So here we are in Colchester 28 years later for only my 7th production (including the wonderful reunion concert in 1992) with the last one, a triumph for The Landor, still ringing in my ears (
http://garethjames.wordpress.com/2011/08/19/the-hired-man
). By now I consider it to be the best British musical bar none, though it’s more of a folk opera – not a chorus girl in sight. An adaptation of Melvyn Bragg’s novel, its epic sweep over 23 years from 1898 to 1921 takes us from the land to the mines to the first world war, back to the mines and back to the land. Within this, we have the very personal story of the Tallentire family through happy times of marriage and births to the challenge of infidelity and the tragedy of death.

We start and end at a hiring fair where employers find and bargain with farm workers. Though lured by the higher wages in the mines, and side-tracked by the war, John Tallentire eventually returns to the land. In between, we see the devastation of the great war and the conditions miners had to endure for those extra pennies, leading to the birth of the unions. The social history blends well with the personal story and the superb score, seeped in British choral tradition and folk songs, makes it deeply moving yet uplifting.

Director Daniel Buckroyd’s production evokes the Cumbrian landscape very simply but effectively with platforms and screens bathed in warmth. He has assembled a fine cast which is particularly strong in the choruses. David Hunter brings real feeling to John’s songs and Julie Atherton sings and acts her heart out (I’ve only seen her in modern – mostly American – shows, so it’s great to see her so effective in a ‘period piece’). The musical standards, under MD & pianist Richard Reeday, are outstanding; it sounds like musicians also playing roles, rather than actors playing instruments as we see in Watermill shows. I thought Rachel Gladwin’s harp playing was particularly beautiful.

I saw and enjoyed Buckroyd’s 2008 touring production when it popped in to Greenwich but this is even better. After Greenwich, I emailed the NT’s director and told him to stop neglecting British musical theatre and get over to Greenwich and tell me why this show isn’t in the Cottesloe. To his credit he replied, but all we’ve had since is London Road, another show in a genre of its own. Time for another email, I think!

A lovely production of a lovely show – two more weeks in Colchester, then The Curve in Leicester for another two. Now, where’s the Leicester train timetable…..

This is the third time I’ve seen this play with music and it varies little by production; whether that’s faithfulness to the script or no room for directorial concept, I don’t know. Paul Kerryson’s seemed a touch faster paced and a bit cruder (but that might have been a reaction to the lady in front of us who was clearly horrified by its rudeness). The design and staging are simple but effective, as they need to be given the number of scenes, and that puts the story centre stage.

We move c.30 years from the young street singer to the international star’s untimely death. In between, her neediness is manifested in drink, drugs and men; her addictive personality means she can’t get enough of any of them and is herself abused in the process. Somehow she manages to, or maybe because of this she does, produce a catalogue of songs with an emotional depth most songwriters would envy, and perform them with a conviction like each was for one time only.

The success of the play does of course depend on the leading lady and Frances Ruffelle is outstanding as Piaf, both dramatically and musically. In this production, the roles of friend Madelein and colleague Marlene seem further to the fore, and this may well be because Tiffany Graves is simply superb as both. The supporting cast of six men and just one woman play all the other people in her life and do so uniformly well; no weak links here.

It was good to see it again, and good to visit Leicester Curve’s studio space for the first time. I hope the lucky people of Leicester know just how lucky they are – West End quality for half the price.

Up in my old hunting ground of Leicester The Curve (@leicestercurve) are opening a new production of Gypsy (lyrics by Sondheim, dir by Paul Kerryson (@paulkerryson) and featuring Caroline O Connor), whilst in the West End Michael Ball and Immelda Staunton open in Sweeney Todd. Closer to home I’ll be going to the screening of Company from New York (odeon cinemas on Thursday) and the excellent Gallery Players are bringing their version of the Sondheim review Putting It Together to @Easternangles Sir John Mills Theatre.

Gypsy

If the tweets are to be believed the good folk of Leicester were queuing round Vinoly’s curves in droves – desperate to get into the open dress of Gypsy (1959) a show in which Sondheim says ‘he came of age’. Freed up by the success of Oklahoma (1943) Sondheim created a libretto which fizzes with character, depth and (dare one say it) story. The music (by Julie Styne) isn’t bad too! Given the amount of chatter about the show filling up my timeline looks as though Curve have a hit on their hands. Details here.

