A Beltane Rhyme…
*
© Gail Foster April 28th 2018
Uncategorized
The Wharf Theatre presents; ‘A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum’
Hahahahaha!
Seriously, though…The Wharf’s production of Sondheim’s first musical, directed by Liz Sharman, is hilarious. Based on the farces of the Roman playwright, Plautus, it first hit Broadway in 1962. Don’t expect high art or political correctness. From the first number, ‘Comedy Tonight’ (‘Something familiar, something peculiar, something for everyone: a comedy tonight’), it’s clear that this is nothing but a fast-moving, light-hearted, old-fashioned, slightly dodgy, slapstick, pun-filled, fun-fest.
The set is beautifully painted, in authentic colours, with quirky touches. Three doors, as is traditional with this play. Not much space for the action, but perfect for the running about, in and out of dusty Roman windows, requirements of the show
It’s the story of how Pseudolus (Jonathon West), a slave of Rome in 200BC, buys his freedom using his knowledge of human nature, the help of hapless fellow slave Hysterium (Chris Underwood), and all other devious means at his disposal. He lives in the house of Senex (Chris Smith) and Domina (Lesley Scholes), and their son, Hero (Tyler Bartlett), in the same hood as Erronius (John Craig), a befuddled ancient, and Lycus (John Winterton), a lascivious brothel-keeper. The young Hero has his eye on Philia (Hayley Baxter), a young and as yet unbesmirched courtesan, and agrees that Pseudolus will have his freedom if he can get the twee couple together. Other characters are the imperious soldier Milos Gloriosus (Nick Swift), various smiley Proteans, and (Good God, is that Miss Whiplash (Jemma Gingell)?) a trio of silent, but enthusiastic, fan wielding prostitutes.
The action gets sillier as the play progresses, and the web of lies that Pseudolus has woven begins to fall apart. Just a bit of mare’s sweat, and it will all work out. Maybe if we pretend she’s dead it will be fine. Maybe if we all dress up as other people that will do the trick. Not. Quick song? Go on, then.
This is a high energy show, with a lot of quick changes and movements. I can’t fault the choreography, or the superb comic timing, but Sondheim only gets a B for the songs. ‘Comedy Tonight’ is pretty catchy, and ‘Lovely’ is memorable, although that is partly due to Hayley Baxter (sweet voice, well-played coyness) and Chris Underwood’s interpretations. Victoria Warren, Musical Director, played the score. Lot of sharps and flats, apparently. Difficult keys.
Acting awards? Lesley Scholes (of course) as the bossy (‘carry my bust with pride’) Roman matron, Hayley Baxter and Tyler Bartlett for doing impossibly cute with straight faces, Jemma Gingell for bravery, Jonathon West for holding it all together, and the entire cast for being on it like a car bonnet whilst appearing to be having the most fun ever.
But it’s the performances of Chris Underwood, John Craig, and Nick Swift, that have me absolutely kissing myself. The part of the camp and nervous slave Hysterium is the most challenging in the play, and Chris is awesome in the role. His renditions of the anxiety song ‘I’m Calm’, and ‘Lovely’, are a triumph, and his drag shenanigans are a wonder to behold (clearly a career in modelling beckons).
John Craig plays the part of the doddery, partially sighted Erronius to perfection (John Craig, John Craig, he was witty, he was vague), and Nick Swift, as the arrogant soldier, dominates the stage (in a good way) with his enormous presence, booming voice, and massive wrath.
I haven’t laughed so much or so loudly in public since, well we won’t talk about that. It was the dress rehearsal, so there was only a small audience, but everyone was in stitches from the outset, and by the end a few of us were incandescent with mirth. ‘One of the funniest things I have ever seen at The Wharf’ (and he’s seen and been in a few) said Lewis Cowen. ‘The funniest show I’ve ever been a part of’ (and he’s seen and been in a few too) said Chris Underwood. I laughed till my stomach hurt, and I’m still laughing now.
