Frankenstein: a balletic take on the Monster, Royal Opera House, London

Frankenstein, Liam Scarlett's first evening length commission by the Royal Ballet, takes a very literal approach in all aspects. Drawing on Mary Shelley's novel from 1818, the ballet is, after Wayne Ealing's 1984 version, the second take of the Royal Ballet to tackle this narrative. Shelley's narrative immediately sparked interest upon publication and has since become a classic in its own right. Subsequently, it influenced a myriad of stage and film adaptations. The nameless Creature haunts popular film productions leading to an established but distorted image of Shelley's creation in the collective subconscious of Gothic fiction fans. Scarlett's endeavour to work with the emotional nuances of the narrative is here a welcome effort. Shelley's original offers subtexts of suffering, social assimilation, raises questions concerning responsibility towards others and whether the unthinkable should be attempted. Victor Frankenstein, as creator, denies his creation a name and, after months of toil, recoils in horror upon seeing his attempt to create life has been successful. The sentient and intelligent Creature suffers in its solitude and rejection by society longing for a companion and happiness. Both roles offer a rich treasure trove for character development individually and in their exchanges. Frankenstein the scientist to play God abandons his creation that seeks support and guidance from him.

Scarlet's performance, however, does not manage to tease out the depths of Shelley's narrative. It follows scene by scene the novel exhausting it and audiences. Details of the narrative are enacted lengthily with appropriate Gothic visuals in stage design and backdrops. In midst of dancing house maids and anatomy students, Frankenstein's gradual abandonment of moral and ethical norms is nonexistent. The rushed creation of the Creature offers some nice sparks and lightning flashes, but the horror of Frankenstein realising the dimension of his deed does not happen. Federico Bonelli as Victor Frankenstein and Steven McRae as Creature strive with immaculate performances to show the struggle, but are choreographically denied character development. McRae embraces the Abomination's monstrosity with fervour, but, instead of actively working on socialisation as in the novel, the wretched creature passively watches from the sidelines merely curtseying. One beautiful and haunting moment is still given to them. Not the fight between creator and Creature which lacks conviction, but the ball scene with the Abomination weaving in and out of the dancing guests of the wedding. Frankenstein in his mental torment cannot distinguish friend from foe.

Dramaturgically, the performance lacks he highlights and dynamic qualities and rhythms of an engaging narrative. Neither score nor choreography offer truly memorable moments. With Frankenstein, the Royal Ballet took a step towards new storytelling, but lacks a true storyteller as director/choreographer. Scarlett's attempt at a well known Gothic masterwork remains within the boundaries of fandom that draws on common devices and imagery that do not transcend the superficial aspects of the socio-cultural other.

18 cacti and the hidden meaning: Nederlands Dans Theatre, Sadler's Wells, London

Nederlands Dans Theatre 2 crowned its 2016 UK tour with final performances at Sadler's Wells, London. The company of 18 highly talented young dancers offered a fast paced firework of diverse works by choreographers Sol Leon and Paul Lightfoot, Hans van Manen, Edward Clug and Alexander Ekman. Founded to nurture young dancers aged 18-23, NDT2 has become synonym with extraordinary skill and emotional performance. The six separate pieces blended well through visuals based on grey or black tones and predominant use of classical music. The restaging of Leon and Lightfoot's 1998 piece Sad Case, based on Mexican mambo music and in Lightfoot's idiosyncratic style of that time, offered a welcome divergence to the rest which, with exception of van Manen's Solo from 1997, are recent creations.

Diverse as they might, the individual numbers all draw on a high sense of musicality and technical skill of the performers. Van Manen's Solo plays with three dancers performing an inner conversation of one person. In humours moments, the three archetypes alternating with each other tease one another to burst into sequences of fast paced  movement. Some other Time by Leon and Lightfoot had various elaborate solo and duet sequences with Gregory Lau performing outstanding pirouette sequences. Interestingly enough, the programme showcases the male dancers of the company whilst not explicitly aiming to do so in the various works.