Company

Eleven years later Company was the show where Sondheim found his true voice. There’s hardly any plot at all – it’s all about character -as Bobby re-asses his life by reviewing his relationships with his married friends and girl friends. After all what do you want to get married for? The recorded live screening (on 15 March) features a New York Philharmonic concert production (with Neil Patrick Harris, Stephen Colbert, Jon Cryer, Craig Berko, Christina Hendricks, Patti Lupone and Martha Plumpton) no doubt a far cry from the charming chamber version the Donmar staged in 2007(?). Still I’m very much looking forward to seeing it at Colchester Odeon. For more info see here

(As an aside – and slightly off topic – I spent a couple of hours in the company of this you tube video – the concert staging of Leonard Bernstein’s Candide (which of course Sondheim contributed the occasional lyric too having worked with Bernstein on West Side Story). I just wish the camera had stayed fixed on bernstein throughout – his conducting is – unique!)

Sweeney Todd

It’s usually Sweeney Todd (1979) that gets the opera treatment (begging the question when is a work a musical, music theatre or an opera – it’s all about the balance between words and music says director Ian Judge). Listening again there’s a hint of Sweeney in Company. In ‘someone is coming’ Robert calls out Joanne. Musically and lyrically it’s not a million miles away from Anthony’s desperate cry.

I first saw Sweeney Todd in a sports hall in Wales – in a production by Theatr Clywd [@clywdtweets] (which I think may have been directed by the New Wolsey artistic director Peter Rowe). Practically in the round I can still recall the extraordinary terror I felt as Todd’s horrific actions unfolded .Sondheim himself has said he wanted to write a musical like a horror movie and in that intimate (ok so it was a sports hall but still felt bloody intimate – there was no escape as the action happened in and around you!) setting it sure thrilled and scared the hell out of me! I’ve seen countless performances since but none (yet) have captured that claustrophobic fear. Perhaps Ball and Staunton (who are just about to open in the West End with the Chichester Festival Theatre production) are the ones to reverse the trend – mind I’m going to have to sacrifice an arm and a leg to find out….more info here

[another aside but talking of Clywd they stage Merrily we Roll along - directed by Nikolai Foster (@nikolaifoster) (whose Annie triumphantly occupied the West Yorkshire Playhouse over Christmas) -from 3 May - details here]

‘I stage it meticulously and in minute detail’

In Finishing the Hat Sondheim tells the story of how Arthur Laurents took him to see a session at The Actors Studio. He sat there shocked – an experience that was both invaluable and unsettling. ‘When it comes to writing a song, however, that’s my staging. I stage it meticulously and in minute detail… I learned this from Jerome Robbins…I played him ‘Maria, I’ve just met a girl named Maria and suddenly that name will never be the same to me – pause’ and he said ‘what do you want me to do in that pause?’ I said ‘well he just stands there’. He said ‘you try and stage that. Give me something to do. Stage it for me’. And I’ve taken that advice to heart ever since, and I stage everything, including pauses in songs, whether it’s just a cross or a look out to the audience… Anyone who’s watched any of Sondheim’s master classes will recognise this – the amount and level of detail he will take his students into is simply quite extraordinary.

Putting it Together

So I’m really looking forward to seeing Gallery Players step up to the challenge of Putting it Together – a 1992 revue or Sondheim best of first seen in Oxford (with a cast that included Diana Rigg, Clarke Peters (think Five Guys Named Moe) and Kit Hesketh Harvey of Kit and the Widow)

With songs from Sweeney Todd, Company, Sunday in the Park with George, Merrily we Roll Along and Follies (& more) it sounds like a perfect introduction to Sondheim’s undoubted (in my mind) genius – or for folks like me a wonderfully indulgent evening. Mind if you fall into the (not inconsiderable) camp of Sondheim detractors I say one thing – what the hell are you still reading this blog post for? The production opens Wednesday and runs until Saturday (but tickets are selling out fast – handful left for Wed and Sat now) – see here.

