An unconventional love story.
A Piece performed by fellow students in the devising module. The non linear storyline combined with the strange use of repetition resulted in some very comic moments. Thoroughly enjoyable.
Legally Blonde.
Have seen legally Blonde twice now. As a big fan of the original film i was intrigued to see how the adaptation would work. loved the music, staging, cast and dancing. One of my favourite shows of the year.
South Pacific.
Although contains a lovely storyline i felt this interpretation of South Pacific lacked any aspects which really stood out. The singing, dancing and acting were all to an obvious professional standard, i just felt no excitement towards the performance.
We will Rock You.
A very exciting performance following a loveable storyline, full of well known music put together by the band 'Queen' and Ben elton, would gladly watch over.
Evita.
Full of emotion and the larger-than-life character of Eva Peron, Evita is one of my favourite musicals. Not the highest of standards as a previous version i had seen but still enjoyable none the less.
Country Music.
I had high expectations from Bristol old Vic third year student - who each delivered. A very moving, contemporary piece with a high energy.
King Lear.
Not one of my favourite Shakespeare plays. Found myself wanting the performance to come to an end, however Derek Jacobi’s performance was remarkable.
A Clockwork Orange.
On edge throughout the quirky performances given by each character. Impressive use of technology. Made me want to watch the film regardless of the grotesque themes.
KING LEAR
King Lear
Directed by Michael Grandage
April 7th
On the 7th of April 2011 I went to The Theatre Royal Bath to watch a production of ‘King Lear’, directed by Michael Grandage and starring Derek Jacobi as King Lear. Unfortunately I was sat in the ‘Grand Circle’ – the seats furthest from the stage – and so immediately I was at a disadvantage when watching this performance and at times it was difficult to make-out the facial expressions or gestures of some of the actors. There was however, no such trouble with Derek Jacobi’s performance whose vocal acrobatics were nothing short of astounding. At times he shook the theatre with deep bellows before suddenly squeaking, almost inaudibly, in order to portray Lear’s madness. His gesture and facial expression were also so bold and exaggerated that his unique delivery of Lear was simply unmistakable.
Aside from Jacobi’s performance, I struggled to enjoy the majority of the play; finding many of the actors failing to communicate a story-line which in truth I did not know particularly well. Perhaps their performances were over shadowed by Jacobi, or perhaps it was the misfortune of my seating position, but it seemed to me that many of the actors lacked the enthusiasm in gesture and vocal delivery which I have come to expect from Shakespeare performances.
Another aspect of the production which I didn’t particularly enjoy was the choice of staging, costume and lighting. The entire stage was constructed from pale, worn planks of wood which contrasted with the all-black of the actors costumes. At first, this contradiction was interesting and striking, but as the play carried on and the change of staging which I – and I think most of the audience- was expecting never came, the black and white theme became dull and monotonous. Fortunately Derek Jacobi’s performance was enough to keep my attention and gave the production an element which I was able to enjoy, but on the whole it was not a performance which I particularly enjoyed.
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