Pinocchio - Strangeface

 Masks, Music and More...
A definite night to remember!

Morning blog readers, lovers, haters and everyone in between! 

I saw another play on Friday and I cannot help but feel compelled to tell you all about it! 

Strangeface hast to be one of my favourite companies (EVER!) First I knew of them was on a school trip to the Trinity in Tunbridge Wells to see "A Rakes Progress". Initially their half masks made me uneasy and I was cautiously judging how much I would enjoy the production. However I soon fell head over heels for their energetic, somewhat creepy and totally brilliant performance. Through puppetry, song, masks and an amazing composer I was totally won over.

It wasn't for a few months that I heard about "Pinocchio" to be performed at the Stables in Milton Keynes over Christmas 2011. For weeks I painstakingly researched trains, buses and finally ended up begging my parents to take me (They said no). So unable to find a suitable solution I gave up and resorted to watching video's on youtube and reading other people's reviews. 

So a few weeks ago when my boyfriend's mum suggested I accompanied them to see a show at a local primary school I couldn't believe it when she handed me the leaflet. I knew instantly from from masks on the front that this was the very play I was desperate to see. 

So on Friday the 27th I walked into a primary school hall to see Pinocchio. The set was very much the typical Strangeface construction, made up to look like houses in a town with movable sections to create various scenes and tiny opening windows which are used during the performance as the homes of very grumpy hand puppets! (Who are actually a little scary)

The play began with the chorus, made up of 4 characters, milling around interacting with the audience. When I say interacting what I mean is chatting and joking with the younger members of the audience and flirting with the adults (Specifically my boyfriend). By breaking the fourth wall they had us in the palms of their hands, from that moment on we were totally absorbed in the story and completely without a doubt believed each of the characters were as real as we were. Despite their strange looking faces! 

A great personal highlight for me was the cast. 

The first name I recognised was Sarah Mardel, and ex-wok student whom presented the awards at the upper school reward ceremony in 2010. During the ceremony I was presented the Year 12 Drama Award and so was fortunate enough to speak to Sarah briefly afterwards. Needless to say she was completely inspiring and proved to me that with a bit of hard work it is possibly for a Weald girl to become a successful actor.! Therefore it was a real treat to see her perform as the title role "Pinocchio". (It's no wonder she won the Drama Cup) her performance was captivating and as an audience we truly believed in Pinocchio's conflict between wanting to make Geppetto proud and wanting to just enjoy his life without school.

The second name to catch my eye was Samuel Davies, whose name I recognised from "A Rakes Progress". It's a Strangeface tradition that at the end of the play they allow the audience onto the stage to talk to the actors and try on the masks. I had the pleasure to speak to Samuel after "A Rakes Progress" and it was him and composer Mark Dean who really made me see how wonderful Strangeface is. There are many companies who do a performance, receive their applause and then slink backstage without a second glance yet Strangeface really care about inspiring their audience. Samuel and Mark happily stood and chatted to me for a good 10 minutes answering my hundreds of question about life in the theatre, the company itself and the every present Uni vs Drama School debate! I had loved his performance in "A Rakes Progress" and I loved it even more in Pinocchio! Signor Cherry had me in hysterics with his green wellies and stupid argument with Gepetto over the magic log. (To put it in context for you, the magic driftwood was calling Signor Cherry names behind his back and Cherry believed it to be Geppetto to the point that they ended up on the floor panting for breathe to come to the conclusion that the whole thing was just a dream)

Unknown to me at the time I was also watching another of my all-time favourites, the artistic director of Slingshot Theatre Company, who play "The Zanniskinheads and the quest for the golden balls" I saw at Sevenoaks school. It was one of the absolute strangest yet most hysterically funny plays I have ever seen! In that he played Peenut, quite a hard character and so it was nice to see him playing the sweet Geppetto in Pinocchio. His role as Gepetto had me teary-eyed for the majority, his despair and pride in Pinocchio wonderfully conveyed. Which was offset by his hysterical performance with Samuel Davies and the two spirit doctors whose song still has not left my head!

Last but not least Roxanne Palmer whom routinely embarrassed Kieran (My boyfriend) through out the performance, my to the audiences amusement. With her 5 roles she has me in hysterics from the rough Lampwick who swaggered around the stage steeling buns with Pinocchio before turning into a tap dancing Ass! (I apologise for the language) to the wonderful Cat a role in which she had to act seductive and mean both at  the same time, which with wearing one mask seem like a hard task however Roxanne pulled it off perfectly creating a wonderful portrayal of the character.