Epitaph

What makes for a good Sondheim production? Well one suspects all four productions will live or die by the great mans own rules – ‘content dictates form, less is more, god is in the details all of which is in the service of clarity without which nothing else matters’.

Associate director of Leicester Curve,  Adel Al-Salloum said: ‘We are thrilled that our funders have recognised our current success in working in the community and the potential Curve has to develop its work with young and emerging artists. The project is about new ideas and how Curve supports young people to realise their ideas and turn them to enterprise.’

The programme aims to take on 30 young people and provide them with training as art entrepreneurs. They will participate in community projects, involving local schools and the elderly.

Practitioners and a programme manager are yet to be hired for the scheme. Applications for places opened in November, with training set to start in 2012. The apprentices will take their projects into the community in Spring 2012.

http://www.curveonline.co.uk

Dramatis personae Olivier Award-winning actor Con O’Neill is joining Ian Redford in the Manchester Royal Exchange’s revival of Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge, opening this week. Casting has also been announced for Richard Wilson’s production of Alexi Kaye Campbell’s The Pride at Sheffield’s Studio Theatre, with Claire Price, Jay Simpson and Jamie Sives completing the line-up alongside Daniel Evans, Sheffield Theatre’s artistic director. Meanwhile, Killian Donnelly announced this week on Twitter that he will be joining the cast of Phantom of the Opera as Raoul.

In the world of musical theatre there are returns and reunions in The Sound of Music and Mamma Mia! Palladium production alumni Lesley Garrett and Connie Fisher are both reprising their roles in The Sound of Music, as Mother Abbess and Maria respectively, in the national tour of the show. At the Prince Edward Theatre, Sally Ann Triplett returns to the role of Donna Sheridan in Mamma Mia!, joining a new cast that includes William Tapley, Oliver Senton, Mark Gillis and Dani De Waal.

Elsewhere, the cast for the Tricycle Theatre’s Tactical Questioning will comprise Dean Ashton, Christopher Fox, Luke Harris, David Michaels, Alan Parnaby, Simon Rouse, Mark Stobbart, Rick Warden and Thomas Wheatley. There is a last minute change in the Pygmalion cast, meanwhile, as Simon Ward withdraws and is replaced by Michael Feast as Alfred Doolittle. Finally, big screen star Romola Garai is set to star in Penelope Skinner’s debut play The Village Bike at the Royal Court, joining Nicholas Burns and Alexandra Gilbreath.

Curtain up It is a busy week for openings in London, kicked off at the Royal Court by Acid Test, young playwright Anya Reiss’ hotly anticipated follow-up to her award-winning debut. This week also sees the opening of comedy One Man, Two Guvnors at the National Theatre, starring James Corden, and the Garrick Theatre’s Pygmalion, bringing together more big names in the form of Rupert Everett and Kara Tointon. Finally, Much Ado About Nothing opens at Shakespeare’s Globe only days ahead of opening night for the starrier pairing of David Tennant and Catherine Tate in the Wyndham’s Theatre production.

Further afield, the 50th anniversary production of Samuel Beckett’s Happy Days is at Sheffield’s Crucible, starring Pauline McLynn, and Dennis Kelly’s psychological thriller After the End has just opened at the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow. We are also hitting peak festival season, with two more this week: Pulse in Ipswich and the Nottingham European Arts & Theatre Festival.

Encore! Last year’s sell-out production of Howard Brenton’s play Anne Boleyn returns to Shakespeare’s Globe this summer, with cast members Miranda Raison and Anthony Howell reprising their roles as Anne and Henry VIII respectively. For one night only on 29 May, Olivier award-winning actress Jenny Galloway reprises her solo show Pirate Jenny at the Landor Theatre, while verbatim musical London Road has extended at the National Theatre.

It has been announced that the RSC’s musical adaptation of much-loved Roald Dahl book Matilda has found its West End home at the Cambridge Theatre, with details of what will happen to the Cambridge’s current show Chicago as yet unreleased. Theatre lovers can also enjoy another weekend of free theatre this summer as West End Live returns, taking up residence this year at Trafalgar Square as opposed to its old home in Leicester Square. The line-up for the event on 18-19 June includes returning acts Wicked, Jersey Boys and We Will Rock You, as well as performances from new musicals Betty Blue Eyes, The Wizard of Oz and Million Dollar Quartet.

