puppets worked. My verdict is that this was a very interesting piece of theatre that is a must see.

Journey's End

This was a shockingly real interpretation of Journey's End, I didn't feel as though I was watching a play but that it was actually happening in front of me. I found the ending especially effective, the cast stood in front of a backdrop of listed names that had been killed during the World War One. It was so good that there were many a time I welled up!

King Lear

I loved Derek Jacobi, he definately made the performance. Although, there wasn't alot to this performance and the stage reflected the acting - minimalistic and bland. I was slightly disappointed!

The Reluctant Debutante

Loved it! Was extremely funny! I found the bluntness of the daughter pleasing to watch. However I felt that Act 1, scene 1 dragged one for a little too long, and that the curtain coming down to split the scenes up was very unnessescary and broke the story up too much. It was good to see Jane Asher on stage, but i thought she was extremely wooden and looked uncomfortable at times.

Red,White and Black All Over

Not really a performance but four girls running around the stage in white dresses. Wasn't entertained by it at all, and found the 'dancing' tedious and inexperienced.

Masquerade

This was more of  dance performance and what the performers could do with their bodies, however I did enjoy the useof extra limbs, making them seem as though there was more than a couple of performers onstage. The massive head completly freaked me out, especially how one performer manganed to fit inside and then come towards me!

The Nutcracker

Well, what to say. This performance was extraordinary, I was completely shocked at the violence that was shown on stage (even more so than th younger members of the audience)! It had a great story line however, I found the acting too over the top.

Lear 1864: Trial of Tears

What a brilliant performance of Lear, the only one I have seen but one that impressed me (even if i did miss the first 5 mins)! The combination of cowboys and indians and some fantastic accents really did it for me! I really liked the fact that we had the interval and came back and the actors where in the same place on stage which gave the effect of no time passing. However I found it wierd that they cast a girl that couldn't do the accent as a main role...kinda ruined it a bit!

Avenue Q

Funniest performance done with puppets on stage, just the right mix of puppet and person! It was crude but light, and the songs, oh the songs..i am sure most of the people that went to see this will have now downloaded them! The only objection, 12 year olds I think, are too young to see this, but hey at least it makes a statement!

Landscape and Monologue

Oh Harold Pinter how you continue to put me in awe! The content of each speech was brilliant, the repition and pauses are classic Pinter, along with the detail description of something that could seem so insignificant (like a keg of beer). However I feel the woman actress did not do this justice, a tad wishy washy I would say, but the man that accompanied her on stage...wow, sexiest voice ever!!!

Hippolytus

Loved it!!!

Original with contrasting characters and vivid! Oh and the hanging of Feadra...absolutely amazing!!! Shame that there were moments that were no better described as a snooze fest. The ending of this adaption disappointed me...there was no need for news presenters to re-iterate what we had just seen!

Husky Dog Talking - " I love you "

The Merry Wives Of Windsor

An hilarious version of Shakespeare's already popular comedy, however it was slightly too long, just over 3 hours or so, but the comedy and the ridiculousness of some of the characters personalities and colourful costumes made the time fly past. Also what made it more interesting was the plot and many different sub-plots that made the audience think about what they were watching.