When I’d recovered from the wild exhilaration of it all, and had enthused sufficiently, I had a word with Liz Sharman (well done, that woman!) about political correctness. Liz said that she dealt with the whole prostitute thing by making the male characters seem silly in their dealings with them, and that she didn’t cut anything from the script. I’d expected the show to be much ruder, and camper, and more along the lines of the (Ooh Matron!) Carry On films. Undoubtedly some might find the very fact of prostitutes offensive, but apart from a bust, a whip, a fart joke and a few tacky comments, I found the humour quite polite, and the general feel of the whole thing quite…innocent. Not much to upset your average four-year old, or your Gran. But then it’s an American show, and I am hardly Mary Whitehouse.
And after all, these things were acceptable in the 60s. And 70s. And 200BCs…
I enjoyed this show so much that I’m giving it ten out of ten.
Hahahahaha!
Seriously.
© Gail Foster 28th April 2018
Devizes Town Band; Heroes and Villains
What do we expect from a Town Band? Seasonal Oompahs, buckets of enthusiasm, Jerusalem, and the odd dropped note, perhaps? Not a full on professional sounding wind orchestra, surely. After all, town bands are an amateur thing, aren’t they?
I went to see Devizes Town Band’s ‘Heroes and Villains’ show at the Corn Exchange on Monday. Their current Musical Director is Sharon Lindo, a professional violinist and multi-instrumentalist, who came out of the trombone section to take up the baton in 2012. The night was compered by Ian Pugh, chirpy toastmaster and Fantasy Radio personality, and on this occasion there were forty-four musicians, amateur and professional, wind and percussion, in the band. Proceeds from the event went to local charity Altzheimer’s Support.
The programme consisted of classic film themes, all introduced with a paragraph about plot, and illustrated with images on a big screen behind the band. The night started with Superman, then we had The Godfather, Chicago, Les Mis, Gladiator, Bonnie and Clyde, The Magnificent Seven, Schindler’s List, and a bit of Aida. In the interval we heard about Altzheimer’s Support from Laura Fenson, Community Fundraiser, and in the second half we had The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, Mack the Knife, Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty, Over The Rainbow, Chicken Run, Skyfall, and Oliver.
What is it about these songs that stirs us so? The triumphant and melancholic cadences, the nostalgia? We’ve heard them so often they could be deemed to be corny, but the reason they have endured is because people love them, and most have memories associated with them. Fun, sorrow, victory, mischief, romance, nights at the movies, Sundays by the television, days gone by… whatever it is that appeals, it brought people out in droves, and on a school night, and not all of them over fifty.
Solo performers were Alan Evans on French horn, playing the poignant ‘Bring Him Home’, Jenni Scott, flautist and vocalist, singing ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ to the tune of gunfire, Sharon Lindo’s sensitive rendition of the Schindler theme on violin, Bruce MacDonald on tenor sax playing ‘Over The Rainbow’ and, my favourite moment of the night (sniff, something in my eye, etc.) Richard Tannasee on trumpet, playing ‘Il Triello’, oh so beautifully, in front of screen images from The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly.
Dropped notes? Maybe a barely perceptible hiccup somewhere in the first half, but that really is nit-picking. The band had been rehearsing since January, and it showed. The quality of sound was great, the energy levels were high, the conductor was a joy to watch, the kazoos were on point (!), and the tunes were well chosen. With the exception of one elderly lady, who said that rock bands were more her cup of tea, everyone I spoke to loved it. ‘Very good’, seemed to be the consensus. ‘Very enjoyable’ said the man who had come all the way from Bedfordshire to see his daughter play the clarinet.
I must be getting old. I liked it a lot.
And I got to play with Ian Pugh’s gavel afterwards.
Good times.
© Gail Foster 24th April 2018
PS What is it about Ennio Morricone?
You can catch the really rather wonderful Devizes Town Band at Poulshot Church in June, at the Beer Festival in July, and at Hillworth Park in September. And if you’re interested in finding out more about the work of Altzheimer’s Support (let’s face it, we all might need them one day), you can contact their Devizes office in Sidmouth Street.
