Avenue Q

25th Febuary, Hall For Cornwall, Truro

Yes, it is the show my blog is named after, but it is by no means my favorite show. The tickets were a Birthday present from my boyfriend and although I already knew most of the songs I had never actually seen the show. Everyone I spoke to however only had good praise for the Musical, initially shown on Broadway, when moved to the West End and is now touring the UK. I knew I would enjoy the show, but was a little unsure that my boyfriend, who is by no means a theatre lover would feel the same way. However as soon as the show began it became apparent that I had nothing to worry about as he was laughing along with the politically incorrect subject matter of songs such as 'Everyone's A Little Bit Racist' and 'The Internet Is For Porn'. I must admit though that although we throughly enjoyed the show, having been exposed to such themes and language before I would not reccomend the show to anyone of a younger age than myself as some scenes are pretty x-rated. Similarly I cannot see my parents enjoying the show, it's not that they are prudish, it's just that the overuse of swear words and explicit content i know would offend them.
Even though the explicit content is approached in, an argueably innocent way through the use of sesame streetesque puppets it is still obvious that many would find it offensive.

I, however have nothing but praise for the show & the touring cast who were incredibly talented. The demanding content of the show requires the small cast to multirole between different puppets (who sometimes are on stage at the same time) and the chorus are often needed to animate the characters when main cast members are swapping between two voices at the same time. My main comment about this show was that, for some reason it didn't feel like a musical, well it did, obviously beacuse alot of the content was sung. But the storyline, unlike other unbelieveable rose tinted spec's storylines found in musicals was real, the characters seemed real rather than the stereotypes often found in the musical genre. This may sound stupid as the characters are predominantly puppets and how often is someone beheaded by a quarter being thrown off the top of the Empire State Building but it's easy to empathise with the characters struggling their way through money, social, and romantic issues this makes the show real & an incredibly enjoyable night out.

Umbrellas Of Cherbourg - Knee High Theatre Company

14th Febuary Leicester Curve

It sounds lovely doesn't it, a theatre trip on Valentines Day to see 'A French romance that happens to be sung' this was the trip i was most looking forward too after hearing such high prasie of Knee High's incredible physical theatre & story telling style. Well how shocked I was, based on the french film of the same name the play stayed close to the original 1960's plot of love & loss, a theme which has now been done to death over every art medium. So this for me was the first sticking point, it was predictable, dull, and seemed very shallow. Secondly, the play was stuck in a difficult territory between Opera & Musical all dialogue was sung & I must admit in the orignal all French version this was beautiful. But when traslated into English, it was wearing to say the least....I found myself begging actors to stop singing & just speak thier lines naturally. For me translating the dialogue is what ultimately let this play down and as Knee High are known for thier story telling ablilities I feel the story would have transcended through this languague barrier. Many of the characters seemed shallow and stereotyped and it was difficult to form any kind of feeling or empathy for them, I merely found myself destesting each character more and more with every passing minute.
As a good point for Knee High they added in a Caberet style character called Lola, who sang the only French spoken song in the show, whom interacted with the audience providing light relief from the otherwise draining show.
Worryingly for Knee High (a small Cornish company) they are taking this show to, more or less the West End in London, it would be a shame for a small company to get terrible reviews for thier first big show but, I feel this might happen.
Here is a clip from the film, which is much more watchable than the Knee High Production.

& a review of the show by annother theatre goer that I found online

Nursing Lives - Vamos Theatre Company

11th Febuary Worcester Arts Workshop

I was dubious, I must admit before going to see this show. A full mask piece? An hour and a half? No speech? I could honestly not see myself enjoying Vamos' work. But boy, was i suprised, i would urge anyone to go and see mask work, especially that of Vamos, who are a travelling company so there is no excuse. It seems impossible that you wuld be able to build a relationship with a mask, that is only able to convey one emotion, but trust me it is. Within half an hour I was laughing and crying with the characters. The plot is based on the former Worcester Hospital and switches between time periods of the present day and WW2, with one key charcater a nurse called Florence in her nursing hayday and then as an old women visiting the hospital for the final time.
In addition to this treat of a show I enjoy the further luxury of having Vamos' Artistic Director & Performer Rachael Savage as a lecturer & what a suprise it was when I was told we too would be able to create a 'Vamos' mask.
Here is the beginings of my mask, Firstly the clay stage where the mask & it's expression can be moulded and played with...

My mask is a character inspired by Vamos' next show 'Much Ado About Wenlock' she is a jolly bar maid, I think i'm going to call her Ester, but I'm not quite sure yet.
Here is the second step of mask making, the clay mask is put in a vac former where melted pastic moulds into the clay, we then primed the plastic with a white primer to make it easier to paint in the next lecture

Journey's End

10th Febuary, Malvern Theatres.
The R.C Sherriff play originally performed in 1928 has been modernised and reimagined for a modern audience. Set in a dugout of the front line trenches in WW1, audience members wuld have to be inhuman to not feel moved in some way by this incredible performance. The aim of naturalism, to immerse the audience and completely recreate a real setting has been totally reached here. Characters seemed totally real, it was almost impossible not to fall in love with fatherly Osborne or laugh at some of Trotters dubious jokes. The plot, aptly takes the audience on a complete journey, mainly thorough the love/hate relationship with heavy drinking Captain Stanhope who we see intimidating new recruits but then breaking down when closest confidant Osborne is killed. The Stanhope we see, is a human being destroyed by war and through James Norton's portrayal of this character the audience is exposed to the softer, desperate side of the Captain as well as the harsh, heavy drinking side it could be easier for the actor to focus upon.
Journey's End is a perfect piece of naturalism as it was obvious to see upon leaving the theatre that every single audience member was moved by what they had seen. An incredibly talented creative team brought the front line to the midlands through a perfcetly recreated set. Designer Jonathon Fensom made sure every detail of the set was how it would have been in the trenches, from the hierarchy of where members of the company slept to the indivdual stripes & medals on thier uniforms. Without such a detailed set, the complete naturalistic feel to the piece would have been lost.
Finally the point in which most shocked & interetsed me about the performace was th final minutes where the curtian is lowered, the auditorium set in complete darkness and sounds of bombing and gun fire echo through the room. These sound effects are so effective as they are literally ear splitting, making the audience feel uncomfortable & slightly scared, when the lights are brought back up we see the characters stood in front of the Arras Memorial, it sounds cliched this image was so striking that there was not a dry eye in the house.

Doe, Ray, Me

'Let's start from the very begining'
I'm new to this, & quite honestly 100% sure that my musings on here will go unread therefore this blog is primarily for me. As part of my uni course (Drama & Performance) I get to watch some amazing shows and some 'interesting' ones, I feel a blog is the perfect place to review, criticise and admire some of the work i have been lucky enough to see.
In addition to the theatre i am also passionate about many other forms of art & i enjoy voicing my opinions, so.....here goes.