Terence Eden's Dress Circle
Terence Eden has seen 3 shows and has 0 shows on their FollowSpot
Aging theatre kid
1
Cabaret
Now PlayingCabaret
Now PlayingI'd seen the movie. I'd seen a student production. But nothing could have prepared me for the visceral reality of seeing Cabaret live on stage. It seems that theatre producers have finally realised that audiences want an immersive experience which simply can't be replicated sat at home with NetFlix on. The entrance to the theatre is via a door tucked away from the main theatre foyer. Down down down you descend, grabbing a complimentary beer or schnapps - until you enter a seedy little bar. The girls of the club strut around you, a jazz musician plays while a dancer performs their (deliberately) underwhelming gyrations. Is this Laurie Penny's famed "ironic erection"? The bar pulsates with bodies as the female audience members push their way to the front of the show. As you explore further, through multiple bars, the androgynous dancers cavort - mostly treating the gawping tourists with the disdain we so richly deserve. Cabaret isn't designed to make you feel psychologically comfortable. As for physical comfort… The theatre auditorium has been completely revamped. Again, producers have realised that audiences have comfy sofas at home and don't want to pay West End prices for hard seats with no leg room. Seating is spacious and well cushioned. Honestly, this is the first time in my theatre-going life that my long legs haven't been cramped during the performance. Similarly, no one wants to spend the interval queuing for a solitary lavatory. Instead there are plenty of cubicals - all gender-neutral as befits the show. All of which, along with the COVID pass checking, goes to make for one of the most pleasant theatre trips I've had in a long time. The entire audience journey has been thought about and made to feel as special as possible. As we begin our slow journey back to normality, audiences will demand a feeling of safety and comfort in order to make it worth going out. But, more than that, they want the entertainment to start from the moment they cross the threshold. This is mere preamble, of course. What's the show like? Stunning. Cabaret has an eternal quality. I don't intend to dissect the themes of queer-outsiders battling against the forces of convention. But it is maddening just how relevant it is to 2022. Amy Lennox is the first Sally Bowls I've seen who is bad at singing! Sally isn't meant to be Liza Minelli belting out the hits. She's an indifferent singer in a crappy club singing for people too drunk to care. The way Lennox manages to get the accent just wrong enough, and the timing just a little bit out of kilter, is stunning. It takes real skill to sing badly this well. And, once she's off the KitKat Club's stage, her vocal prowess shines through. The whole cast are outstanding. Theatre in the round often means you're staring at the back of the actor's head half the time. But the staging and direction is so inventive that it is impossible to remain out of eye-line for long. The orchestra is split down both sides of the auditorium - which gives a wonderful sense of stereo to the music. Something which is sorely lacking in most shows. Even in our precariously high seats, far away from the stage, it felt like an intimate and dangerous performance. It is hard to straddle the line between glamour and gratuitous - but this manages it well. The performers - whether he, she, or they - ooze sensuality and vulnerability. Similarly, the costumes are provocative without being explicit. The whole experience - from start to finish - was extraordinary. It wasn't quite immersive theatre (although if you paid for ringside tables, it probably is) but it feels like you're part of the show. You're complicit. I hope this runs for ages. It is a direct demonstration of the way an old theatre - and an old show - can be repurposed for the modern age.
That price. YOUCH!
2
There was a delightful end-of-term feel to this show. It was few days before the last performance and the cast were clearly having a lot of fun heckling back at the unruly audience. If you've seen any of the "Goes Wrong" shows on TV, you'll know exactly what to expect. A group of over-enthusiastic but under-equipped performers attempt the impossible and fail in a variety of stunning ways. It was a heady mix of pantomime, farce, silliness, and genuinely lovely magic. Having seen Penn and Teller live in Vegas several years ago, it was interesting to spot the tricks and tropes that they brought to the show. I never got to see Tommy Cooper live. But I wore out the videotapes I had, watching him fail at trick after trick until - miraculously - he pulled off something incredible. That's exactly what I got from Magic Goes Wrong. Everything fell apart until - as if by magic - it all came together. I've seen the Mischief troupe a few times, and it is very welcome that they've become a bit more diverse in the last few years. Every cast member seems thoroughly happy to debase themselves in the name of comedy. Every line is delivered as though they are a Serious Actor™ which just amps up the giggles from the audience. Which, naturally, means that the end is perfectly sentimental without being schmaltzy. The show is on tour now throughout the UK and, if you're in need of a laugh during these dark times, I urge you to grab a ticket.
It's *exactly* the same formula as all their other shows. That's not a bad thing - but you do know exactly what's going to happen.
3
Ocean is... breathtaking. As is foreshadowed in the first few minutes, it is like a stage version of The Dark Crystal. An explosion of supernatural weirdness, eerie music, and baffling puppetry. It's also full of subtle magic. I mean that literally. Props appear in the blink of an eye, characters change without you noticing, the whole set comes alive. It is reminiscent of "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child". Except it's actually good! Whereas Cursed Child threw all its tricks onto the stage to distract you from the huge running time (and cost!), Ocean uses stagecraft and magic to charm and mesmerise you. I found the first part of the first half to be a little... stilted. It felt very "stage-school drama". Histrionic teenagers, emotionally distant dads, significant pauses. It is all, thankfully, in service of a larger story. As it progresses, it gets stranger and stranger. The theatre comes alive. It is balletic without being a ballet. You could imagine it on a stage twice the size, with cast of hundreds, and pyrotechnics - but it is charmingly effective nestled in the Duke of Yorks theatre. It feels like every nook and cranny of the set and auditorium is put to good use. The cast are stunning. Grace Hogg-Robinson is the epitome of annoying sibling - like a commedia dell'arte stock character come to life. Laura Rogers is malevolence personified. As for Nia Towle - I can't believe this is her debut! She absolutely dominates the stage. The whole cast are superb - both in their acting and the way they interact with the set. The puppetry is genuinely astonishing.
I found the first part of the first half to be a little... stilted. It felt very "stage-school drama". Histrionic teenagers, emotionally distant dads, significant pauses. It is all, thankfully, in service of a larger story.
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