Tag Archives: Aimee Kember

Julius Caesar

★★½

Lion and Unicorn Theatre

Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar

Lion and Unicorn Theatre

Reviewed – 14th January 2020

★★½

 

“their rendition makes it apparent that you can no more rush the immortal words of Shakespeare than the overthrowing of a tyrannical despot”

 

Theatre company Mad Wolf aim to make Shakespeare ‘exciting, thrilling… and for everyone’ in their new one-act rendition of the playwright’s historical tragedy Julius Caesar.

Set in Rome in 44 BC, Julius Caesar, produced and directed by Gavin Richards, depicts the moral dilemma of the Roman senator Brutus (Matt Penson) over joining the conspiracy led by Cassius (Alex Bird) to murder Julius Caesar (Aimee Kember) to prevent him becoming dictator of Rome. Supported by Casca (Aimee Pollock) and Cinna (Jasmin Keshavarzi), Cassius and Brutus succeed in their goal before being thrust into civil war against one of Caesar’s greatest supporters Mark Antony (Niall Burns) and Caesar’s adopted son, Octavius (Keshavarzi).

The six actors move confidently between 19 different roles using basic costume changes – a new jacket, a dressing gown etc. – to mark out their new character. Bird is standout in his role as Cassius, adopting an uncomfortably wide stare and hunch that perfectly fit the senator’s shady persona. Kember is thoroughly commanding as Caesar but handles Portia’s sensitive moments with her husband Brutus delicately as well. Frustratingly, some nuances in speech and character are lost by the cast’s over tendency to scream their lines at any moment of heightened emotion.

Mad Wolf’s intentions with their condensed production are noble but there is unfortunately more loss than gain. The performance moves at an incredibly fast pace mainly because the waffling speeches and winding metaphors inherent to Shakespeare’s work have been cut from the script. There is little to no time to pause and reflect on the events that have unfolded, and hugely important moments like Caesar’s death go by in a flash. The omission of such drawn out dialogue certainly makes the play more digestible especially to someone who may not otherwise engage with Shakespeare, but it also makes everything far more confusing due to the lack of exposition. Mad Wolf would have perhaps done better to edit or rewrite the script for clarity rather than simply take out huge chunks of text that are integral to the play’s narrative and rhythm.

The back wall of the theatre is covered in Lord Kitchener-style ‘Caesar Wants You’ posters, many of which are illustrated with graffiti declaring ‘Caesar is King!’ Empty sleeping bags, cardboard rubbish and coats litter the edges of the stage which the cast alternate between using as props and, rather oddly, as something to hide under or appear from when exiting or entering a scene respectively. This direction does make the theatre’s simple space more dynamic by not restricting the cast to the one aisle exit but this oftentimes comes across as comical which is rather jarring considering the overall mood of the play.

The debris also presumably represents the hard times which Caesar was able to capitalise on to gain power, but this is never explicitly explained. The senators’ formal attire resembles that of modern-day politicians which suggests that the audience is to interpret some sort of parallel between this tale and contemporary society, though this is not explored either.

The lighting (Lewis Plumb) is good. Notable moments include flashing overhead lights timed with a thunder sound effect to resemble lightning and the slow fade to black except for a spotlight on one of the Caesar posters at the end of the performance.

Mad Wolf’s production of Julius Caesar sets out on a worthy mission to make the Bard of Avon more accessible. Unfortunately, their rendition makes it apparent that you can no more rush the immortal words of Shakespeare than the overthrowing of a tyrannical despot.

 

Reviewed by Flora Doble

 


Julius Caesar

Lion and Unicorn Theatre until 18th January

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:
BackPAGE | ★★½ | February 2019
Like You Hate Me | ★★★ | April 2019
Mama G’s Story Time Roadshow | ★★★★★ | May 2019
River In The Sky | ★★½ | May 2019
Euan | ★★★★ | July 2019
A Shoddy Detective & The Art Of Deception | ★★ | August 2019
Blue Tights, Red Knickers And An ‘S’ On Her Vest | ★★★ | August 2019
Camp | ★★★ | August 2019
The Death Of Ivan Ilyich | ★★ | August 2019
Up The Bunty! | ★★★ | December 2019

 

Click here to see our most recent reviews

 

Like You Hate Me
★★★

Lion & Unicorn Theatre

Like You Hate Me

Like You Hate Me

Lion & Unicorn Theatre

Reviewed – 25th April 2019

★★★

 

“Tom Lodge’s writing is exciting, vibrant and explores a subject that everyone can connect with”

 

Within the small but adequate space of the Lion & Unicorn Theatre Like You Hate Me takes a seemingly simplistic approach in representing love and loss. The play sees two characters performed by Acushla-Tara Kupe and Aimee Kember who show us a relationship starting, growing, evolving and finally ending. Through the erratic short scenes, we are shown two people who meet at a party where they “hit it off”. Moving along their relationship’s timeline without an obvious pattern we see snippets from their lives together from drunken mishaps to choosing your favourite Quality Street. This allows us to get a broader sense of the relationship on the surface but sometimes feel that we are left short in certain areas where we wish we could delve deeper. Whereas this is not the main issue with the performance it does stop you from fully investing in the relationship being shown to you.

Clearly the writer Tom Lodge has talent but as the play progresses and you laugh along, you realise that most of the writing is geared towards small quick laughs and where at first this allows you to relax into the show, after a while you start to find it tedious. The comedy element to the performance starts to feel like it is hindering the subject matter being explored, stopping the audience connecting with the characters on a deeper level. In some instances, it seems that certain lines shouldn’t have landed comedically but due to how they were delivered left the audience with no option but to laugh. I think that this would be different depending on directorial decisions, allowing the characters to deliver the quite brilliant script to the audience.

The acting ability of the two young actresses shadows everything else about the play, they allow us in with their genuine and heartfelt performances. We believe that these two people are going through life and experiencing things that we all have been through or will do very soon. As good as the acting is in this production there are some problems with the direction (Jess Barton) especially in scene transitions. These are stylised in low light with choreographed movements that take us out of the world they have created for us. I wanted the performance to stay on its realistic and relatable level that it sets within every scene, but the transitions take us out of the story and remind us that we are just watching a play.

Tom Lodge’s writing is exciting, vibrant and explores a subject that everyone can connect with. This, teamed with the fantastic performances of Acushla-Tara Kupe and Aimee Kember mean you really are in for a treat. Clearly this show does have a few issues, on the surface these seem to be with the directing aspects of the production, with a few minor changes it could match the high level of writing and acting.

 

Reviewed by Laurie Wilson

Photography courtesy Fight or Flight Productions 

 


Like You Hate Me

Lion & Unicorn Theatre until 4th May

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:
Feel | ★★★★★ | March 2018
Feel/More | ★★★★ | March 2018
The Seagull | ★★½ | June 2018
How to Make me Happy | ★★★★★ | July 2018
Hummingbird | ★★★ | August 2018
In the Wake of | ★★★ | August 2018
The German Girls | ★★★ | August 2018
The Cut | ★★ | November 2018
BackPAGE | ★★½ | February 2019

 

Click here to see more of our latest reviews on thespyinthestalls.com