Highlight of the evening was Ekman's Cacti with its rhythmic orchestration of the dancing body and humorous lecture on postmodernism. Performed by the entire company with aid of cacti plants and a cat, Cacti draws on visualising the various layers of music whilst adding the dancers' clapping, stomping and breath as an additional one. In splitting the ensemble and lighting only some areas of the stage, Ekman offers a visual rendition of the score with its various repetitions and additions to the orchestra. The company's absolute precision in the use of accents, directions and swift transitions creates the breathtaking imagery with which Cacti stands or falls.

Commedia Dell'Arte Reloaded: The Showstopper! The improvised musical

Troupes of travelling comedians setting up stage in various towns to entertain with improvised performances are well-known from Middles Ages into late Baroque times. Commedia Dell'Arte actors improvised performances including acrobatics, song and spoken word from a basic synopsis to leave a distinct mark in theatre history. The Showstoppers continue along the tradition of highly physical Italian comedy in the 21st century. With their concept of an improvised musical, the company tour the UK and have now had a highly successful stint in the West End last autumn.

The idea of improvising a musical from suggestions by the audience defies description and rather needs to be experienced. Once, the initial barrier of shouting suggestions to the stage is overcome, the performances becomes an event where all ideas are taken up by a cast of exceptionally versatile performers and musicians. No idea is too mad not to be included. With the wide variety of suggestions, a pastiche of numbers and different styles is assembled for the performers to follow. The director guiding audience and cast, however, chooses when to insert which number to ensure neither actors nor audience get carried away by, say, a steamy massage in a Roman bath. And so it happens that two American hitchhikers break up in Shakespearian language, whilst another time the ghost of a circus acrobat haunts her sweetheart in a cheese factory with a version of Mozart's famous Queen of the Night aria. In ancient Rome, two pairs of lovers rap on the fact that all roads lead to Rome, rivals duel in the Colosseum and Nero enjoys tap dancing lions. Unless, someone rather wants to try Reindeer guano tea in a German teahouse, which, we were assured, tastes exactly as it sounds.

The achievement of the performers to immediately respond and adapt to new situations, pick up the line of narrative and improvise words and suitable choreography to a vast array of tunes is outstanding. Whilst drawing on traditional stereotypes including national accents and gestures, the actors manage to keep performances fresh and incorporate references to daily occurrences be they sports or the arts. One or two pairs of lovers, narrative detours, surprising revelations and cliff hangers, The Showstoppers have all theatrical devices up their pockets. The most notable achievement is the swift pacing of exchanges in conjunction with narrative clarity that leads to a highly plausible end to whichever implausible plot the audience conjured up. As such the improvised musical manages to effortlessly appear in the audience's minds. No eye remains dry, no performance is alike. Now returning again for regular performances in London, the company will cast their spell at The Lyric theatre. Subscribe to the experience, go with the flow and let The Showstoppers take you on a journey.

Gentlemen prefer Blondes: Marilyn Monroe photo exhibition, The Little Black Gallery, London

Gentlemen prefer Blondes displays rare yet iconic images of Marilyn Monroe by photographers Milton H Greene and Douglas Kirkland at The Little Black Gallery, South Kensington. Having reached fame through her movies, Monroe has not only become the erotic image of her era, but exerts lasting influence on subsequent generations. Her playful and natural eroticism is captured in stunning photographs that carry an everlasting expressiveness. Both Greene and Kirkland's photographs establish Monroe's fame in creating and contributing to Monroe's iconography and self representation as sex symbol. The small exhibition offers an excellent array of images that draw on and cement Monroe's stardom. Ranging from a beach shot over the well-known photographs in a tutu to Kirkland's Evening with Marilyn, each photograph oozes eroticism. With the exhibition still on until 27 February, there is still chance to catch the star close up.





