Small plays about big society@ The old Joint Stock

The Old Joint Stock is certainly a gem of a venue, the most atmospheric element being the high-ceilinged, welcoming, warm pub, dating back to 1884. The bar hosts regular jazz sessions and up the winding stairs you’ll find the ‘theatre’; an intimate room that plays host to performances under an array of genre. As part of ‘Capital’, a festival of new writing, ‘Small Plays about Big Society’ consisted of five short plays in response to Cameron’s call for ‘people power’ and plans for the ‘Big Society’. The first play had a cast of one woman and there was a split second Friends moment when she said: “so you probably think that this will be a normal play and other actors will appear? Well they won’t” however it was an effective performance and the scale of the room helped elevate the message and present the concept of a play within a play. Becky Wright, a Mountview graduate who plays NicHanson in The Archers was one of the more talented cast members and also took on a one-woman performance in ‘The Watched Sea’ which pictured Cameron’s’ big society’ in futuristic, almost dystopian terms and questioned the loss of the individual in the ‘big society’. Social order, the final play of the evening examined the effects of this concept on small communities and used comic characterisation and situation in the form of a committee meeting, illustrating the kind of normality that Cameron could easily have overlooked in his plans. The recent arts cuts were also featured, in the opening performance significantly, as this was used for the reason for the play having a cast of one. This poignant opening play resulted in the question of arts cuts being present throughout, and both stressed and questioned the importance of this art form.

Sweet Charity@ The Crescent

When one is to review an amateur performance, a lower level of expectation is required and a different criteria in terms of assessing the effectiveness and entertainment value of the piece. However, the last two amateur productions of musical theatre I have seen over the last year have been outstanding , Spring awakening at the theatre in question was highly effective as was the impressive production of Jekyll and Hyde at the Solihull arts centre in May, so with the possibility of a great performance from non -professionals, you can imagine my reaction to the under rehearsed, farcical, badly acted production of ‘Sweet Charity’ by The Circle Light Opera Company, (who I hope to God don’t ever attempt an opera, because if they can’t even pull off ‘Sweet Charity’ then the results of a light operetta would be tragic). Budget had clearly been spent on tacky 1960s costumes which were not suited to the majority of the overweight cast and it seemed that the sullen faced dancers had a disproportionate amount of sequinned apparel to complement their basic arm movements. The lead actress was vocally challenged, but well acted and credit must go to the vocals of Zinia Zedham. Overall the acting of the chorus was passable for an amateur production, but the wavering accents of cameo roles was all too much, to go from deep South, to New York to the West Midlands in a mere three sentences was really quite an achievement. Technical hitches (and this production had plenty) and first night nerves are understandable and I’ve been through these myself, however the way one deals with such problems is the most significant thing and mouthing into the orchestra pit and scowling at other cast members because you came into a song too early certainly isn’t the right way to do so. I always go into the theatre with an open mind but this time even as a lover of musical theatre I was incredibly unimpressed. As much fun as it would be to watch your family member in a production, charging up to £12.00 a ticket for a show of this kind is highly inappropriate.

'The Meeting' @ The Drum, Aston.

Malcolm X and Martin Luther King; two highly significant figures in the struggle against segregation and racism during the 20th Century, two figures who on the surface, to many, would appear to be fighting for the same cause. When one studies the differing philosophies, religions and methods of these two leaders it becomes clear just how different they were. ‘The Meeting’ is a short play that dramatizes a meeting between the two men, something that inevitably never happened. This production tackled such an event with powerful exchanges, comic moments and most importantly the communication of the fact that both men were just men, however different in their ideals, fighting for a better life for the black people of America. The play allowed the audience to see the merit of both men’s work and to conclude that without both men and their work the landmarks reached in the 1960s would not have been possible. The performance was followed, much to my surprise by a discussion lead by my head of department! Interesting questions were raised covering institutional racism, the arts and a lack of black role models in the UK today whereupon a range of opinions were presented. One question which seemed to sum up the debate was ‘where is everybody tonight?’ in response to the half filled small theatre. The actor who had played King cut in to argue that the arts were slow to clock on to technology and its power over the organization of people’s lives and their entertainment choices. I would argue that its not always a matter of choice because if the arts were projected into society in an effective way, sensitive to technological advances and more importantly the power of the net, then people would fill the theatres, I for one would choose live performance of any kind over an X Box. Of course the question of where everybody was was being discussed primarily in the context of institutional racism and the preservation and education of black history and culture. As I left, three questions were evident for me: Why wasn’t a play regarding two of the most important figures in 20th Century history being performed at the Rep? Why a play of such cultural importance and interest for so many was restricted to performance during black history month? And finally why is the exhibition of black history and culture restricted primarily to a mere month of the year?