Box office Controversy looks set to be raised by the debut play from journalist Sarah Helm, Iraq War opponent and wife of Tony Blair’s then Chief of Staff Jonathan Powell. Loyalty will run at the Hampstead Theatre from July starring Maxine Peake as a character loosely based on playwright Helm. Meanwhile, Damon Albarn’s new show Doctor Dee will come to London with the ENO next summer as part of the London 2012 Festival celebrating the capital’s hosting of the Olympics, following a run at Manchester International Festival this year.

Finally, last week saw the announcement of the upcoming season at the Leicester Curve, including two big musical productions. The first of these will be a festive production of Christmas musical 42nd Street, followed in March by a revival of Gypsy fronted by Caroline O’Connor. Other highlights of the season include One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the world premiere of Akram Khan’s new dance piece Desh and Out of Joint’s production of Bang Bang Bang by Stella Feehily.

West End whispers Could another Roald Dahl adaptation be hitting the West End following Matilda? Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, the songwriting duo behind Hairspray, have told Broadway World that they are working on a musical version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory which they hope to bring to London next year with director Sam Mendes.

That’s all for this week folks, but if you have any exciting news stories or juicy theatre gossip to add then leave a comment. Or if you are at a loss for what to catch at the theatre in the next seven days, check out my WHAT’S HOT recommendations for The Public Reviews.

When?:

Jacques Demy’s 1964 French musical film Les Parapluies de Cherbourg is considered by many to be the greatest movie musical of all time, and has been a personal favourite of mine for as long as I can remember. I must have seen the film dozens of times, and still the beauty of Michel Legrand’s varied and iconic score never fails to move me. Demy’s quirky art house style is perfectly executed; a vivid colour scheme, memorable characters and heightened dramatic brilliance help to make Umbrellas the masterpiece that it remains today – at the same time creating a star in the shape of a young Catherine Deneuve. This new UK premiere production from suitably different theatre company Kneehigh certainly had big shoes to fill and sadly doesn’t even come close to emulating the experience of the movie. In fact, this production is one of the poorest new musicals I have seen in a while and is far, far short of the quality of previous Kneehigh productions such as The Red Shoes and Brief Encounter.

Umbrellas tells the story of young mechanic Guy (Durand) and Geneviève (Bawden), a couple very deeply in love. We are quickly introduced to Mme. Emery (Riding), the protective mother of Geneviève who owns an umbrella shop in Cherbourg. With the family business suffering (quite possibly due to the fact that they don’t manage to shift a single umbrella in the course of the show in a town where it always rains) Mme. Emery is forced to sell her jewellery to pay a debt, introducing businessman Roland Cassard (Marsh) who instantly falls in love with Geneviève. When 20 year old Guy is called up for military service in The Algerian War for a term of two years, it tests their resolve and committment to one-another, specifically Geneviève’s pledge to wait for his return. Despite Sheldon Harnick’s translation being over 30 years old (it being used in the only other stage production of Umbrellas in theatre history, the failed 1979 off-Broadway production which ran for just 22 performances) it is fit for purpose and is taken almost word-for-word. It is a shame that the flowery high-romance of the French libretto loses much of its potency when put into English, but I do accept that a French language production was never going to be a option commercially.

Catherine Deneuve and Nino Castelnuovo in the motion picture

Director Emma Rice tries to compensate for this by ‘sending up’ the sheer Frenchness of it all in various ways; she introduces a new character Lola (internationally renowned cabaret artist Meow Meow) whose inclusion is mostly pointless, although she does create the show’s finest moment, a French-language ballad in the second act. There are ‘magic sailors’ who help with scene transitions but, like Lola, serve little actual purpose in an expositional sense and act more as set dressing.  I spotted a few berets, too – but sadly no baguettes. The issue here is that the show doesn’t take itself in the least bit seriously. The movie – while very different and at times even a little strange – had a clear, focused and concise narrative and vision for the piece – in this production things happen with little rhyme or reason. There are also far too many unintentional laughs, especially in the first act, whereas the intentional humour fell way short. Rice aspires to create her own surrealist version of Umbrellas, but far too many liberties are taken and the result is frankly a poorly conceived, badly directed mess.

