Reviews - UK Theatre Network http://www.uktheatre.net/magazine.html UK Theatre Network Not a member? Sign Up Now! Sign In Email Password Keep me signed in Login Forgot Your Password? UK Theatre Tickets 2 For 1 Theatre Tickets Discount Theatre Tickets 1 de 22 23/07/12 12.19 Reviews - UK Theatre Network http://www.uktheatre.net/magazine.html UK Theater Tickets Cheap Theater Tickets Discount Theater Tickets Theatre Guild Glasgow Find Tickets Reviews Follow Signup What's On Show ALL London West End Show ALL Regional Shows Show Ticket Discounts Share | Latest Articles Most Commented Create Blog JUL 22nd The Fear of Breathing at the Finborough Theatre By Carolin Kopplin 2 de 22 23/07/12 12.19 Reviews - UK Theatre Network http://www.uktheatre.net/magazine.html Adam Youssefbeygi You did nothing. After the new artistic director of the Tricycle Theatre announced that her programming would be very different from her predecessor’s, I was afraid that this would probably mean the end of verbatim theatre in London. But one may never underestimate the Finborough Theatre. Artistic director Neil McPherson presents the world premiere of The Fear of Breathing – Stories from the Syrian Revolution which is based entirely on verbatim reports from inside Syria itself. Journalists Paul Wood of the BBC and Ruth Sherlock of The Daily Telegraph, together with theatre director Zoe Lafferty, travelled into Syria covertly, circumventing the ban on journalists and restrictions on movement for all non-Syrians, to speak to protesters, soldiers who deserted to form the Free Army, activists who act and pray for change, as well as citizens who support President Bashar al-Assad and its ruling Baath Party being terrified of a future without him. When entering the auditorium we are faced with a tall wire fence parts of which can be moved to open and close doors. There is a jagged wall in the background and monitors show scenes of Syrian life as well as news clips during the performance. Syria has joined the Arab Spring movement with peaceful demonstrations - people are hopeful. Hotelier Peter welcomes us – the journalists - to his hotel. The prices for hotel rooms have fallen considerable due to the unstable situation in Syria but Peter remains cheerful. He is a successful businessman, happy with his life. Change is unwelcome to him. Peter represents the part of the population supporting Assad. Activist and DJ Faha accuses the government of control through fear, comparing the Baath Party ideology to that of North Korea. She is rooting for a “planet revolution” so we all can be free. Media activist Ahmad uses Facebook to connect with others: “Facebook is more dangerous to the regime than a Kalashnikov.” Soon the government cracks down on the protesters and activists. A 3 de 22 23/07/12 12.19 Reviews - UK Theatre Network http://www.uktheatre.net/magazine.html student is severely tortured and beaten. Muhummad, a Sunni soldier, deserts from the army, leaving his Alawi wife and his family because he could not bear firing at unarmed civilians any more. The regime is forcing a civil war on its people, using the resentment that is already there. The majority of Syrians are Sunni but the government and all the positions of power are taken by Alawi who form only 12 % of the population. Activists are declared terrorists, people start disappearing. A photographer from Liverpool describes the horrors that he has witnessed. A grieving mother wants revenge for her butchered child who was shot because she was praising Allah. There is massive criticism of the international community including the UN observers who sit and watch while people are murdered by the regime. This is a great production of a truly relevant play. Although we see the terrible events in Syria in the news every day, the voices of individual people make the horror more personal and draw us into the conflict. Scott Ainslie as Muhummad, Sirine Saba as the grieving mother and the DJ-Activist, Adam Youssefbeygi as the student and Paul Cawley as the Liverpudlian photographer give outstanding performances as part of a wonderful cast. This play must not be missed. By Carolin Kopplin Until 11 August 2012 For information and tickets, see: http://www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk/productions/2012/the-drawer-boy.php Finborough Theatre 118 Finborough Road London SW10 9ED The piece is well performed by an eight-strong cast, with vital contributions from Scott Ainslie, Adam Youssefbeygi, Sirine Saba and Paul Cawley. And even if the production puts sensory assault above political analysis, it leaves one with a heightened awareness of how a basic desire for human freedoms