Devizes Musical Theatre; Jekyll and Hyde
*
On Tuesday night I went to the dress rehearsal of Devizes Musical Theatre’s production of ‘Jekyll and Hyde’, at Dauntsey’s School.
‘Jekyll and Hyde’ is a contemporary pop rock musical, based on Robert Louis Stevenson’s ‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’. Stevenson’s book was published in 1886, during the decade when Freud began to practice, and Victorian dinner tables buzzed with talk of psychology, new scientific discoveries, sex, and religion, in the light of new understanding. The musical was written by Leslie Bricusse, with score by Frank Wildhorn, and first hit the stage in 1990, before ending up on Broadway in 1997.
You know the story, right? Scientist gets confused about good and evil, as you do, and a bit bothered about his dark desires, and makes a major blunder getting his hit together, as a consequence of which one part of himself behaves really badly and things go rapidly downhill. Oh yes, and it’s an exploration of duality within the human psyche and of what can happen when the ‘natural’ instincts within man are allowed to go unchecked. Take some dignitaries, a mad scientist, a dodgy potion, a sweet girl, a bad girl, a few hypocritical society types, and a brace of prostitutes, chuck ‘em all together and…what could possibly go wrong? ‘Murder, Murder’, that’s what…
Devizes Musical Theatre have got a bit serious over the years, since their inception in 1965, and the Dauntsey’s stage is the best in the area. This show is directed by Matt Dauncey, with a 16 piece orchestra conducted by Susan Braunton. I know that I’m enjoying a show when the thought of an egg sandwich doesn’t cross my mind till afterwards, so we’ll see how we go.
The set is minimal, with dramatic lighting to emphasise the suspense and Gothic horror of it all, and, whilst ‘comments on style should never be made by those who have none’, the Victorian costumes (Jen Warren) are authentic and beautiful. It is my observation that in some amateur productions you have a few glorious ones and everyone else has had to see what they could do with a table cloth and a tea towel, but there’s none of that here.
Jekyll (Hyde) is a massive part, and a huge test for any actor. It’s all about the transformation (think American Werewolf in London, but less hairy), and keeping the parts ‘definite and opposite’, that quote coming from Gareth Lloyd, who plays Jekyll and Hyde but who is tonight in the audience, watching his understudy, Andrew Curtis, who will be playing the part in the matinee, on the stage. One is amused by the fact that there are two Jekylls and two Hydes in the house, and I’m interested in how Gareth plays Hyde, and the differences between his and Andrew’s interpretation of the part. Various quotes on his version include ‘playfully evil’, ‘anarchic’, and ‘physically animated’. ‘Go on, give me your Hyde’ I say, and Gareth flops his hair over his eyes and looks at me with the only scary wild eye I can see. Woah!
Andrew’s performance is tense, restrained, and quietly creepy, and his transformation is utterly believable. I have five shiver moments during this show, and the one I get when he is ‘stroking’ Lucy during their dark and very well played duet, ‘A Dangerous Game’ is the least pleasant. His Hyde gets more mad, twisted, contorted, tortured and frightening as the show goes on. Whilst I prefer his acting over his vocals, there’s nothing that jars or disappoints, and I can’t take my eyes off him while he’s on the stage.
The other four shivers are as follows; the first ensemble number, ‘Façade’, when I realise that the orchestra and cast are rocking a Big Fat Sound, and that the show is going to be a) exciting and b) good; Lucy’s (Laura Deacon) first solo (so clear and powerful) ; the prostitutes’ dance (oh my eyes!) in ‘Bring On The Men’; and Emma (Naomi Ibbetson) and Lucy’s wonderful rendition of ‘In His Eyes’.
All of the parts are played well, but the truly shiny performances come from Laura Deacon and Andrew Curtis, and Naomi Ibbetson, whose voice can always be relied on. There’s not a huge opportunity in this script for anyone else to shine much, to be fair, but Ian Diddams deserves a mention for his brutal brothel keeper, Spider, even if that beard does make him look a bit like Super Mario, and Sam Fillis for Stride. And there’s no sign of that phenomena, present in more than a few amateur productions, that I call, rather bitchily, the lumpen chorus. That’s people just hanging around looking like they’re thinking about egg sandwiches, and what day is it anyway, and oh, is it me now? There’s none of that, there are all sorts of little cameos going on in the background, everyone’s on point, and no-one attracts the attention of my critical eye.