My group were not alone in cracking up in places we weren’t supposed to; after the cringe-inducing and painfully long opening (Lola giving the audience French lessons so we can understand the show better – despite the show being in English) things actually managed to get worse. The first set, some highly detailed miniatures depicting Cherbourg’s locales, was revealed and an ensemble member entered pushing along a small toy car. He then used his fingers as stick men to ‘act’ out something with another cast member as the music struck up and three dancing mechanics entered. If I am making it sound quirky and fun then I am telling it wrong; this was jaw-droppingly bad. Things improved slightly before taking another plunge into the realms of the horrific: inexplicably, the role of Aunt Elise – a plot-central and very important character in the story – is given to Dominic Marsh who also plays Cassard. Marsh is fine as Cassard, but as a dragged up Aunt Elise turns in one of the worst performances I have had the misfortune to witness on the professional stage. Marsh makes no attempt to disguise his deep voice and any emotional impact of the characters journey is lost – frankly it is a relief when the character exits. Every character seems to collapse on stage at least once, with Mme. Emery’s proving the most spectacular; the camp ‘magic sailors’ are great for a laugh and spend much of their time lifting and carrying around the lead characters – sometimes they are acknowledged, other times they are ignored and I am sure not even the cast know what they are meant to resemble.

Rather like this!

But undoubtedly the finest and most hilarious moment of the show came towards the climax (excuse the pun) of Act I. I’ll try not to give too much of the plot away, but one of the pieces of set is a giant ramp which people occasionally slide down. As Guy and Geneviève are getting ‘intimate’, Guy helps Geneviève out of her underwear. Hilarity ensues as an, I am not joking, enormous pair of white underpants are taken off, briefly held aloft by the triumphant Guy, and then dropped off the side of the set. Think Bridget Jones meets Tena Lady Extra Extra Large Support Pants. Just when we thought things couldn’t get any better (or worse, for those who wanted to see a decent adaption) they proceed to do some very uncomfortable looking jiggy action whilst trying to slide down the ramp. Guy holding on to the sides of the ramp for dear life, a look of sheer terror in his eyes, is an image I will carry with me to the grave. Big White Pantsgate is undoubtedly going to go down in the annals of theatre history alongside Behind the Iron Mask, Too Close to the Sun and Gone with the Wind: The Musical. Elphaba has her broomstick, The Phantom has his mask, and Geneviève has her giant white pants. The second act does bring a small improvement, but not enough to save the show. The final few scenes are rather well acted in particular by Cynthia Erivo as Madeleine. That is until the very final moments of the show when, for the first time real emotion is being conveyed, they wheel on puppet children. You couldn’t make this stuff up.

If you’ve never seen Les Parapluies de Cherbourg, don’t let this be your first experience – I promise you, the movie is nothing like this production. The DVD is available here and, laughably bad moments aside, provides an altogether more satisfying and enjoyable telling of this story than Kneehigh’s production. This production is en route to the West End (previews from 5th March) and tellingly top price tickets for all performances have been slashed by around 40% – less than a week after opening in Leicester.

- Harry Zing
Chewingthescenery.com

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A word on the venue;

My first visit to the impressive Leicester Curve, a very modern venue reminiscent of The o2 in layout and style. The auditorium is marvellous; the seats are extremely comfortable and the views are good from almost everywhere although I would favour the stalls over the dress circle for proximity to the stage. The acoustics are also very good and there is a rather spiffing little cafe area in the foyer.

This hugely successful ghost story has been running at the Fortune Theatre in London’s West End for twenty years, and here we had the touring cast with Peter Bramhill as the young actor and Robert Demeger as Arthur Kipps. After Richmond it goes all over the United Kingdom — the various theatres are listed at the end.