escalated into a sectarian civil war. 1 Comments 4 de 22 23/07/12 12.19 Reviews - UK Theatre Network http://www.uktheatre.net/magazine.html JUL 18th Dandy Dick - Waterside Theatre, Aylesbury By Cameron Lowe Review by Pete Benson Danny Dick, an English farce written one hundred and twenty five years ago, centres around a penniless clergyman whose spendthrift daughters and his own well meaning charity have put him into penury. Into his ordered world comes his newly widowed sister who is a half owner of a race horse and a lady well acquainted with the turf. This being a farce naturally the morally upright clergyman is totally opposed to gambling and totally oblivious to the gambling habits of his servants. Add to this a subplot of a clandestine meeting between his daughters and their lovers and you have all the ingredients of farcical misadventure. The actors created their bold archetype characters with broad brush strokes and did so without the aid of radio microphones which was blessed relief. Nicholas Le Prevost gave an engaging performance as the genial clergyman whose life swiftly unravelled in front of our eyes. The wild eyed man at the end of the play is quite different to the man who first entered the superbly rendered vicarage drawing room at the start of the proceedings. Patricia Hodge has immense fun playing his wayward sister; a brash force of nature from the moment she entered her brother’s world, with its thin veneer of respectability barely holding back seething passions and iniquities. Indeed in a lovely scene where the clergyman and his faithful butler mixed up a witches’ brew the stage was not only lit with gothic flashes of thunder but also as if with the flames of hell itself while foreboding music resonated at dramatic junctures which the actors acknowledged knowingly bring us in on the joke. I would have loved to have been at the meeting when this play was chosen, to my mind not an obvious choice but that said they pulled out all the stops to bring this to life for a modern audience 5 de 22 23/07/12 12.19 Reviews - UK Theatre Network http://www.uktheatre.net/magazine.html right down to a beautifully squeaky wheel on a tea trolley. The play had a revival in the thirties when it was made into a film with the great Wil Hay in the leading role. Dandy Dick is certainly a farce but not the satirical, high octane, door slamming farce familiar today. During a scene with the ex- vicarage cook and her husband, an insensitive, sadistic policeman, the woman sitting behind me loudly whispered, ‘It’s like a pantomime’. The play also had a Shakespearian feel to its structure complete with quotes from the great man and with a last speech which emulated Puck’s plea to the audience to applaud the players which we did heartily. 17th July 2012 Pete Benson Future tour dates. Waterside Theatre “Box Office: 0844 871 7607 (bkg fee) Groups Hotline: 0844 871 7614 Access Booking: 0844 871 7677 (bkg fee) Online Booking: http://uktheatrenet.ambassadortickets.com /whatson.aspx?q=dandy+dick (bkg fee) THE CHURCHILL THEATRE BROMLEY 24 - 28 JULY 0844 871 7620 NEW VICTORIA THEATRE WOKING 31 July - 4 AUG 0844 871 7645 THEATRE ROYAL GLASGOW 7 - 11 AUG 0844 871 7647 GRAND OPERA HOUSE YORK 14 - 18 AUG 0844 871 3024 NEW ALEXANDRA THEATRE BIRMINGHAM 21 - 25 AUG 0844 871 3011 MANCHESTER OPERA HOUSE 28 AUG - 1 SEPT 0844 871 3018 0 Comments JUL 18th 6 de 22 23/07/12 12.19 Reviews - UK Theatre Network http://www.uktheatre.net/magazine.html Empty Photo Theatre Announce ‘Who’s Dorian Gray?’ By Cameron Lowe Empty Photo Theatre is launching their new show to the press and public as part of The Edinburgh Fringe Preview season with Theatre 503 in London, which according to The Guardian is ‘arguably the most important theatre in Britain today.’ Following this there will be a three week run of ‘Who’s Dorian Gray?’ at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. “Some people aren’t really into relationships. Even if Ed were the relationship type, he’d be crap at the fidelity bit. And in a way, he’s right: he shows these girls a good time. They know what they’re in for…” Ed, Dom and Rich have lived together for three years: they think they know each other well enough to sort out bills and argue over the remote control, but they don’t know each other as well as they’d like to think. The day-to-day squabbles and banter of contemporary flat-sharing are about to give way to much more serious confrontations. Having compatible living habits doesn’t mean that the three men have compatible motives, and when the women in their lives try to get involved, the argument becomes a lot more serious than whose turn it is to do the washing up.