White Bear Theatre Archives - Page 9 of 19

Reformation

White Bear Theatre

Reviewed – 27th June 2019

★★★

“a play with bold intentions, but let down by a certain tone and execution”

James Martin Charlton’s new play ‘Reformation’ certainly would not make it before the watershed. This shocking and often disturbing play tackles the topics of predatory sex, religion and control. It is set in Berlin in 1529 at the peak of the tensions during the Reformation.

Some of the more aristocratic characters are rooted in real life figures, such as Protestant artist Lucas Cranach and the Elector of Brandenburg. However, Martin Charlton describes his work as ‘a speculation’ or ‘dream’ of fictional interactions between historical characters and more lowly, invented ones.

The story has several interweaving strands, linked by smooth lighting changes between scenes. Its story centres around a budding romance between peasant girl ‘Ava’, and the son of famous painter Lucas Cranach. Alongside this, we see the morally corrupt Elector, who is advised by the Bishop to commission a painting by Cranach showing the evil possibilities of sexual promiscuity. Cranach offers Ava the opportunity to model for his new artwork, entitled ‘The Rape of Lucrece’. When the Elector falls in love with the girl in the image, we see Cranach’s loyalties conflicted as he must choose whether to sell his son’s peasant lover.

Martin Charlton attempts to show the underbelly of Reformation society unfortunately fall flat. Ava (Alice De- Warrenne) is infantilised and manipulated by the men around her. It is uncomfortable to watch much older actor’s view her naked and consistently touch her throughout the performance. Jason Wing’s performance as Cranach is somewhat one dimensional – flitting between emotionally flat and uncontrolled shouting. The explicit sexual content is a distraction, from what might otherwise be a very interesting look into the lives of those not usually seen. In the wake of the #MeToo movement, the consistently misogynist rhetoric and lack of a strong female lead, felt exploitative.

Director Janice Dunn takes cues from the script and sets the play in an ambiguous time frame. The costumes range from hoodies and leather jackets to waistcoats and robes to create a sense that this is certainly not 1529. Additionally, a range of music from different time periods is used between scene transitions. This is done to make the story appear relevant to the modern audience. However, it makes the dated ideals shown even more at odds with today’s cultural politics. Dunn’s direction also makes the role of the audience unclear. As you enter, the actors are positioned frozen, ignoring the audience’s arrival. The audience settle in as the spy on the wall. As the play continues, there are then odd moments in which actors suddenly appear to see audience members again, shattering the illusion that was once created.

A more positive note about this production is its use of lighting (Anna Reddyhoff) and set design (Lucy Bond). The pale sparse staging is complemented by the continually changing palate of lighting colours. It not only mirrors the feelings of the scene, but also helps to change the settings, clarifying the action.

All in all, this is a play with bold intentions, but let down by a certain tone and execution.

Reviewed by Emily Morris

Photography by Max Williams

Reformation

White Bear Theatre until 13th July

Previously reviewed at this venue:

Grimm’s Fairy Tales | ★★ | April 2018

The Old Room | ★★ | April 2018

The Unnatural Tragedy | ★★★★★ | July 2018

Schrodinger’s Dog | ★★★★ | November 2018

Franz Kafka – Apparatus | ★★★ | January 2019

The Project | ★★★ | March 2019

Click here to see more of our latest reviews on thespyinthestalls.com

★★★

“whilst the execution isn’t quite as slick as it could be, Watts has done well in discovering a long-discarded play which speaks volumes to a modern audience”

Director Graham Watts’ mission is commendable: he is seeking out the works of women playwrights that have never seen the light of day; not lost works, but rather those plays that were never even found. And in ‘Garry’, written way back in 1954, he has discovered a story with plenty of meat for a twenty-first century audience.

Wilma (Phebe Alys), a doting newlywed, is so completely devoted to her husband Garry (Thomas Martin) that she fails to see past what he tells her, to who he truly is. This is due in large part to the fact that he doesn’t know either. Decades ahead of her time, Sophie Treadwell contemplates the psychological trauma caused by believing homosexuality to be “dirty”, and the potentially lethal repercussions of denying who you are and what you want. Peggy (Claire Bowman), Garry’s sister, adds another interesting component as a happy prostitute, considering her work as a means to sating her own appetite.

Unfortunately, whilst the content of the play has some interesting elements, it’s hard to suspend disbelief owing to the obvious immense concentration required by most of the cast to hold on to their American accents. Phebe Alys is an exception however, consistent in both her sweet southern cadence and her commitment to her character’s intense vulnerability. She lays it on a little thick in parts, but it suits the slightly over-dramatic style of the era.

The soundtrack (Stuart Bowditch) acts as more of a prop, consisting mostly of whatever radio channel the characters tune in to, that is until the closing scene. The lights come down to a hopeful piano sonata as Alys and Matthew Wellard (playing Dave Andrews, a journalist and interested party) look on dreamily over an imaginary horizon, tying everything up in to a neat little ending as though to say, everything’s going to be alright now. Not to give the game away too much, but I’m not sure that’s true… I mean, someone was murdered, and someone else was waving a gun around threatening to kill a stranger only a moment before.

But whilst the execution isn’t quite as slick as it could be, Watts has done well in discovering a long-discarded play which speaks volumes to a modern audience. Perhaps this is the beginning of a Sophie Treadwell revival; I look forward to seeing what other exciting works her peers didn’t appreciate.

Reviewed by Miriam Sallon

Photography by Ali Wright

White Bear Theatre

Reviewed – 27th June 2019

★★★

“a play with bold intentions, but let down by a certain tone and execution”

James Martin Charlton’s new play ‘Reformation’ certainly would not make it before the watershed. This shocking and often disturbing play tackles the topics of predatory sex, religion and control. It is set in Berlin in 1529 at the peak of the tensions during the Reformation.

All in all, this is a play with bold intentions, but let down by a certain tone and execution.

Reviewed by Emily Morris

Photography by Max Williams

Reformation

White Bear Theatre until 13th July

Previously reviewed at this venue:

White Bear Theatre

Reviewed – 6th June 2019

★★★

“whilst the execution isn’t quite as slick as it could be, Watts has done well in discovering a long-discarded play which speaks volumes to a modern audience”

Reviewed by Miriam Sallon

Photography by Ali Wright

Garry

White Bear Theatre until 22nd June

Previously reviewed at this venue: