Tag Archives: Rob Tomlinson

JULIUS CAESAR

★★★

Southwark Playhouse Borough

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JULIUS CAESAR at Southwark Playhouse Borough

★★★

“Overall, this is an exciting if imperfect production”

Icarus Theatre’s new production of this Shakesperean historical tragedy brings the story of conspiracy and the murder of Rome’s would-be first emperor into a dystopian near future, where technology has advanced further that we can imagine and is omnipresent in the fabric of the city and our lives.

The play opens with Marullus (Angus Dunican) presenting a diatribe against Caesar (Will Travis) projected onto one of the three movable and openable cylinders that form the stage. His delivery is reminiscent of a YouTube live stream with comments from viewers appearing below his head and is clearly an allusion towards the media climate of the present day, in which social media moulds politics. In this way, the production immediately foregrounds its innovative use of technology, including multiple levels of projection, messages being delivered directly to characters, as via instant messaging apps, as well as surtitles styled like chat boxes that rearrange themselves to follow the actors’ position on stage. Political language in the style of online discourse (#notmyemperor) is projected onto the background, demonstrative of the opinions of the population of Rome to the events happening at the highest levels of society. The surtitles are an excellent addition and improve the accessibility of a work that adheres closely to Shakespeare’s beautiful, if knotty, verse. Their inclusion also creates a production that is equally open to deaf and hearing audiences, a key aim of Icarus Theatre, which is to be commended.

Other choices around the use of technology are less effective, however. The decision to have Caesar appear only as a Big Brother-style projection, including in the moment of his death, serves to highlight the way he has elevated himself above the Roman people, but makes less sense when he is visited in his home – if he were so clearly aloof with everyone, would the rabble-rousing speech made by Mark Antony (James Heatlie) in the wake of his death have had the same impact? Nevertheless, the creative team including director Max Lewendel, projection designer Will Monks, and creative captioning consultant Samantha Baines deserve a lot of credit for this strikingly new production.

The costumes have a retro-sci-fi feel, with long hair, dark eye makeup, and baggy, almost punky clothes, which some will love. The casting also breaks with tradition: many of Shakespeare’s male characters are played by women including Brutus (Rowan Winter), Trebonius (Eleanor Crosswell), and Caius Ligarius (Yvonne Grundy), and there are frequent scenes of queer intimacy, challenging traditional notions of heteronormativity.

The main cast of eleven, with many multi-rolling, is good and standouts performers include Michael Skellern as a sensitive and jealous Cassius, James Heatlie as the loyal and persuasive Mark Antony, and Gabrielle Sheppard as Casca and Portia, Brutus’s wife – a role to which she brings great emotional resonance while the couple discuss Brutus’s withdrawal from their relationship.

Overall, this is an exciting if imperfect production. The use of technology, especially the surtitles to improve accessibility, as well as the challenges to traditional ideas of gender and sexuality is to be lauded. However, at times the production techniques prove to be somewhat distracting. It could be also argued that the text of the play itself already contains the necessary material to assess today’s political climate – from gifted orators riling up the crowds to the machinations of an elite far removed the general population – without the gestures towards an enhanced social media-like commentar


JULIUS CAESAR at Southwark Playhouse Borough

Reviewed on 13th September 2024

by Rob Tomlinson

Photography by Adrian Warner

 

 

 

 

 

 

Previously reviewed at Southwark Playhouse venues

DORIAN: THE MUSICAL | ★★½ | July 2024
THE BLEEDING TREE | ★★★★ | June 2024
FUN AT THE BEACH ROMP-BOMP-A-LOMP!! | ★★★ | May 2024
MAY 35th | ★★★½ | May 2024
SAPPHO | ★★ | May 2024
CAPTAIN AMAZING | ★★★★★ | May 2024
WHY I STUCK A FLARE UP MY ARSE FOR ENGLAND | ★★★★★ | April 2024
SHERLOCK HOLMES: THE VALLEY OF FEAR | ★★½ | March 2024
POLICE COPS: THE MUSICAL | ★★★★ | March 2024
CABLE STREET – A NEW MUSICAL | ★★★ | February 2024

JULIUS CAESAR

JULIUS CAESAR

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KIRILL RICHTER – THE SANDS OF TIME

★★★½

London Coliseum

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KIRILL RICHTER – THE SANDS OF TIME at the London Coliseum

★★★½

“an engaging evening of music”

Kirill Richter, the charismatic pianist, composer and band leader, brings his trio back to London for a one-night immersive multimedia experience in the grand surroundings of the London Coliseum. He is supported by the members of his trio, violinist Alena Zinovieva and cellist August Krepak, as well as the National Symphony Orchestra of Uzbekistan.

The performance’s first section combines projected backdrops of a variety of images with the music and other sound effects. The projections range from abstract points that gesture towards galaxies, to mountain tops and waves breaking on shore, and the intricate interior workings of machines and gears, and accompany the minimalist-inflected piano trio music that is interspersed with extracts of poetry and the sounds of birds that act as connective tissue between movements.

While the performance is billed as multimedia, it is clearly the music that is the driving force, and indeed it is musically that the piece is best. Richter’s short, instrumental movements wax and wane, gaining volume and momentum before ebbing away again. His rhythmic playing echoes the ticking of a clock or the trickle of sand passing through an hourglass and the string players’ extensive use of pizzicato produces a compelling interplay with the piano. Against the trio’s more limited instrumentation, the background images add further depth, often juxtaposing the metrical time of the musicians with the flow of geological and astronomical eons.

The instrumentalists themselves are virtuosic, and Richter and Zinovieva each take their opportunities to shine. Richter is an engaging and sensitive pianist, the centripetal organising force of the work, and a moment in which Zinovieva stands up to emphasise the temporary predominance of the violin is a high point, allowing to foreground her exquisite playing. Nevertheless, the star is cellist Krepak. He is the most expressive of the three, possessed by music he convulses to the rhythm, his hair flying, while remaining consistently note-perfect. He also employees the most unconventional techniques. Striking the body of the cello like a percussion instrument he produces sounds that recall a ticking clock, dragging the bow up the strings he generates an eerie and unplaceable sound that complements the mesmeric, shifting backgrounds. He is consistently engaging to watch and listen to and adds a further element to the performance.

For the second half, the trio are joined by members of the Uzbekistan National Symphony Orchestra. A large string section, some brass, and orchestral and traditional percussion are led by conductor Alibek Kabdurakhmanov, who is an energetic presence, controlling the volume, timbre, and feel of the orchestra as they work with the Richter trio. The projections in the second half are less meditative than they are imposing, with flames, storms and explosions forming the visual context to a range of more expansive and dynamic pieces. Although this parallels the increased strength of the music aided by the numerous musicians, it feels less well integrated than the first half. The orchestra can stand alone without the need for the multimedia dimension, and the visuals add little to their playing.

The show culminates with a beautifully haunting vocal performance by Nodira Pirmatova, who joins the musicians for the final piece. This returns to the less strident, and to my mind, stronger mood of the earlier pieces and is a fitting end to an engaging evening of music.


KIRILL RICHTER – THE SANDS OF TIME at the London Coliseum

Reviewed on 11th September 2024

by Rob Tomlinson

Photography by Alexander Plotnikov

 

 


 

 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

SWAN LAKE | ★★½ | August 2024
THE MONGOL KHAN | ★★★★★ | November 2023

KIRILL RICHTER

KIRILL RICHTER

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