Fringe ReviewLondon Reviews January-June 2009The TempestGenre:
Venue: The Cock Tavern Theatre, Kilburn Box Office: 0780 096 5287.Low DownThe Good Night Out Presents production team have once again produced a highly polished, unusual and original fringe theatre production, a gender-bending version of arguably one of Shakespeare’s best works, The Tempest. Review
The play opens and we find ourselves on a ship that is caught up in a tempest at sea. Innovatively the cast create the rocking ship, the lack of light in the dark stormy night and use their physicality to whirl and whip the audience into the belief that we too are at sea. With their bodies malleable and fluid we see ten women and a man on a tiny stage literally become a ship and its crew creating a believable and powerful scene on stage. Then catapulted onto the island Shakespeare’s language starts to become familiar and the characters in complete reverse don't seem foreign, they seem right.
Shakespeare is so well remembered both because of his excellent jack of all trades ability to portray not only one genre but many, including romance, tragedy, comedy and drama, but also because of the endless possibilities for his work to be remade in new and innovative ways. This play is old as the hills, but with the Good Night Out production team feels like a breath of fresh air. Beyer has cleverly changed character names and painstakingly changed references throughout the play to reflect the opposite gender for whom, they were originally written. If you had never seen the play you would not know any different. All the women and lone man in this production work as an ensemble to produce a very slick, often comic and highly engaging production. Simon Beyer’s direction for this play is outstanding, especially in the movement area and the use of the rather oddly shaped stage. He has ensured the actors make the most of every scrap of the space including the walls, window ledges and entrance stairs, and it works in their favour. The staging is bold with orange, red and yellow streaks of paint up the walls and there are very few props with the performers using their bodies and the space to create the ambience. Sean Goodman’s lighting and sound also convincingly add strength, light and shade to the production as a whole.
Karen Paulluda is powerful and all commanding as Prospera, but interestingly towards the end of the play when everything becomes resolved, it is clearer with the character portrayed as a mother rather than a father figure to see she has her son’s interests at heart. When a man plays the role of Prospero this character tends to have less layers of emotion or perhaps when played by a female this comes across more strongly. Paulluda gives a convincing performance as the all powerful female matriarch of the Island, and her relationship with sprite Arielle (played by Natasha James) is engaging.
It feels at first that Natasha James overplays Arielle slightly, almost trying to hard with her character, but as the show plays out she becomes comfortable in the sprites skin and her presence on stage is ethereal, magical and becomes very hard to ignore. She has a spellbinding singing voice which strongly adds to the magical quality of the play.
Clare Cameron is outstanding as the rejected and enslaved Caliban. Physically she is superb, using exaggerated yet natural looking movement to realistically embody Caliban’s deformities, her fear and deep seated anger. Having seen The Tempest numerous times, Cameron is the most memorable and convincing of Caliban I have encountered and is a definite stand out in this production.
Adam Glass plays Mirundo convincingly but is overshadowed by the mesmerising Jordanna Tin who is exquisite as his love interest Ferdinina. Beyer has cleverly ensured that he remains true to the original text but somehow it still works and even feels more natural with the role reversal apart from perhaps when Ferdinina is asked to move a whole bunch of heavy logs by Prospera!
Special mention should be given to Jane Bowhay and Hannah Wood who play the comic relief Stephanie and Trincula with great skill and humour. These scenes were among the most memorable from this production and to an extent these two fantastic actors stole the show with Wood very funny as Trincula. Physical comedy wise these two play drunks extremely well. What is fantastic about this production is the fact that the performers all have various regional accents ensuring that unlike so many Shakespearian productions the characters have a range of accents and do not necessarily speak with RP, or the Queen’s English. By using their own accents the performers ensure that the play retains the rhythmic and poetic flavour of the text and this becomes especially clear in the scenes with Stephanie and Trincula, making them all the more hilarious and believable. The supporting cast members are all strong and Beyer has ensured the large cast play multiple roles to create the magical elements of the island.
This is entertainment on the fringe at its finest and is a definite must see.
Playing until the 7th March at the Cock Tavern Theatre in Kilburn, Tuesdays – Saturdays at 7:30pm and Sundays at 5:00pm and all tickets are £10. For more information visit www.cocktaverntheatre.com or ring the box office on
Reviewed by Skye Crawford 15th February 2009 Website : |
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