The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

Theatre – Hurry! Tour finishes on June 3^rd

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is a world-wide famous book, written by Mark Haddon. As a big fan of his touching, engaging, writing, I was sceptical as to how well it would adapt to the theatre, despite many positive reviews. However, when I saw it in person, I was blown away. 

The raw, heart wrenching story of family and fear was only improved on stage, and I was enthralled.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is essentially a mystery novel, set inside the head of Christopher Boone, a fifteen-year-old, with Asperger's syndrome. The play starts with a dog with a garden fork through its stomach. The dog is dead. As Christopher sets of on a hunt for the killer, it’s not just the murder’s identity that’s revealed, as even bigger and darker secrets are pulled into the light.

The acting was superb but the stage set was stunning. White cubes and graph paper surround three of the four sides on the stage, and on them, labels, words, pictures and scenes are printed. Simplistic props are used for maximum effect, and actors sift in and out of the stage like clockwork. Cupboards and chairs materialise from the background, and the audience’s whole perspective is wrenched left and right, as a wall shifts into the floor. This, combined with the moving storyline made it a theatre trip to remember.

Technology and the Tempest

Technology and the Tempest

Combining real-time motion capture technology with a Shakespearean play written in the 1600’s seems strange, to say the least. An old-English script used in tandem with a hoard of top-of-the-range projectors? Impossible, right? Well, the Royal Shakespeare Company, to mark the 400^th anniversary of the playwright’s death, took on the challenge.

What better way to engage the new generation, and to make the most of the digital technology, than to adapt Shakespeare’s Tempest. Set on an magical island, the plot is filled with sprites, curses and magical creatures, all of which could now be brought to life or enhanced with the new technology. The twenty seven projectors worked in tandem with ascending and descending curtains, filling the stage with sprites or drowning men, creating cages and oceans. The servant sprite, Ariel, was thrown into two: the actor, like a puppeteer, like a shadow on the ground, and his shimmering projection thrown high above.  

Was it flawless? Not always. At several stages the projection glitched a little, and the designs themselves were a little tart at times. However, this exciting blend of acting and digital mirroring, the first of its kind, marks the start of a new era of digital theatre.

Theatre Review: 1984

The first scene starts with a mousy man, Winston, writing the first lines of his rebellious diary. Smallish, with receding hair, a slouched posture and neutral clothes, the man in question seems confused and skittish, like a mouse. It's a world away from the final scene, where the same man is slumped in a chair, blood pouring from his fingers and mouth.

This was an gripping play, deep and perplexing. It's an adaptation of George Orwell's 1984, a book predicting the future as a dark, totalitarianism distopia. For such an iconic book, the production had a lot of pressure to live up to standards. However, the stage was plainer than I would have expected it to be: just a worn down room, backed with very 70's looking wooden panels. Books lined one side of the wall, and several gloomy windows were clustered across the back. The ceiling was sloped, with scenes, words or pictures projected on it. Finally, there was a little door to a "back room", of which we never see inside.

If you'd like to read more, clicky "read more" below.

Theatre Review: My Mother Medea

A picture from the Greek version, played in Cyprus. 

My Mother Medea - a play shown in the Unicorn, a small modern theatre near London Bridge. Adapted from the Greek play, also titled My Mother Medea. 
By Holger Schober
Directed by Justin Audibert

The thing I enjoyed most about this play was how stunningly uncomfortable it made me feel. Yes. That's right. But, before I explain further, let me first set the scene.

The Unicorn Theatre is a cheerful building nestled in the heart of London. It's small, and is usually known for its plays for children. We saw a version of the three musketeers there many years ago, so I had a rough idea of what to expect: big, inventive sets and a small cast of skilled actors. So I was more than a little surprised when we were all herded into a classroom. 

The play was taken from the well known epic, Jason and the Argonauts. In a nutshell, to defeat his uncle, Jason has to find a witch, Medea who has the power to trick the king's own daughters into killing him. They became lovers and had a turbulent relationship, the end product product driving Medea to kill her own children. And, as you can guess from the title, the play was set from the kids' point of view. Now, I was expecting a toga or two, and perhaps someone parading around with a laurel leaf crown. But no: we were greeted with a perfectly ordinary classroom.

If you're interested, click read more below - you'll see more about the experience and my opinions on it. If not, take a peek at the others I've reviewed. Enjoy!

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