The Revenger's Tragedy

Okay, scratch everything I said the other day, scratch it, scratch it all!

Last night I went to see The Revenger's Tragedy by Thomas Middleton at the National Theatre. This was the first piece of theatre off the West End and not Shakespeare (although he is Shakespeare's contemporary) that I was going to see and I was really yearning for some inspirational theatre. As soon as I walked into the theatre itself I was flabbergasted. Over 1150 seats! And completely full! On a Monday night! That alone was enough to dumb me, wriggling excitedly in my seat like a toddler and a Power Ranger. Then there was the stage itself. The set was split into three so that there were three faces, or three rooms, like in a pie. The stage rotated so that there was this constant flow between the rooms (when required). Frequently it was used to present a sort of rotating montage of action. An apron along the front allowed for more action to occur. The first room was a modest living room with a fireplace and a grey wall with a famous classic painting that whose author I can't remember on it, and a blank area for visual projections, the second was a grand room with renaissance paintings featuring as wallpaper, and the third another grand room with a red spandex couch in the middle of it. Between the three rooms there were corridors for characters to run around in, and the walls of these corridors/the stages themselves were slightly transparent, so that lights and action could be glimpsed behind them. Finally there was some space at the back behind the set that could be lit up for further action to take place.

Anyway, so I was still entranced by the size and the grandeur of the stage and the audience when the play exploded with colour and sound and movement and dance. This was everything Romeo and Juliet at the Open Air tried to be and failed so badly at. Dancers burst onto the stage, leaping and tumbling. Actors ran across the stage in modern day costume, a mixture of Baz Luhrmann R&J sophistication and a slicker, more muted, contemporary tone, with skinny jeans and angels wings and leopard skin and naked bush. A countertenor in tight jeans sang over house beats. The lighting ran red and bled across the stage. A girl was raped through roaring music, the stages swung, corruption hurtled through corridors. The play then opened with the main character ranting about the rape and death of his fiance, whom the Duke had murdered after she declined his attention, which, unlike the frigging ridiculous opening scene in Romeo and Juliet, made perfect sense because this rape was an actual scene, albeit unwritten, done though the chaos of music and dance and light, as a precursor to the text, rather than a vague attempt at representing the 'symbolism' and the 'themes' of the play. The opening was graphic (apparently the girl who got raped was completely naked), revolting, visceral and absolutely thrilling. What was also so great about this production was that although the play was set in the contemporary world, elements of the the play's original setting were still kept, for example, the actors walked around in modern day clothes but held swords on their hilts. This worked brilliantly because the world was a heightened, hyper-reality, and melded together perfectly the luscious 16th century style art and setting with the modern, PVC furniture and costuming. And the corruption and colour represented in the action and the design were a perfect rendering of the revenge at the centre of the play.

The acting - everyone was excellent, excellent, excellent. Man, I love British actors and their relish for words!!! Despite having performed this play every night for two months the energy remained fresh and specific. Words exploded from mouths, hands delved into flesh. The lead, Rory Kinnear, a very well-respected actor (only 30!) who has won lots of awards, and incidentally is a LAMDA boy, putted through his plosives as if he was spitting ping pong balls from his mouth (such energy!!). Jamie Parker (The History Boys) played the brother, and was recognisable by his gorgeous voice. I was sitting quite high up and I couldn't really see his face - but after a while I was like, hey...! But really, they were all so, so, good. And inspiring to see that the Duke's wife was of African descent, and that there was definitely scope for people of non-British ancestry to perform at the National Theatre in the classics. Every actor was so precise and sharp and connected with the text and each other - it was a brilliant connection of body and voice and words. The dancers, too, were equally brilliant - they were mixed in with the actors and were probably actors themselves - sweeping solo into a scene unnoticed, with flowing contemporary lines and dress or spun-out techno, or behind the back of the stage where only the clued in could notice. And the singing! Really, you can't get better, world-class performers than those at the National!

Now I've just got a few things to say about the director, Melly Still, an American born British director who used to be a choreographer and a designer...wow-a!! Melly Still is only in her 30s/40s, and this is her second production, but what a production! She not only has an exquisite eye for movement and design (obviously being able to do both), she has a unique understanding of the verbal and textual aspects of the play, as evidenced by her overall handling of the play (the luscious corruption of it design wise, and the movement and music to support that), but also her sense of the verse. Perhaps it was all the work of the actors, but although I missed some of the text (I was a bit tired and I was sitting quite far back), I still fully felt the revelations and the realisations of the main character and the consequences and tragedy of their actions. Likewise the revelations the characters made through their speech were simple and clear and touching, not arched or profound but straight and uncluttered. This, plus her handling of the visual, (and the puppetry...oh man, don't get me started on the amazing puppetry), makes me soo excited to be in London witnessing the flight of passionate, stirring and brilliant productions that are treading the boards right now.

