“charmingly explores the joys and trials of these relationships, but was lacking that zip needed to really lift it”
Next time you’re on the Jubilee line, stop off at the library next to Canada Water station. There, along with a good collection of books and a cute café, you can go into a fantastic theatre space. Both large and comfortable, and properly rigged for lighting, Canada Water Theatre is an excellent space to put on a show, a sentiment which Two Gents Productions clearly share. Their production of ‘The Incident’ is playing here, and it is a relationship drama about Jan and Monica. Both teach at the same school, both live in Sweden and both are seemingly in love with each other. The big difference: Jan is Swedish and Monica is from Zimbabwe. The play tackles the couples’ struggles to communicate and understand each other, as well as wider social issues concerning racial politics in Sweden and indeed globally.
The two actors both held their own in this two-hander; however it was Cassandra Hercules playing the part of Monica who really shone. She had the difficult task of articulating racial struggle in a way that wasn’t cliché or too bleak. She was successful, as her whole performance was rich with physical energy and clear connection to her thoughts. David Weiss’ Jan was a much more stuck up and stiff character than Monica, however there were moments where I felt his character came across as particularly cold and cruel, especially when ‘consoling’ Monica when she was upset over past racial prejudices she had experienced.
In terms of the writing, there seemed to be a lot of significance weighted onto lines with clear messages, and not as much attention on the subtext and moments in between. Joakim Daun’s award-winning script has a few of these moments of unnecessary exposition, filling the audience in on information that we can get simply through good direction and use of the space. The scene where Jan informs Monica of her suspension from work was an excellent example of using distance between the actors and fast pace to create energy and plenty of subtext. It would have been fantastic if this quality was present throughout the piece.
The play is an international one, and has been performed all over the world. In the lobby before the show I was able to witness a wonderful mixing of cultures, as Swedish and African audience members were meeting and discussing the upcoming show. The piece charmingly explores the joys and trials of these relationships, but was lacking that zip needed to really lift it.
“artistic lighting creates a snug, clandestine ambience, with resourceful and imaginative scene changes”
Far from 1850s Paris, we enter through the sleazy glow and pulsating bass of the King’s Head Theatre into present day England for a new take on Verdi’s ‘La Traviata’. Stripping the story to its core and adapting four main roles to fit the update, Becca Marriott and Helena Jackson recreate the life of Violetta as a pole-dancer who chances upon Elijah (Alfredo in the original), reluctantly dragged by his father into the club where she works, and finds true love. Although a chunk of Alfredo’s story of male friendship and rivalry has been omitted, this adaptation adheres to the original idea of social reputation by making Elijah’s father anxious for his own political career (rather than unable to marry off his daughter) and he manages to persuade Violetta to leave his son. The ending moves away from the melodramatic tableau of the heroine dying in her lover’s arms, to an angry re-encounter of the couple and, while clinging on to his image, her decision to find her own freedom.
The combination of Amanda Mascarenhas’s red-tinged set and Nic Farman’s artistic lighting creates a snug, clandestine ambience, with resourceful and imaginative scene changes. In contrast to the grandiose, full-scale productions, this one concentrates on the intense relationships between four of the opera’s characters, Panaretos Kyriatzidis’ arrangement of the orchestral score for solo piano working well as an accompaniment. Oliver Brignall’s expressive tenor tones capture the changing moods of Elijah – nervous, enamoured, angry, impassioned. However, the strident power of Becca Marriott’s singing dominates the occasional duets they have. Talented as both librettist and soprano, she interprets Violetta with anguish and desire but could shape the music with more variety of dynamics and articulation. The intricacy of the coloratura in ‘Sempre libera’ is lost and we miss the spiritual quality of her final scene. Michael Georgiou as Sinclair, Elijah’s father, is the only one to compete with Marriott in volume with his strong yet lyrical voice. He adds a light-hearted mood at the beginning and, later, unnerving persuasion with Violetta and Elijah. Flora (Gemma Morsley) commands the stage as she oversees her nightclub but, despite showing her true vocal potential in a couple of instances, she is barely audible in the group passages.
Verdi’s ensemble writing is such an important part of his operas. The threads of the plot weave together and the parts need to be balanced to be able to appreciate the narrative and the music. A readjustment in certain sections would give everyone a chance to be heard. This ‘Traviata’ may not have the uplifting contrast of the big choruses or the intrigue of the sub plots, but its contemporary slant and abundance of wonderful arias make it an enjoyable taster for those unfamiliar with opera.