Overall the cast of four played around 16 characters, not including hand puppets, each to perfection.

As a whole performance I couldn't have been more impressed, they had me laughing at the spirit doctors and their made-up symptoms and tearing up at Geppetto and Pinocchio's reunion inside the belly of the beast. The technical aspect including lighting, set and of course the music really brought the play to life making it an all-round success!

So if you do get the change go and see a Strangeface production as they are by far one of the most original and captivating companies of our time!!!!

So there you have it blog readers! Check out their website, facebook and The Stables' Youtube to see exactly what I mean when I say just how wonderful they are!
xox
HarrietCorey

Love Song - Frantic Assembly

"Time is linear. When we die. I think we die. 

But until we do... I want that time to be with you."

Evening blog readers! So as my last post suggested I went to see Frantic Assembly perform their new play "Love Song" at the Lyric in Hammersmith on Friday. I said I'd review it and so here goes, bare in mind that I've only reviewed a few things before, actually it's only really been Sudentberry Jam! So if this goes badly, I appologise! 

  

I was introduced to Frantic Assembly just over a year ago by my AS Drama teacher, for weeks my drama class read their "Book on Devising Theatre" and watched DVD's of their work. At the time I never thought I would be able to see them live, as all their plays had finished and it didn't look like they had another on the way... lucky for me LoveSong by Abi Morgan was in the creative process. 

 The play began as soon as the audience started drifting through the doors, I'm still left wondering if many of the audience even realsied there was an actor on stage, from that moment on we were plunged into the world of Maggie and Billy, otherwise known as Margret and William, the story followed Maggie and Billy as they prepared for Maggie's iminante death. Through clever theatrical devices we were shown their past and present as both characters revisited their memories of each other. 

I'm an emotional person and I knew as soon as I read 3 reviews saying to take tissues that I would need a pack myself... I didn't realise to what extent. When a play moves you to tears you have to wonder why? Why did I feel so emotionally attatched that the smallest gesture made my eyes brim? Was it the script, the acting, the music? The truth is it's probably all of those things, without giving too much away each and every moment in Maggie and Billy's past resonates within you, your worst fears were played out infront of you. However the scripting was done so carefully that they never really confronted these issues, the only time they came close was when Maggie almost cheated on Billy... other than that everything was said through cryptic use of language and gesture. 

When the end of the performance came there was no doubt in my mind, I immediatly stood and joined a handfull of others in a standing ovation despite still wiping the tears from my cheeks. As a wanna-be actor I know the power of emotion and how good it feels to influence your audience this much. I cannot tell you which part of the performance I enjoyed most, although it was not akin to Frantic's usual high impact physical theare this piece used more gentle movements. An exaple of Frantic's classic "round by and through" was used in a beautiful dance sequence between the young couple, dancing around Billy and Maggie as they made lunch in the kitchen reminding us that the past was always interlinked with the present, captivated in the walls of their childless home.
From a technical view point  there had been projections onto a sreen upstage at various key moments, starting with swallows taking flight and ending with handprints like those of cavemen, this visual device gave the play an entirely different element and resulted in a beautiful performance by all.

In conclusion Frantic Assembly's "Love Song" is a must see, for anyone! Whether you love theatre or not you are bound to be moved by the script, entranced by the movement and captivated by the music.

 

An Exciting Evening...

An Evening in...

London!!!

Afternoon friends and followers! Just a quick post to say I'M GOING TO LONDON!!!!

The reason for my visit? To see the wonderful Frantic Assembly perform their new physical theatre piece "Love Song"... Yes, I will review this properly for you later! If you haven't heard of Frantic Assembly you should have a look at their website: http://www.franticassembly.co.uk and then you will understand why I am so excited :D

I am also going to Primark for some well-needed shopping... So I will also share with you the bargains I buy (No doubt I will buy lots of things I don't actually need!)

Love to you all!

xox

HarrietCorey

ps. Thank you to all the people (especially the 60 South Koreans) who have been reading my blog as of late... it is much appreciated! If you want to get in touch then just email me at harrietcoreyblog@hotmail.co.uk