Ohhhhh I just found out that Melly Still's partner is Tim Supple, which totally makes sense and blows me away! WOW-A!! What a power couple! That's insane! I was just thinking in my head that the only production that this betters is the Midsummer Night's Dream production I saw at the Sydney Festival, by Tim Supple, that was so visceral and life-changing and here I am watching the works of his partner/wife/girlfriend/whatever!!! Fucking-A, can you get a better combination than that?? If only I could share a partnership with someone as incredible as that! If only I could be tithe as good creatively as a quarter of that! (If only I had a man...but that's another story hehe).

Monday we also had stage combat and movement class, which were fantastic as always. Stage combat we learnt some more of the routine, which I have to say is so great because we learn the principles of attack and defense rather than just choreography. Movement was remarkably moving for me (haha, badoom, chk). I don't know what it was about that afternoon but for some reason I just felt incredibly settled, like I knew what I was doing and that I had been there before. I felt like I had been doing movement class for ages, I had been in this room for ages, that I was incredibly connected. Everything that Vince was saying or doing felt familiar and new at the same time. We went through the movement exercises and my body felt so free. Everything here is so fresh while at the same time being grounded in theory. Vince took us through Laban's eight actions, which I have done before (although it took me a while to realise that LA-ban was the same as La-BAN), but instead of making us run around the class 'slashing' everything, or 'punching' everything, he applied it to a short routine. That moment of taking something old and applying it in movement without having to thrash it out made me want to stay here. And so I went home and started going through my monologues again, ready for my audition on Wednesday.

*Note - I have once again broken up my post by heading off for a few days and then coming back...it is now Saturday, and I came back from Stratford-upon-Avon last night. So, onwards and upwards!

On Wednesday we headed to Stratford on the bus. I sat next to JB and it was just like a school trip, complete with Truth or Dare. When we arrived we were deposited at this rather nice hotel which was a surprise, and sent off to do a workshop with an ex-member of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC). Then we pottered around and did some sightseeing until dinner (with the best banoffi cake I've ever had) and then to the theatre to see Hamlet.

Okay, so Hamlet: this production was widely anticipated by most of us mainly because it starred David Tennant and Patrick Stewart and I have to say it didn't disappoint! When we turned up to the theatre the line for returns (the run is sold out) went all the way outside the theatre and halfway down the street. When we entered the theatre the place was packed packed packed despite it being a Wednesday night. The stage was a thrust stage and the audience surrounded it on three sides on three levels. I hung my feet over the edge of the balcony and buzzled about with excitement!

The play was also set in contemporary land, although from the tiled stage and mirrored back wall, it was hard to tell where or when. The show started in complete darkness, with the stage being lit only by the strong torches the actors held. As the stage floor and the back wall were reflective, the light bounced off angles to light the actors' faces and the action. When the ghost came on he was merely lit by a soft spotlight and surrounded by dry ice that flowed from his jacket. The scene then burst into a flurry of paparazzi lights as Claudius and Gertrude retreated into the ballroom after their wedding, with Gertrude in the first of a series of beautiful silk gowns (she looked, initially, like Glenn Close in the Mel Gibson movie) and Hamlet standing like a silent bat broodily in the corner. From then on the play was a mix of contemporary references (David Tennant as Hamlet doing 'to be or not to be' in a red T-shirt with the outline of his muscles on it, jeans, and bare feet), and period references, for example, the use of swords, which jarred with the occasional use of handguns and helicopters.

Some stand out moments:

- When Polonius was hiding behind the 'arras' (ie. the silver rotating door panel things at the back), and Hamlet shot him, the lights went out, a shot lit up the room and when the lights went up again, the back mirror panel thing had cracked and stayed that way for the rest of the play.

- The Polonius death scene in general was great, with David Tennant pumping energy into Hamlet and against Gertrude the entire time. Gertrude was incredible.

- The interval: instead of cutting somewhere at the end of an act, the interval occurred just as Hamlet was about to kill Claudius, at 'I'll do it!'...Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant! Some strange cuts, though, otherwise, in other places, lending to a bit of an odd feel. But everything about the whole play was so connected and paced well that it never felt like dragging, even though it was over three hours and forty-five minutes!