SPRING AWAKENING @ the Crescent Theatre

This daring production is still young in the world of musical theatre, smashing Broadway in 2006 with Glee’s Michelle Lea as the female lead; Wendla and coming to London’s West End two years later for ten week stint. The show tells of the struggle of adolescence amongst a group of teenagers in late 19th Century Germany facing pressure from parents academically and essentially struggling to come to terms with the sexual awakening they are experiencing. It is brought dramatically into the present through its modern day language, rock music, set up of hand held microphones and the rock band on stage, thus providing an effective outlet for the rebellion of these frustrated youths. Birmingham School of Acting’s production reproduced these elements spectacularly resulting in an energetic performance with impressive vocals from the two principal actors and as one would expect of a drama school; good acting throughout the rest of the small cast! The set was extremely innovative in its simplicity and use of stage and audience space, as was the choreography. The gymnastic talents of a few members of the male cast were shown off in a few scenes adding further to the modern twist, performed with a consistent adherence to timing and space, resulting in energy filled scenes that captivated the audience. Overall the production seemed to convey the right emotions and effects, being hilariously funny at times, drastically explicit both physically and emotionally at others, but maintaining a dark tone throughout this tragic yet profoundly moral story.

So its a new term and a new year, my final year in fact which is terrifying, but also signals the start of a new chapter of my life when complete it in 8 months time. I've been back for 4 weeks and have managed 5 theatre trips so far and like to think this is how the rest of the year will play out! I have yet to really experience Birmingham's famous jazz and comedy scene and this is another aim for the year and I hope to report back with opinions and reviews on venues and entertainment throughout the next few months, making the most of my short time left in the second city.

Parachute-Losing Sleep

After grad­u­at­ing from col­lege in 2008, Vir­ginia born rock band Para­chute have toured with artists such as Duffy, Kelly Clark­son, The Script and 3 Doors Down pro­mot­ing their Debut album, Los­ing Sleep which was released on the 19th May, 2009. Their sound is not indi­vid­ual in the least and echoes tones of Maroon 5, Rooster and the all Amer­i­can Rejects, espe­cially the sec­ond track ‘Back Again’ how­ever the result is not bad at all and the album con­sti­tutes great music for trav­el­ling on pub­lic trans­port, whether this an accom­plish­ment worth men­tion­ing, is debat­able. The tracks ‘She is Love’ and ‘Under Con­trol’ were used for the Nivea TV com­mer­cials and the for­mer pro­files the vocal tal­ents of the pretty –faced lead vocal­ist, Will Ander­son. Over­all it seems the album is some­thing one would lis­ten whilst pre­oc­cu­pied with some­thing more orig­i­nal and engag­ing than the music itself.

Valentine's day at the musicals

I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to spend a day for lovers with my true love: Musical theatre...

The talented actress and singer Jessie Buckley, who in my opinion was robbed of the role of Nancy in the BBC TV series ‘I’d do anything’, alongside Daniel Boys who starred in ‘Any dream will do’ in 2007 gave stunning solo performances in this romantic evening filled with love songs from both musical theatre and film. Jessie’s personal and famous rendition of ‘As Long as he Needs Me’ from Oliver was an obvious highlight, but it was the duets that allowed these two stars to really excel; ‘The Last night of the World’ from Miss Saigon in particular. The singing group ‘Capital Voices’ (who have just done the backing vocals for Jedward’s train wreck of a single) provided excellent backing and performed a few numbers of their own. The evening ended with some more contemporary numbers such as ‘I’ve Had the Time of My Life’ from Dirty Dancing and Abba’s ‘Take a Chance on Me’. This light-hearted ending paled in comparison to the earlier, more intense moments of song, but entertained the audience nonetheless! The setting of the symphony hall, the accompaniment of The Manchester Concert Orchestra and the range in the repertoire really made the evening special.

Does Britain have talent?

Given the slightly more tough side of a debate in last weeks paper...

If the programme ‘Britain’s got talent’ is anything to go by, initially some may argue that Britain does not have talent. I disagree. The Oxford English dictionary describes someone that is talented as ‘naturally inclined or disposed to something’. So in theory, everyone has a talent, however it is the ranking of these talents and the level of excellence which is judged. In the case of ‘Britain’s got talent’ having raw talent is usually not enough, as with all reality TV the idea of entertainment is a priority, so in order to be successful on this show, one must entertain, not just the celebrity judges, but a ruthless live audience. I’ll take the time now to admit to you all that I have watched every series of Britain’s got talent since it started back in 2007 and the Birmingham auditions are renowned for being especially weird, yet however weird someone’s talent may be it is still theirs if they are ‘naturally inclined or disposed’ to a certain form of entertainment, whether that be playing the Viola dressed as a zombie, carving melons into household objects or simply taking off your clothes to reveal startlingly large genitalia! It is shows like ‘Britain’s got talent that allow unusual talents to be shown and given a chance, as singing is the focus of most reality talent shows, the X- factor is specific in the people and voices it requires. Britain’s got talent has brought dance groups like diversity into the spotlight and pushes unusual people and acts into mainstream popular culture, whilst quite frankly being highly entertaining.