It’s a great show. It’s scary, (maybe too scary for little kids), suspenseful, engaging, atmospheric, sexy and spectacular, and Devizes Musical Theatre should be pretty pleased with it.
And that was just the dress rehearsal…
Eight out of ten, and I didn’t think about an egg sandwich once.
Go along, if you can.
© Gail Foster 11th April 2018
(Creepy fact: the Jack the Ripper murders started within weeks of Richard Mansfield’s performance and production of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde in London, in 1888, and finished shortly after its short run came to a close…)
Mischievous Spring (audio)
Me reading a slighty flirtatious Spring poem…
The Green Beneath The Snow
A Villanelle, for the Spring Equinox
*
the hills are growing green beneath the snow
white horses, shake the winter from your manes
the spring has come, the wild wind told me so
…
cold ice be gone, and warm sweet water flow
come, crocuses, and flower on the plains
the hills are growing green beneath the snow
…
grey gulls fly high, and clouds of blossom blow
come, laughing crows, and dance within the rains
the spring has come, the wild wind told me so
…
soon summer, and so many seeds to sow
come, sun, spill down the furrows of the lanes
the hills are growing green beneath the snow
…
bright gorse ablaze, and alder tops aglow
come blood, and flood the burrows of the veins
the spring has come, the wild wind told me so
…
dark night be gone, long days of light to go
come love, with all your mysteries and pains
the hills are growing green beneath the snow
and spring has come, the wild wind told me so
*
© Gail Foster 17th March 2018
White Horse Opera Spring Concert
White Horse Opera’s Spring Concert, at the Town Hall in Devizes; a review
*
On Friday night, I went to see White Horse Opera’s Spring Concert in the Town Hall.
White Horse Opera formed in 1990, with the aim of bringing high quality opera at affordable prices to Devizes and the surrounding area. Since 1990 they have performed over 20 operas, including Aida, La Boheme, and Carmen, and in October they will be putting on Mozart’s intriguing opera, The Magic Flute.
One always hopes that these things are going to be good, in the full knowledge that amateur productions are seldom flawless.
I end up sat next to Andy Fawthrop. Andy is, like myself, a cynical poet. It could be an interesting night.
Stage set. Grand paintings in golden frames. Glittering chandeliers. One pianist (Tony James), one Musical Director (Roland Melia – check out his impressive international CV), eleven sopranos, four altos, four tenors, and four basses (all dressed to kill), three quarters of an audience (more publicity next time, people), two cynical poets, and a programme of Mozart, Mendelssohn, madrigals, Stanford, Rossini, Donizetti, and little bits of Bizet.
They start with ‘Down by the Sally Gardens’. Sweet. Then Morley’s ‘Now is the month of Maying’. Lively. Then Stanford’s ‘Bluebird’, sung by Jessica Phillips. Oh. I look at Andy. Andy looks at me. A tear has sprung unexpectedly to my eye. That’s beautiful. So pure. Quality.
And so it goes on. ‘Fair Phyllis I Saw’, and ‘The Silver Swan’, and then, from The Magic Flute, a superb solo from Lisa House in ‘Love I Fear Has Gone Forever’, Charles Leeming’s deep and resounding ‘Sarastro’s Aria’, and to end the first half, Barbara Gompels, singing ‘The Queen of the Night Aria’ from The Magic Flute.
Now there’s a test of a soprano, if ever there was one. Andy has raised an eyebrow, and I am overwhelmed by Barbara’s magnificent performance of such an intricate song. Amazing.
By the interval Andy and I are stunned into silence. Neither of us can find anything to be cynical about. It’s unusual, and I have to go out and have a cigarette to get over it.
