Top Girls

I didn’t have a clue what was going on in the first act of Top Girls. A Thatcherite career woman (Suranne Jones) having dinner in a swanky 80’s restaurant with a female Pope, Isabella Bird and a range of other historical characters.

Funny and moving as well as bewildering, we hear their stories and learn about their various sacrifices. So, at the first interval we spent some time trying to get to grips with things, despite the poor light and lack of reading glasses which meant I couldn’t cheat by reading the programme. I needn’t have worried as the second and third acts made things crystal clear. Classic political theatre, with the points hammered home, it was still satisfyingly thought provoking, and with great performances from the ensemble cast who each took a range of complementary roles. Written and set in the eighties, the most striking things were sadly, not how much has changed, but how little.

Not one to go for if you are planning an escapist cheery girls night out, but certainly one to make you pause and think a bit. I’d be taking a daughter if I had one, although perhaps, thinking about it, it would be more useful to take my sons.

Much Ado About Nothing

With a cast like this it really shouldn’t fail, but of course you can never be sure, so I am glad to report that this was a great night out as anticipated.

Not the deepest version I have ever seen, but for laughs, one of the best. The double act of David Tennant and Catherine Tate certainly paid off, and Tennant’s undoubted comic abilities meant that he shone, and probably would have done so regardless of the golf buggy, slapstick and lacy tights. It's also good to see Catherine Tate coming into her own as an actor, and although she has a way to go before the television stereotyping is left behind, I think she has a lot of potential for more serious stuff if she wants it.

There have been a few criticisms, mostly based around the populism of this version, and particularly the verse speaking, where the laughs seem more important than the sense, but I think the purists are missing the point. As one of the original romantic comedies it seems a bit churlish to grumble about a version that focuses on the froth.

That doesn’t mean that the problematic Don John plot wasn’t dealt with head on though. By leaving us in no doubt about what Claudio has seen, the showdown in the church sat better than some other versions, although it still jars a bit. The introduction of a mother for Hero was less effective though. It didn’t really seem to make much difference to me, apart from to make the feeble interventions in the abortive wedding seem even more feeble. It also downgraded the friendship between Beatrice and Hero, which made the ‘kill Claudio’ scene even more unexpected.

But, these are tiny gripes for what was a brilliant example of how to do joyful and fun theatre. ‘Glee does Shakespeare’? Yes. But did it capture the essence of ‘Much Ado About Nothing’? Yes, it did.

Although painfully expensive at £61 per ticket, I think this was actually worth every penny, and the Lily Savage wig and inventive use of paint will keep me going for some time.

Rocket to the Moon

I have a lovely 'I told you so' glow after seeing Jessica Raine delivering a storming performance as Cleo, opposite Joseph Millson in Rocket to the Moon at the Lyttelton.

Keeley Hawes was replaced by Rendah Heywood for this performance, and although she did well, I think we may have lost some of the extra frisson that the similarities in physical form and apparent fragilities between the two female leads may have brought to the piece.

Millson was totally believable as the man caught between his dreams and reality, and the other characters with their different quiet desperations were all played perfectly. Raine though, caught exactly the mixture of vulnerable but vampish girl/woman, like an early Marilyn Monroe caught between the desires of men and what she wants to become.

Loved it!

The Cherry Orchard

Despite my best efforts I find it a bit difficult to find the laughs in Chekhov, but decided on the spur of the moment to give the latest version at the Olivier a try, especially as there were front row day seats available.

The production sits a bit out of its time, with telephones and electricity pylons decorating the set, and it sort of brought the play forward to a post revolutionary time, rather than the pre-revolutionary era in which it was written. It helped to create the feeling of a group of people out of synch with their times, floating through the world on a haze of orchards, borrowed money and pale linen.

The text had been brought up to date for this production, and although it occasionally jarred, it did bring the humour to the fore, and clarified the caricatures a bit. The frocks were lovely and I spent quite a few minutes admiring the cut and fabrics, particularly in the overlong scene in the gardens.

Zoe Wanamaker did strike a few classic tragic Chekhovian poses, but overall was quite restrained in the dramatics, focusing instead on the determinedly unworldly partygirl nature of Ranyevskaya. Some favourites were James Laurenson as the brother just making the best of things, and Tim McMullan as a scrounging landowner down on his luck.

Kenneth Cranham stole the show though with the excellent ending.

Uncaged Monkeys

Completely sold out, even in Basingstoke, this was a bit of a triumphal tour for the forces of science and thinking things through properly. On the bill were the perpetually smiley Prof Brian Cox, Simon Singh, Ben Goldacre and Robin Ince and more. Each presented their party trick lecture, and coupled with a Q&A session, very entertaining it was too, even when Brian Cox used a projection of a Guardian poster to illustrate the miniscule-ness of science funding in the uk.

Being in a room where everyone was in favour of science was a bit like a prayer meeting for atheists and I, for one, would be happy to sign up to this particular cult.

Frankenstein

I didn't get around to posting this while it was still on, but one of the highlights of my theatre year so far.

I faffed around for ages trying to decide when to go to see this, and which version of the casting to go for, so by the time I made up my mind it was sold out with overnight queues for day tickets.

So, I duly set my alarm and arrived to join the back of the early morning queue, ending up with a standing ticket.

I think I got a good deal though, as from the back you get a full view of the fantastic lighting effects which rippled above the stage, almost like an additional member of the cast. I saw the casting with Jonny Lee Miller as the creature, and Benedict Cumberbatch as Frankenstein. Miller played the role as though electrified and with a real humanity and warmth, struggling to deal with his beastly exterior, whilst Cumberbatch was all cold science. I really wanted to see the opposite casting, to see what each would do with the same role, but sadly it wasn't to be. I hear rumours of a DVD release though, so fingers crossed.

Cause Célèbre

A slightly odd play, although with excellent staging, Ann-Marie Duff was a mix of fragility and passionate hedonism, playing the woman trapped in a moral quagmire. Full of polar opposites and double standards, it felt like we would be served up a black and white ending, but it all turned out in shades of grey. Based on real events in 1935, the play was first produced in 1977, and at first looks like a period piece, but the moralistic snap judgements by people who know little of the facts seems particularly relevant when we are surrounded by super-injunctions and twitter gossip. So, it made me think and wonder.