 

Sleeping Beauty Rebourne: Matthew Bourne's Gothic Romance at Sadler's Wells, London

Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty: a Gothic Romance again proves New Adventures as magnet to audiences with a sell out Christmas season at Sadler's Wells. Originally premiered in 2012,
New Adventures brought back their vampiristic version of the Petipa / Tchaikovsky classic. In his re-telling based on the well-known fairy tales by Charles Perrault and the Brothers Grimm,  Bourne also references the traditional ballet version not only in utilising Tchaikovsky's score, but with numerous choreographic and historical courtesies to the original. Aurora, for example, is borne in 1890 the year Petipa's Sleeping Beauty premiered. In an elegant turn, her coming of age is celebrated in 1911 followed by a hundred years of sleep so that Aurora's awakening happened last night. As with his other performances, Bourne does not merely recount the fairy tale, but mixes contemporary aspects into his version. Years of vampire craze following the Twilight Saga, Vampire Diaries and True Blood series paved the way for Bourne's conversion of elegant French fairies into eerily dark vampires. The division between good and evil fairies now translates into good and evil vampires echoing films such as Interview with a Vampire and its successors.

The entire New Adventures cast give life to Bourne's fluid and passionate choreography. Bourne's sensibility to to Tchaikovsky's master work has the performers use every accent. The ensemble scenes are well laid out and the vampire fairies bow to their balletic ancestors through inclusion of some small choreographic references to the traditional fairy variations of the Petipa version. The vampire ball of the second act is reminiscent of Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake's Act III as well as the Parisian vampire theatre of Interview with a Vampire. Ashley Shaw's Aurora is spell bindingly beautiful with attention to detail, supreme musicality and intense passion of a young woman in love. Partnered by Dominic North as Leo the gardener, the pair offer one of the most beautiful versions of the Rose Adagio performed on and around a simple garden bench. North's playful and open demeanour counteracts Adam Maskell's dark and brooding Caradoc. A visual resurrection of Antonio Banderas, Maskell entrances Aurora and audiences into a ritualistic sacrifice. Aided by Count Lilac, Leo rescues Aurora to ensure the fairy tale ending can happen.

A beautiful fairy tale with gothic elements, Sleeping Beauty entertains through passionate dance, romantic imagery paired with an exceptionally talented cast and humours scenes. With its season at Sadler's Wells about to finish, the company and Sleeping Beauty will tour the country to continue their success.




Dr Astrid Bernkopf will talk on Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty as part of the Adaptation and Dance conference 2 March 2016 at DeMontford University, Leicester.

London's best kept secret: London Chamber Music Society's Sunday concert series (Kings Place, London)

London Chamber Music Society's Sunday concert series at Kings Place is London's best kept secret of classical music. Situated a few minutes walk off King's Cross, Kings Place houses two beautiful concert halls with outstanding acoustics. As arts venue, Kings Place hosts a multitude of events on a regular basis. Jazz festival, literature weekend, concerts, talks and visual arts on the walls are only a few features framing LCMS concerts that have a firm place in the events schedule. LCMS aims to bring excellent chamber music by outstanding performers to London audiences at affordable prices. The programme delivers a varied selection of national and international ensembles and compositions reaching from the classics of Mozart and Beethoven across time to early 21st century works.

After an initial concert by Navarra Quartet on 13th September as part of Kings Place festival, the winter season will fully commence on 4th October by celebrating 30 years of Wihan Quartet. The following Sunday has Fidelio Trio perform works including a premiere by Benjamin Dwyer who will be in conversation with LCMS Artistic Director Peter Fribbins about his work and music in a free pre-performance talk. Other guests of the pre-Christmas series are Rosamunde Trio, Chilingirian Quartet and Raphael Wallfisch and John York amongst others. In addition to the regular programme, free pre-performance concerts occasionally take place such as Kruger Quartet starting at 5.45 on 11th October. A second talk by Professor Amanda Bayley on Bela Bartok's first string quartet is scheduled for 8th November at 5.15. Post-Christmas concerts have yet to be announced, but an equally varied and rich continuation of the series is certain.

With its origins in Victorian music making and the regular Sunday Concerts of South Place and subsequently Conway Hall, LCMS has found the ideal bridge into the 21st century in the pleasant surrounding and welcoming environment of Kings Place. For Sunday evening, the early start time of the main performance at 6.30pm is wonderful as a new week is only just around the corner. Members of the society receive discounted tickets and for students up the the age of 22 years membership is free. With such set up, programme and artistry, LCMS's Sunday concerts offer an ideal way to round off the weekend in an relaxed atmosphere.


