Tag Archives: Emily Woodward

BOATMAN TOWN

★★★★★

Touring pubs in Oxfordshire and London

BOATMAN TOWN at Isis Farmhouse 

★★★★★

“a delightful evening, skilfully performed by a great ensemble, proof positive of the magic of theatre”

The moon was full and the air icy as we made our way back to the car tonight. Thick mist was rising towards us and angry water swirled beneath our feet as we crossed the river. Few theatre trips are quite as atmospheric as a walk to the Thames-side Isis Farmhouse in Oxford, one of several pubs in Oxfordshire, Hertfordshire and London chosen by Creation Theatre company for their bold and engaging new play, ‘Boatman Town’.

Creation are Oxfordshire’s largest producing theatre company, specialising in adapting classic texts in unusual locations. They employ a cast of full-time actors.

Award-winning poet, playwright and librettist Glyn Maxwell wrote this contemporary story as a response to the medieval play ‘The Summoning of Everyman’. In the late 15th century original, Death summons Everyman, who stands for all of us humans, to give an account of his life as he must face final judgement in Heaven. Everyman asks for companions on their journey, but who amongst their friends will choose to go with them?

 

 

This religiously inspired morality play has been inventively transformed by both Glyn Maxwell and the company into a pacey tale of a group of boozy holidaymakers stuck in an English-themed bar on a mysterious foreign island. Tonight it was performed in the centre of one of the pub’s function rooms by a strong cast of seven, with us audience members very much part of the story. Director Helen Eastman and seven fine performers ensure that even in this unusual space – without stage lights or sets – our attention is always held.

Anna Tolputt as Yvonn opens the evening with a beautifully written and rendered monologue which immediately sets up the proposition for a show which runs for just over an hour. It might not have been immediately apparent to all watching, but she is the central character of the medieval original: Everyman, or Anyone as the playwright describes her.

Highly experienced movement director Sam Rayner has a pivotal role as the mysterious waiter who gives orders as much as he takes them. Ailsa Joy gives a spirited performance as Amelia. Alongside Herb Cuanolo as the big man Denny she discovers that something about the English Pub is not quite what it seems. Miranda Foster is the older woman Elaine and Nicholas Osmond the money-minded and enigmatic businessman Nick.

Every one of the pub’s customers – both the characters and their audience – will be tested in this captivating show which demands our active engagement. It was a delightful evening, skilfully performed by a great ensemble, proof positive of the magic of theatre.


BOATMAN TOWN at Isis Farmhouse

Reviewed on 24th February 2024

by David Woodward

Photography by Geraint Lewis

 

Boatman Town is touring pubs in Oxfordshire and London  – click here for full details

 


Other Creation Theatre shows:

THE ALCHEMIST | ★★★★ | Mathematical Institute | October 2023
ROMEO AND JULIET | ★★★½ | Online | May 2021

BOATMAN TOWN

BOATMAN TOWN

Click here to see our Recommended Shows page

 

The Alchemist

The Alchemist

★★★★

Mathematical Institute Oxford University

THE ALCHEMIST at the Mathematical Institute Oxford University

★★★★

The Alchemist

“Director Anna Tolputt has successfully transformed this 17th century drama into an immediate and accessible theatrical experience that is great fun for the audience”

There are a few benefits to reviewing plays but having money chucked at you by the performers (as happened to your reviewer tonight) isn’t usually one of them. The stage cash was returned and although I can’t guarantee this exact kind of audience participation if you go along to see Creation Theatre’s take on The Alchemist, I can promise an enjoyable evening with plenty of audience engagement with an enthusiastic and committed cast. And you may even be asked to take custody of an inflatable doll.

A maths institute common room becomes a swanky penthouse (designer Delphine Du Barry) and a view of the dreaming spires stands in for London in this pacey updating of Ben Jonson’s most popular comedy which gleefully and timelessly satirises human greed and fallibility. The play was first performed in 1610, not far from its current venue. At that time the Puritans and the Plague were clamping down on dangerous pleasures like theatre and Oxford academics were banned from attending – but even so it was a hit. It has continued to be regularly performed since late Victorian times. Some historical aspects, such as Jonson’s very understandable critique of the Puritans, may have been lost in this particular translation, but his zest for progressively more manic comedy shines in a smart update in which the Black Death is replaced by a more contemporary pandemic.

Make no mistake, this is a wordy play which keeps up its fairly hectic pace throughout the evening. Jonson follows the classical convention of unity in action, time and place, giving the piece a sharp focus. Sometimes unfamiliar words flow rapidly. It’s language with a feisty and raw quality quite unlike the lyrical beauty of familiar speeches by Jonson’s contemporary and rival William Shakespeare.

Creation Theatre are renowned for their original performances of classic theatre in unusual locations. Director Anna Tolputt has successfully transformed this 17th century drama into an immediate and accessible theatrical experience that is great fun for the audience. A talented ensemble consisting of Herb Cuanalo, Clive Duncan, Nicholas Osmond, Claire Redcliffe and Emily Woodward each take on three or more roles, with Cuanalo, Osmond and Woodward making up a tight knit trio of quick changing con artists that gleefully gull victims played by the talented Clive Duncan and Claire Redcliffe.


THE ALCHEMIST at the Mathematical Institute Oxford University

Reviewed on 13th October 2023

by David Woodward

Photography by Les Gordon

 

 

The Alchemist will play in London from 27 – 29 October at V.O Gallery, W1S, Click on image below for further details

 

 

 

 

More From This Reviewer:

 

Alone Together | ★★★★ | Theatre Royal Windsor | August 2023
Henry I | ★★★★★ | Reading Abbey Ruins | June 2023
Mansfield Park | ★★★★ | Watermill Theatre Newbury | June 2023
Hedda Gabler | ★★★★★ | Reading Rep Theatre | February 2023
Cybil Service | ★★★★ | VAULT Festival 2023 | January 2023

The Alchemist

The Alchemist

Click here to read all our latest reviews