The original story by Susan Hill is about a young lawyer named Arthur Kipps who leaves London for a few days to attend the funeral of an old lady client and examine the paperwork in her isolated house. A woman in black, with a wasted face, appears at the funeral, and reappears in the isolated house. Local legend holds that whenever she is seen a child dies. When Arthur returns to London he marries and has a child of his own, but disaster awaits when the woman in black reappears.

The play, adapted from the novel by Stephen Mallatratt, has Arthur Kipps as an older man employing a young actor to help him tell the story, in order to release him from its terrifying memory. The scenes in the isolated house are theatrically embellished with suitable sound effects, and many of the audience find it gratifyingly scary. The funeral is cut from the play, and the whole thing is a very clever recital of events from the past, starting with the older man reciting Arthur’s history in a quiet and dull monotone. One or two of the audience around me spoke out to complain they couldn’t hear him well, but that is precisely the point. This is why he needs a young actor to help him flesh it all out and exorcise the ghosts of the past, and I thought Peter Bramhill and Robert Demeger both played their parts extremely well.

As to the appearance of ghosts and strange noises, I have made a suggestion in a separate post.

18–23 January, SALFORD QUAYS The Lowry; 25–30 January, NEWCASTLE Theatre Royal; 1 – 6  February, LEICESTER Curve; 8 – 13 February, WOKING New Victoria Theatre; 16–20 February, EDINBURGH King’s Theatre; 22–27 February, SHEFFIELD Lyceum Theatre; 1 – 6   March, CAMBRIDGE Arts Theatre; 8 – 13 March, DARLINGTON Civic Theatre; 18–20 March, BLACKPOOL Grand Theatre; 22–27 March, SWINDON Wyvern Theatre; 29 – 3 April, SWANSEA Grand Theatre; 5 – 10 April, NORTHAMPTON Royal; 12–17 April, HASTINGS White Rock Theatre; 19–24 April, BRIGHTON Theatre Royal; 26 Apr – 1 May, BELFAST Grand Opera House; 4 – 8  May, NOTTINGHAM Theatre Royal; 10–15 May, CHELTENHAM Everyman; 31 May – 5 June, LIVERPOOL Everyman; 7 – 12 June, GLASGOW Theatre Royal; 14–19 June, CARDIFF New Theatre; 21–26 June, NORWICH Theatre Royal; 28 June – 3 July, SOUTHEND Palace Theatre

I set off to experience 1950s Florence in Leicester on a chilly, rainy morning in May, the day after my 21st birthday, which means that I’d now be too old to marry Fabrizio. I first became acquainted with Piazza a couple of years ago, and I only really got into it when I read a detailed synopsis and the entire thing came together beautifully. I really think that this show has the most beautiful score in years and it’s a perfect example of taking a rather slight story and turning it into something extraordinary. The Curve Theatre is an ultra-modern, state of the art venue, where the ushers scan your printout with handheld beeping machines (I prefer old fashioned tickets), rather than telling you where to go. It’s as if it wants to be like the National Theatre, but at present feels a bit too big and empty. In spite of all this technology, there was a technical hitch during the overture, in which the audience was nearly blinded by the lights and Michelangelo’s David failed to land, and Paul Kerryson had to come up on stage to apologise. Fortunately, all was resolved before long and I had plenty of time in between the show and getting the train back.

Paul Kerryson delivers a slick, beautifully designed production that perfectly evokes the luxury and glamour of 1950s Florence (with a touch of film noir in the stylised staging of Aiutami) and the production values are very impressive indeed. The sets (George Souglides) look as if they’re made out of white marble with projected views of the cathedral. Amongst the stylish array of costumes, Margaret’s red two-piece is a highlight (shame about Clara’s wedding dress though- I’d psyched myself up for something really gorgeous, but it looked like a bit of net curtain). The rich-voiced Lucy Schaufer is a very highly-strung, twinset-and-pearls, disapproving Southern matron, who certainly isn’t as instantly likable as Victoria Clark’s Margaret. I applaud her for taking such a different approach and it’s clear that this Margaret isn’t a whole lot of fun to be around, and one can see why Clara might prefer the informality of the Naccarellis to her mother’s iron control. Schaufer delivered the bitterest Dividing Day I’ve ever heard, and it was very touching to see her gradually mellow and come to terms with Clara’s development. Her The Beauty Is (reprise) was magnificent, as was her Fable, which made me sob. It’s easy to see why the Naccarellis would be so enchanted by Caroline Sheen’s Clara (“Una ragazza antiqua!”), who sings with a lovely, sweet voice and she perfectly captures the childish role she’s been assigned to and the womanly hormones emerging. I’ve always suspected that Clara is more advanced than her parents realise (“So much blind acceptance…”), and although the way that she’s been so sheltered and mollycoddled has all been well intentioned, it’s held her back even more. There’s also the question of what exactly is ‘normal.’ Matt Rawle was a pleasant surprise as Fabrizio, as my expectations were not high (too old, and I hated Zorro so much…). He was endearing, boyish and a bit awkward (the hairstyle didn’t really do him any favours though), and his Italian accent was no worse than those of the American Fabrizios.