For more information go to:

London Chamber Music Society
www.londonchambermusic.org.uk

Kings Place
www.kingsplace.co.uk

Or call the Box Office 020 7520 1490

Where are you, Winston? 1984 the Play at Playhouse Theatre, London.

Big Brother is watching you and especially Winston Smith, who struggles to align himself to a suppressive totalitarian regime. Based on George Orwell's novel originally published in 1949, 1984 the Play condenses the narrative into 101 minutes packed with all the brutality, targeted manipulation and mind control the Orwellian state regime can muster. Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan adapted the novel into a multilayered stage performance that cleverly overlays different times with characters neither seen nor heard by the others commenting from distance on Winston's diary, aspects of language, author- and readership. The war stricken country of Oceania emerges in haunting imagery of bluish grey and brown colours with sparse stage design resembling old East European communist countries. Flashing lights and frequent black outs drown out the atrocities of torture and heighten the sense of alarm of a suppressed population at the mercy of militia. Similarly, a permanent soundscape reverberates through the theatre to be felt in as much as heard. Projection creates a visual collective subconscious through slogans and the overbearing presence of Big Brother's surveillance. Alternatively, Winston's act of writing emerges as it happens and as it is immediately undone through doubt of the mind and pen strokes on paper.

In this claustrophobic setting, the action focusing on Winston, superbly incarnated by Matthew Spencer, unfolds. Winston finds himself in a very small minority of one who doubts the regime, questions permanent surveillance, the constant re-writing and undoing of records as well as language. Where is the truth? For Winston, history is truth and records ought to remain just that: precise records of what has happened. In a population beaten into submission, Winston does not wish to overlook how people become unpersons as entire existences are wiped out and deleted off records. In Winston's world, the reigning power not only creates its own reality, but writes and re-writes records to match its ever changing alliances. The party slogan emphasises power in stating 'who controls the past, controls the future: who controls the present controls the past'. Orwell echoes as well as foreshadows human and state practices of self representation. Throughout history, nations have been seeking self definition through their glorious past - glorious as purported and recorded by them. Especially, the states of Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia openly engaged with these practices. Germany in so far as it tried to connect its history to mythological Germanic tribes, whilst the Soviet Russia indeed deleted any record of political emigrants. Birth certificates, news paper articles and films were destroyed across the entire country to ensure no glorification of any traitor could happen. In essence, Winston's job to re-write records to suit the state image is no fiction.

Permanent surveillance through telescreens requires any citizen of Oceania to be on constant watch. Parson, splendidly performed by Simon Coates, discovers that even dreams may lead to thought crime and imprisonment. Winston's wish for privacy can only by understood. Too many areas are corroding under anti terrorism legislation, data storage such as server data or simple job applications asking for ethnic origin, sexual orientation and religious belief. Find a phone apps and online databases of addresses round off an image that equals Oceania. Orwell does not state how the nation Oceania came about, but what is seen day-to-day of citizens more or less voluntarily - yet always consciously - providing information in accepting terms and conditions of services offers an answer.

Within this setting, Winston encounters comrade Julia, performed by versatile Janine Harouni. Spencer and Harouni connect well onstage to render the passionate encounter between the two main characters believable. Winston thoughtful yearning for freedom and Julia whose carefree spirit breaks through the mask she needs to wear to survive. In contrast to Winston, Julia enjoys any of the little pleasures she can snatch. Be it real chocolate, real coffee or real sex, Julia finds ways to trick thought police and escape surveillance. Her small acts of defiance give her life and set her apart from the face- and lifeless mass of proles. Winston, less accomplished in hiding his true sentiments, longs to openly live his life. What is a game for Julia, is a nightmare to Winston. Inevitably, their endeavour to join the resistance movement leads to their downfall. The regime brutally clamps down on any deviant thought and action. Winston may not remain in his minority of one and is purged of his 'incorrect' perceptions.

1984 the Play touches on current issues that require our attention. In its stark and emotional staging, the performance has the power to strongly resonate within audiences. A tour de force raising questions on history, truth and especially surveillance in a utopian society that has manifold parallels to our current time. The strong concept, production team and outstanding actors carry the messages well. Orwell's narrative is not fictional, but very real and true to life and human nature. A fable of power more relevant now than ever.