Tag Archives: Becky Minto

Frankenstein

★★★

Richmond Theatre

Frankenstein

Frankenstein

Richmond Theatre

Reviewed – 18th November 2019

★★★

 

“This production does breathe new life into Mary Shelley’s story with its inventiveness, but it perilously runs the risk of killing it too”

 

What’s the name of Mary Shelley’s monster? ‘Frankenstein’ is the unanimous response. Wrong! Shelley never ascribed a name to the creature created by Victor Frankenstein, the scientist who meddles with nature. Although in Rona Munro’s stage adaptation the misnomer is given an extra twist as Munro places Shelley herself into the action. It is an interesting framing device that mirrors the story’s concerns: Shelley has created her own monster which, now set unleashed into the world, is beyond her control.

Eilidh Loan, as the young eighteen-year-old writer, is a feral creature herself with a lacerating energy, scratching words onto her pages as the tale unfolds around her. She is the writer, and the director, of her characters as she prompts and taunts, and is never kind to them. But there lies part of the problem – her grating Cockney detachment strips the drama of its sense of tragedy and sadness. You rather miss, too, the presence of Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. It seems a shame to ignore the real-life story behind the conception of the dark tale, which is almost as famous as the novel itself. Maybe Munro’s intention was that we, the audience, were the ones cooped up with Mary in the chalet on Lake Geneva. Loan frequently spoke out to the auditorium as though she were being challenged to come up with her own terrifying tale. But lines like “Is it frightening enough?” or “It’s my nightmare” are too simplistic to realise the effect.

Although the stilted characterisation and dialogue dampen the atmosphere, it is more than compensated for in Patricia Benecke’s foreboding staging. Becky Minto’s icy set of balconies and bare trees like withered lungs suggest the dread and despair, punctuated by Simon Slater’s bolts of sound that feed the melodrama. At times, though, the cast are forced to try to outdo the setting with occasional overdramatic delivery. Ben Castle Gibb, as Victor Frankenstein, is the most successful at avoiding this with a manic performance that captures the extremes of obsession without drumming home the point. Michael Moreland’s Monster bizarrely speaks like Kathy Burke’s own monstrous creations; Kevin and Perry, which doesn’t help lift him out of the cartoon like portrayal Munro has written for him, and the other characters.

Sprinklings of feminist anachronisms and modern-day analogies to ethnic intolerance, fear and prejudice border on patronising and melt the glacial force of Shelley’s original. Trying to balance the entertainment value with a subliminal sermon is unnecessary and it dilutes the power. This production does breathe new life into Mary Shelley’s story with its inventiveness, but it perilously runs the risk of killing it too.

 

Reviewed by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Tommy Ga-Ken Wan

 

ATG Tickets

Frankenstein

Richmond Theatre until 23rd November then UK tour continues

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:
Iolanthe | ★★★★ | May 2018
84 Charing Cross Road | ★★★★ | June 2018
Tom Gates | ★★★★ | March 2019

 

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Review of The Ramshackle House – 4 Stars

Ramshackle

The Ramshackle House

Stratford Circus Arts Centre

Reviewed – 7th December 2017

★★★★

“with minimal words, it is through our performers’ bodies that we follow this charmingly humorous story”

 

The Ramshackle House may not be the most festive show you see this yuletide, however it will certainly be one of the most heart-warming, possessing a sense of Christmas spirit and cheer. The Stratford Circus Arts Centre adorned the theatre with fairy lights and lamps, giving off a cosy, Christmassy glow; yet it was the show’s core theme of friendship that really radiated the true values of Christmas.

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The Ramshackle House is a production that is geared up for children and young audiences, but in spite of this, it is 45 minutes that the whole family will enjoy. Upswing have brought their ground-breaking concept of Circus Theatre, applying their multi-disciplinary skills of aerial, dance, music and theatre into a display that anyone, of any age, can admire and appreciate.

Set on the slanted roof of an odd looking house, we meet a character (Renato Dias) who seems content in life. His path crosses with a lady (Delia Ceruti) living near by, and they come to discover that living together they are able to accomplish a lot more. As they begin to become more comfortable in each other’s presence, the surprise arrival of the third character (Matthew Smith), stuck in the chimney, creates a new set of complications. As space grows to be an issue, our three amigos, start to build a new home upon the roof, yet this creates its own set of issues. Between battling with the weather and also with one another, it looks unlikely that they will have a home ready for Christmas, but, with the power of acceptance and adapting to others to make space, our three characters end satisfied with the home they have constructed and the friendships they have built.

Told with minimal words, it is through our performers’ bodies that we follow this charmingly humorous story. As imaginative as this was to behold, there were certainly times where I felt that the spectacle of impressive aerial skills was given precedence over the story telling, which would get a little blurred as to what was actually going on. You can always rely on the children in the audience to give a vocal, instinctive response to what they see, and as one little girl behind me said, as she watched the one character accomplish a wonderful series of aerial moves on an elevated square hoop; “why’s he doing that?” There were moments within the show where Upswing failed to make their accomplished movements relevant or progress the story forward, which was the only thing keeping them from making this outstanding.

Pushing these few issues to the side, this was still a delightful show. The set design from Becky Minto was incredibly inventive – on par with the originality coming from the performers. With a Christmas tree made out of lamps, falling snow and fairy lights, this unusual Christmas truly looked magical. In its own way, The Ramshackle House made me leave with a readiness for Christmas Day, excited for when I can be with friends and family, prepared to argue, accept and adapt in a similar way presented in the show.

 

Reviewed by Phoebe Cole

Photography by Mark Robson

 

 

The Ramshackle House

is at Stratford Circus Arts Centre until 24th December

 

Ramshackle

 

 

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