Ajaxpost Plays: Beyond The Game

It's time, once again, for the amateurs on this day Before The Lockdown: in 2018 Having seen quite a few amateur productions in Bath and Bristol, by both community groups and also theatre students in training, I thought it time to check out what London might be able to offer. The community based Putney Theatre Company at the Putney Arts Theatre created an evening devoted to new writing in a showcase of seven short pieces produced and performed by the PTC. Under the umbrella title of Fate Expectations each piece offered a moment in time, either realistic or fantastical, where everything could change. in 2019 The last of this year's Bristol Old Vic Theatre School Directors' Cuts season at the Wardrobe Theatre was How My Light Is Spent . A surreal tale of how one man's life literally starts to disappear. Having lost a 'proper job' and then been replaced by a coin-bin at a zero-hours fast-food joint his disappearing prospects become a physical reality...

This was definitely a day for creative students Before The Lockdown: in 2017 The Bath Spa University Theatre Society was at the Mission Theatre in Bath to put on Our Country's Good . If you've been reading the older pages on this Blog you may recall that I saw a professional production of this well-regarded play back in 2014 . So, I'll be very lazy and repeat some of what I said then:  " there's a lot to like about Our Country's Good ... It's a play about the redemptive power of art, in particular of theatre, and the injustice and immorality of an impersonal legal system that fails to account for social context. " Just like when I saw it in 2014, I came away from this amateur production with much the same feeling, that for me " it's just not a very exciting play. " Despite having a much smaller budget and thus a significantly less impressive set and lacking the polish of a professional production this presentation did have a f...

A day of contrasting experiences at the theatre on this day Before The Lockdown: in 2015 I've hated musical films for as long as I can remember - all thigh-slapping gusto and ludicrously overt smiling and screwball choreography. No, I wanted realism and emotional depth. But, since I started going to the theatre regularly, I've come to appreciate that there is a place for stories told through music and they're not all madcap song and dance fests. However, Oklahoma! was surely a perfect example of all the things I hated about 'traditional' musicals but I thought I should at least give it a chance. It wasn't overly expensive and I really should base any opinion I have on fact, so I handed over the money and went along to the Theatre Royal Bath. Somewhat annoyingly, I did actually rather enjoy it! The characters were believable, the story arc made sense and the whole production was very polished. Sure, the songs were cheesy, but once I settled into the rhy...

Another of my threesome days Before The Lockdown: in 2014 Sometimes you take a bit of a risk, you have an idea that an actor, a company, a theatre usually do something interesting but you actually know next to nothing about the production in question. A couple of actors we'd seen before and liked were part of  an improvisational company that was putting on shows that did not just include improvisation but we ticket buyers had no idea what even the basic concept was. So it was with the Secret Theatre Show 5 - A Series of Increasingly Impossible Acts at the Lyric theatre London. In a room with only a square performance space, no set just a handful of props and a single row of seats around the edge of the room. To be honest, I don't really recall what happened, what it was about, but that it was fast, energetic, demanding of the actors, funny and, at the end of the evening, thought-provoking. And even if it doesn't stick in the memory for years, that still makes for ...

It was all about truth and perception on this day Back Before The Lockdown: in 2016 I was in the main house of the Theatre Royal Bath to see The Truth . In the preceding years I had seen two plays from the same author, Florian Zeller, and translator, Christopher Hampton; the brilliant The Father and The Mother both of which had their UK premiere in the smaller Ustinov studio before heading to London's West End. Buoyed by those successes this one started in London before coming out to Bath and attracted a much larger audience, hence being on the main stage. Although sharing a similar fascination with perception, reality, and truth this new play was significantly more comic in style, using many of the familiar tropes of a farce in it's depiction of romantic deceits and misdirections but all with a modern twist that made it feel fresh. Even so, after the two previous powerfully emotive productions this one was inevitably more light-weight and so, for me, less impressive,...

As much as I've tried I really can't find a cute thematic bon mot to apply to the theatrical rundown on this day Before The Lockdown... in 2003 Still working out what I really liked about theatre one simple selection method was recognisable names from TV. Office Games at the Pleasance Theatre in London fitted that bill quite nicely With relative stage newcomers Adam Rickitt and Charlie Brooks fresh from Coronation Street and EastEnders respectively and the well established Richard O'Callaghan. A basic office comedy with all the usual shenanigans that follow a important figure being embarrassed by a mistake that is then blamed on a junior who then seeks some sort of revenge. With being set in the British Foreign Office after the first world war this one had the added comedic value of historical attitudes. A modestly entertaining evening I recall little of the plot or the characters but what I do remember is that we bumped into Adam Rickitt at the tube station on...

On this day Before The Lockdown, we have a clutch of fresh faces: in 2007 I had seen the film version many years previously but this was the first time I would see Equus on stage (currently at three and counting 😎). The Gielgud theatre in London achieved quite a coup, by getting Daniel Radcliffe to star in his first significant stage role during a break in filming the Harry Potter series. He had already done some other TV work but live in a theatre is quite a different skill. Without the magic of cameras and post-production could he convince as a live actor? In the company of well respected and well-versed stage veterans like the excellent  Richard Griffiths and Jenny Agutter this was a very daring move by the young actor. The problem I have now is that this was thirteen years ago and in 2019 I saw a wholly new version of the play was was simply outstanding and will etched in my memory for years to come. But I cannot recall any specific emotions I felt for this first produ...

A mathematical conundrum Before The Lockdown in 2013 There are many reasons for why I might enjoy a particular play but I never thought mathematics would be on that list! The conceit that is at the centre of Proof , which I saw at the Theatre Royal Bath, is the death of a mathematical genius and the discovery of a new world-changing mathematical proof amongst his unpublished papers. Around this swirl issues of family loyalty, guilt, thwarted ambitions, and mental health. In this production, as well crafted and performed as it was, the emotional bonds and needs that should have been at the heart of the play weren't quite as clear as they needed to be so I left thinking that it made valid points about sexism in intellectual circles and how guilt can fester within families but I didn't feel the story, which is what I particularly enjoy about good theatre Interestingly, a few years later I saw an amateur presentation of the play and enjoyed it a whole lot more.  Whether i...

Yesterday I went to one of my favourite 'fringe' venues in Bristol, the Wardrobe Theatre at the Old Market Assembly to see Losing The Night . This new play, a two-hander written by Cecilia Knapp, shares with us a difficult conversation between two friends who haven't seen each other since the loss of Dylan, a brother and friend, a year ago. Beautifully written and performed (by Olivia Dowd and Marc Benga), the dialogue flows so naturally as they try to place their different memories of Dylan into the context of their own relationship and the grief they felt. It's not flash, or melodramatic, or even especially emotional but it felt right, real. It showed us that taking the time to talk about trauma, depression, secrets, and grief is important and can help us towards understanding and better mental health. Marc Benga and Olivia Dowd / Photo credit: Luis Macknes Links: Cecilia Knapp : YouTube and Twitter C.A.L.M. : Website and Twitter The Wardro...