There is fine support from Eliza Lumley as bitchy, romantically disillusioned sister-in-law Franca (I loved her English lesson with Fabrizio), whose philandering husband Giuseppe is perfectly portrayed George Couyas- completely sleazy, but still weirdly attractive. The Italian parents are also well played by Graham Bickley’s Signor Naccarelli, initially delighted by the romance between Fabrizio and Clara before being a bit freaked out at the thought of his little boy growing up so fast, and Jasna Ivir brings warmth as his wife, who also gets the best line in the show (“I don’t speak English, but I have to tell you what’s going on”).

This was more than worth making the trip to Leicester for, and I hope it gets the chance to enjoy a life outside the Midlands. An old fashioned yet modern unashamedly romantic musical with a gorgeous score and beautiful aesthetics- what could be better? It certainly makes me want to visit Italy and learn Italian… and find a Fabrizio of my own.

(This review refers to a performance that took place on May 13th 2009)

Final Box on stage

Photography by Pamela Raith

Breaking down by painting layers

Breaking down using spray paint

Breaking down by rubbing paint into fabric

Another oppurtunity we had being part of this process was to help in painting the set. We worked with a scenic painter to create the effects on the set of planking. It was interesting to learn that it is not about just painting the set one colour. The colours were created using layers of paint in very similar colours. He used different techniques including sponging and a spray gun with very watered down paint.

Gullivers Set – The Cornfield

The Cornfield was part of the world of the giants, so the cornfield needed to look huge in comparison to Gulliver. To create this we made a modle of  individual ears of corn on a wedge around a camera so that the farmer could look into the camera. This image was then projected onto the sail of the set, making it look like a giant is peering in on a little man. The corns were created with paper cut into crown shapes and wrapped around wire. These were then sprayed into to make them look less bright green and more textured.

The Cornfield

One of the scenes was about Nik and Nak the ‘Shit Shovellers’ I had to create their baskets and shovels for the scene in which they were shovelling.

Broken down using spray paint, copydex and straw

Broken down with spray paint, copydex, straw and acrylic

Nik and Nak ‘Shit Shovellers’ – Pamela Raith

One of the main themes of the design was looking at scale – because he is different sizes in different worlds the props and scenary had to relate to this. For a third of the show Gulliver himself is a puppet and my main job related to this.

A House For Gulliver

In the world of the giants Gulliver is a puppet and Glumbleclitch carries him around in a little dolls house. I had to make this house.The only guidelines I was given were to base it on a Saltbox house (from Southern America)

Saltbox House

The construction of the house posed some problems, it had to be really light, but sturdy at the same time, whilst being the right size and shape for the Puppet Gulliver to fit inside. It couldnt be made out of wood as this would be too heavy so I adapted canvases as the main material so that it had a wooden frame but no bulk. I covered the house in card slats to make the shiplap planking

Showing the construction

Card strips layered together to make the planking

When I had constructed the box I had to paint it. I used a combination of sponging and painting to create the textures of distressed wood and tiles. Making this box was really time consuming and detailed because everything was so small and had to be cut out so accuratley and detailed, especially the roof tiles and windows. Gullivers face had to be visible through one of the windows so the shutters on this window had to be hinged, to make his face visible through the little window I had to add a light inside that could turn on and off.

Paint effects on Gullivers box

Hinged window