The second half starts and ends with The Magic Flute, and there’s a lot of chorus action. Stephen Grimshaw gives an expressive rendition of ‘Monostatos’ Aria’, and Barbara sings ‘Micaela’s Aria’ from Carmen (White Horse Opera are touring Carmen this year, and you can book them, you know. Just saying).
Then it’s ‘The Chorus of Fairies’ from Midsummer’s Dream (nice wands), ‘Chorus Maria Stuarda’, ‘Chorus Santo Imen’, and Donizetti’s ‘Chorus L’Elisir d’Amore’ (bit of surreptitious jigging in the audience to this one – steady), a lot of cheerful hey-nonnying in Stanford’s ‘Sigh No More’, from Much Ado About Nothing, and then Bizet’s ‘Carmen Chorus’ (pinch me, are people actually tapping their feet?), and, finally, ‘The Magic Flute Chorus’.
I look at Andy. Andy looks at me. Both of us raise an eyebrow. That was superb, and neither of us have a single bad word to say about it. The individual performances were impressive (I’d like to give Chrissie Higgs a mention for her contribution), the whole chorus worked well together, there was a liveliness to the whole thing, and the acoustics in the Town Hall were wonderful. Andy remarks afterwards on the quality of the pianist, and that the simple and unfussy arrangements complemented the singers perfectly. Everyone seems to have enjoyed it, and lots of people look pleased.
On the way out, I accost a random stranger, and pester him for a quote. ‘A lovely, relaxed, and charming evening’ he says, smiling.
It really was very good indeed.
When I was a kid my neighbours rang up my parents and politely requested that I desist practicing ‘Toreador’ on the piano. From that point on, until White Horse Opera’s ‘Iolanthe’ last year, I have enthusiastically given opera a miss.
I think White Horse Opera may have changed my mind.
I look forward to The Magic Flute.
*
© Gail Foster 12th March 2018
The Cynic Speaks of Love
A Sonnet for Cynics for Valentine’s Day
*
The Cynic speaks of Love; What lie is this
But lust dressed up in silky swathes of lace
In pretty words, and promises of bliss
Come pouting in her petticoats, her face
All flushed with rouge and scarlet on a smile
With kohl around her cold come-hither eyes
Come lie with me, my love, a little while
She’ll say, and pat the bed, and part her thighs
And flash her stocking tops gone all awry
And secret places oh so sweetly blessed
And you’ll believe, the Cynic said, as I
Who once was by her magic so possessed
In Love, when she is nothing but a whore
That’s forty quid, she said, and that’s the door
*
© Gail Foster 14th February 2018
They Fought For You, Have You Forgot?
Shall I vote or not?
She died for you, have you forgot
Who fought for you so you can say
Shall I vote or not today?
Shall I vote or not?
She fought for you to have the choice
To use your vote, and use your voice
Or stay at home today
Shall I vote or not?
What sister are you who forgets
The suffering of suffragettes
So you can vote today?
Shall I vote or not?
They fought for you, do you forget
The women who don’t have it yet
The vote, or yet a say?
Shall I vote or not?
What, woman, are you mad or what
They fought for you, have you forgot
The price they had to pay?
Shall I vote or not?
My sister, listen, hear the sound
Of hooves of thunder on the ground
Lest we forget the day
Shall I vote or not?
They fought for you, have you forgot
Who fought for you so you can say
Shall I vote or not today?
© Gail Foster 6th February 2018
Orion and The Moon
A Villanelle
*
Come catch me then, Orion, if you can
We’ve played this game before. I play to win
I am the moon and you are just a man
…
The same old same old game since time began
We’ve started, so we’ll finish. Let’s begin
Come catch me then, Orion, if you can
…
Some lesser constellations also ran
I left them all stood standing in a spin
I am the moon and you are just a man
…
A man of stars, a huntsman, fiercer than
The lot of them, with finer light within
Come catch me then, Orion, if you can
…
Come chase me cross the spaces in the span
Before the night grows old and darkness thin
I am the moon and you are just a man
…
All stars must fall according to the plan
Before the morning I will have you sin
Come catch me then, Orion, if you can
I am the moon and you are just a man
*
© Gail Foster 30th January 2018
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