- Ophelia's mad scene, running around and skipping and screaming and pulling her clothes off. Nicely done and well tempered.

- The staging I thought was interesting...I don't know if it was because we were sitting above and therefore we could see the arrangement of bodies in space, whether they do this all the time or whether it was unique to Hamlet, but the actors kept making shapes with their bodies in the space ie. when there was a scene with several of them in it they would often fall into square shapes or triangle shapes. It gave the performance a nice spatial aestheticism and was very clean and went with the pace and the structure of the play. A small observation.

- When the players came out and re-inacted the Gonzalo story, instead of Claudius rising and screaming, 'give me some light!', Patrick Stewart muttered it softly, stood up, walked towards Hamlet, shook his head twice, and walked off. INTENSE.

- Instead of Gertrude drinking the poisoned cup unknowingly, when Claudius says, 'Do not drink,' she realises, and drinks it anyway.

- The duel at the end was a bit clumsy, with Laertes and Hamlet in fencing gear. A weird clash of periods.

The acting was incredible as usual (of course, with one LAMDA boy, playing Rosencrantz!). David Tennant was this incredible, lithe, tousle-haired, skinny, adolescent, Peter Pan-like (I stole this description from another review), wild-eyed, scruffy animal roaming around the stage and confounding Claudius in every way. He was certainly one of the funniest Hamlets I've ever seen. When David Tennant came out initially to say his 'too too sullied flesh' monologue he did the entire thing on his knees with his face to the floor and was still audible. He was incredible with the text, playing with the rhythm and extending it just till it flipped over and then allowing it to gallop again. As Hamlet, and probably with all his characters, he was so present, yet free and alive and flexible with his thin, lanky body. He was probably the first Hamlet I've ever watched so mesmerisedly, and probably the first Hamlet I've ever felt anything for, pandering well to the demands of the text but also giving Hamlet an emotional depth that was hard to resist feeling greatly for. He was a great clown, and probably could have used his energy to go even further into the character - but what a mesmerising, incredible actor. Patrick Stewart was also incredible, and made for a strong, scary Claudius. He was a very solid character, stiffly holding everything in, with this unreadable steel that was freaky as you couldn't tell what he was about to do. Polonius, played by Oliver Ford Davies, was the funniest, bumbliest Polonius I have ever seen, perfect to a T. And Ophelia, although she was a bit bland at the start, warmed up to become a riveting doomed heroine.

The Taming of the Shrew, on the other hand, which we watched on the second day, was not so good. It's such a shame, because it was like Romeo and Juliet in a way, in that it was obvious that the cast were incredibly, incredibly talented, much more so skilled than the Romeo and Juliet cast, world class, really. But even they couldn't rise above a crappily-executed director's conceit. The theme of the evening was that men dominated women, and in the end, was shown up by women anyway, but the way it was executed just didn't lend any empathy to any of the characters, and the director's hand was too dark and too forceful. As a result, or I'm assuming it was as a result, the acting was fine-tuned but demonstrative, and none of the actors were connected to the text or to each other. The scene where Petruchio and Kate banter was crude and crass. The director Conall Morrison has emphasised all the cruel, farcical elements of the play and none of its subtleties. It was good to see in terms of being able to see some fine actors at work, as well as some blind casting (although no LAMDA bodies...that was probably why it was shit) but otherwise I didn't find it a particularly satisfying production. So that evening we went clubbing in Stratford with all the A-level students to drown our woes ;)

On Friday we went to Warwick castle and pottered around for a few hours before coming back to London, and generally since then have been chilling and being a bum. Last night went to a pizzeria which I have to say was pretty orgasmic, (the ortolana pizza was divine) and then out to Old Street for a boogie (in Music Hall? Enio was put off by the indie music and the gay crowd but I loved it) and then spent two hours wandering around London at 2am trying to find another club, which is what always happens when we go out in London, until my friend needed to go to the toilet, so we all went home.

Some thoughts I wanted to mention about my classmates:

- M told me the other day while out clubbing, with her beautiful Italian accent, that I had 'sounds within my body.' Hehe, so cute!

- When we were mucking around doing the hand fish thing on the bus, JB said that we were 'making la poesie with hands.'

It's funny...despite all this theatre stuff which I'm loving, I'm missing film a lot. I do enjoy it and hope to have a career in it one day. I feel like there's something missing...

It is now Sunday...time for some study :)