Tag Archives: Harry Armytage

A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol

★★★★

Watermill Theatre

A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol

Watermill Theatre

Reviewed – 5th December 2020

★★★★

 

“a play that leaves its audience with such an infectious sense of joy”

 

A Christmas Carol – it’s a story many of us know so well. Based on Charles Dickens’ novel, the Watermill Theatre’s Christmas production is a charming and moving retelling of the famous tale. “A story is a candle in a dark place,” begins our narrator moments before the candle floats in front of us. We are assured that this tale will be a magical one. When Scrooge’s long dead business partner appears in his bedroom, weighed down by chains, he tells Scrooge that three ghosts will come to him, the ghost of Christmas past, present and Christmas yet to come. Across the course of the evening, Christmas Eve to be specific, the three ghosts visit the miserly Ebeneezer Scrooge to show him what life lived in greed will bring him, and to remind him of how he became the man he is today . This is a story of the human capacity to change for the better and it is a heart-warming watch. Danielle Pearson’s adaptation, directed by Georgie Straight, pivots around this sense of a second chance. It is a touching and universal story, full of the harshness of life and the joy of it.

The show is a two-hander, and our two actors Pete Ashmore and Tilly-Mae Millbrook handle their many parts with ease. Ashmore’s Scrooge undergoes an incredibly moving transformation, from the gruff, merciless man we first meet to the joyfully energetic and generous figure the play ends with. Millbrook as the Narrator is warm and playful, bringing the audience into her tale. Between them they also play everyone else, made unrecognisable by a change of accent and a floral scarf. Designed by Emily Barratt, each costume detail denoting a different character is vivid and sufficient.

The set, which features dark bricks and hanging washing, is designed by Isobel Nicholson. A piano is disguised as Bob Cratchitt’s desk branded with Scrooge and Marley’s sign. Several of the ghosts are created through set – a lantern reimagined and a cloaked shape falling from the ceiling. Creating such a multi-role show with only two actors could have proved a real challenge, but the show has been conceived in such a way – through script, costume and design, that we never want for more actors than we have onstage. Clever sound design by Tom Marshall creates the sense of bustling streets and heightens each ghost’s arrival. Harry Armytage’s lighting design is equally clever: two windows at the back of the stage are lit and filled with silouhettes from the cobwebs of Camden to groups of party guests gathered together.

The show is punctuated with beautiful harmonised renditions of classic Christmas songs which the actors sing and accompany themselves, on violin, clarinet and piano. Both are accomplished players and Ashmore’s violin playing is particularly impressive and evocative.

Every element of this show is lovely, well made, detailed, delivered by a faultless cast and creative team. The Watermill Theatre handles the Covid-19 restrictions fantastically and patiently, and it is a pleasure to be back in a theatre again, especially to see a play that leaves its audience with such an infectious sense of joy and the possibility of human nature.

 

Reviewed by Amelia Brown

Photography by Pamela Raith

 


A Christmas Carol

Watermill Theatre until 3rd January

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:
Murder For Two | ★★★★ | February 2019
Macbeth | ★★★ | March 2019
Amélie | ★★★★★ | April 2019
The Importance Of Being Earnest | ★★★★ | May 2019
Assassins | ★★★★★ | September 2019
The Wicker Husband | ★★★★★ | March 2020
Lone Flyer | ★★★★ | October 2020

 

Click here to see our most recent reviews

 

Lone Flyer

Lone Flyer

★★★★

Watermill Theatre

Lone Flyer

Lone Flyer

Watermill Theatre

Reviewed – 24th October 2020

★★★★

 

“The Watermill once again proves it deserves its long held reputation for inventive productions with this pacey and enchanting show”

 

The magic of theatre lives on at the second indoor show staged post-lockdown by the Watermill Theatre at Newbury. This socially distanced two-hander is another creative success for the celebrated theatre which is buried deep in the rustic Berkshire countryside.

This revival of Ade Morris’s affectionate tribute to the first woman to fly the Pacific alone is told as a series of entertaining vignettes taken from the life of the pioneering Hull-born aviatrix, played by Hannah Edwards with an engaging radiance. Her shining characterisation of the determined young flyer has a winning quality which is well-matched by the performance of Benedict Salter (billed just as ‘The Man’) who zippily takes on some nine or so supporting roles, including a head scarf-wearing landlady and Amy’s dashing husband Jim Mollison. He also plays a kind of painful threnody on the ‘cello which makes a bridge between the lighter episodes and the airborne unravelling which leads to her end.

Together the two performers give a fascinating portrayal of what it was to be the world’s first celebrity flying couple, who could expect crowds eight deep when they flew in after each new pioneering airborne achievement.

The prelude to Amy Johnson’s tragic end on a relatively mundane flight from Prestwick to Oxford in January 1941 forms the backbone of the show which benefits from a nicely nuanced stage and lighting design (Isobel Nicholson and Harry Armytage). The stage is not quite a black box but rather one of confining grey brick walls out of which Amy must climb to find her angels up in the sky. Amy’s aeroplane is evoked by a cleverly simple wheeled trolley which also serves as a typewriter carriage in a scene about her unhappy time in a typing pool.

A powerful soundtrack and some smart sound design (Jamie Kubisch-Wiles and Thom Townsend) both contribute to the success of the show.

As Director Lucy Betts comments in the programme, Amy Johnson was a beacon of hope, not just for the women that were able to follow her example but also for all who were inspired by her ability to pursue her dreams to the very end.

The Watermill once again proves it deserves its long held reputation for inventive productions with this pacey and enchanting show.

 

Reviewed by David Woodward

Photography by Pamela Raith

 


Lone Flyer

Watermill Theatre until 21st November

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:
Murder For Two | ★★★★ | February 2019
Amélie | ★★★★★ | April 2019
Macbeth | ★★★ | March 2019
The Importance Of Being Earnest | ★★★★ | May 2019
Assassins | ★★★★★ | September 2019
The Wicker Husband | ★★★★★ | March 2020

 

Click here to see our most recent reviews