Reviews
Twelfth night at the Oxford Castle - Daily Information Review
2010
Although brilliant as it is, Shakespeare's 'Twelfth Night' really isn't as original a play as people may think in terms of content. The idea of twins being separated, confusion following and a happy ending to top it all off is a narrative that he uses multiple times. How right then for Tomahawk Theatre company to aim for a slightly fresh way of telling the well loved classic.
The Oxford Castle's courtyard is a wonderful space and the weather perfect (what a rare thing that is for out-door theatre!). The period setting (which I took to be mid 1900s) was clear but not overstated, and the use of an accessible, jazzy style Feste (James Studds) eased the audience into the world created for us. I must say that the pace of the beginning of the play was slightly slow, however, this is common in Shakespeare's plays as the introduction of characters and situations is crucial, and Tomahawk understood that. But very quickly the mood picked up and the actors delivered an overall wonderful and hilarious performance.
I must commend Chloe Orrock for her performance of Viola. This is a part any young actress would jump at and she delivered a confident, relaxed and warm performance. Also both Alexander Rogers and Alex Nicholls - playing the infamous Malvolio and Toby Belch respectively - made an excellent pairing, the contrast between the characters being highlighted to hilarious effect.
The rest of the cast did extremely well in rising to the large challenge of outdoor theatre. I do think that this is a performance well worth going to see. It is a wonderfully delivered production that I cannot imagine anybody would not enjoy!
Gaslight - Oxford Times
2009
While Patrick Hamilton's excellent novels provide an uncomfortably accurate picture of life as it was led (by rackety characters such as himself at least) in the first half of the last century, his much-better-known stage plays, Rope and Gaslight, possess plots that stretch credibility to breaking point and beyond. They remain first-class entertainment, however, as professional revivals demonstrated to my satisfaction two years ago – Rope at the Watermill Theatre, Gaslight at the Old Vic.
I can pay no more generous compliment to Oxford's Tomahawk Theatre Company for their production last week of Gaslight than to say I found it fully the match of the Old Vic's. The performances were all of high quality, and especially those of Susanne Sheehy, in her role as the much-put-upon Bella Manningham, and Robert Booth as the (entirely misnamed) Sgt Rough, who is able to put an end to her misery.
Though written in the late 1930s (partly in Oxford), the play – essentially a Victorian melodrama – harks back to a period 50 years earlier. Poor Mrs Manningham, as may be recalled, has had the misfortune to marry a grade-one cad – worse, a murdering burglar. The setting is the very house where his crime was committed: Manningham (played in suitably oily style by Alex Nicholls) has returned to continue his hunt for precious rubies he failed to find after battering their owner to death 20 years before. The dimming of the gaslight, a spooky feature of the play, signals his secret searching of the upstairs rooms, his turning on of the lights there having caused a drop in gas pressure throughout the house. As part of a dastardly plan to get his missus out of the way for good, he has meanwhile been hiding things about the place, leading her to believe that she has lost them and is slowly going mad.
All this is gradually brought to her attention by the inspector, who gets a relishably over-the-top performance from Mr Booth in fruity upper-crust tones that fail to disguise (those dropped aitches!) his true social standing. Then Mrs M. shows astonishing self-possession, which makes one marvel at her earlier submissiveness. A feisty woman like her would certainly not be pushed around, as she has been, by a cocky minx of a servant such as Nancy.
Christopher Gray – Arts Editor
The Tempest
2008
I thought that perhaps the lights were about to up and the cast from High School Musical would parade onto the stage in an explosion of glitter. Well, what would you think if you found yourself in a theatre where the ratio of screaming 13 year old girls to adults was roughly 80:20? I decided to force this to the edge of my mind and try to not let the fact we were in the middle of a school trip ruin the evening ahead of me.
Act one, scene one of this production of Shakespeare's The Tempest certainly grasps you by the collar and makes you sit bolt upright - your full attention is on the action as you join the story in the middle of a frightful storm on a ship. High production values made for a great set, atmospheric sound effects and dramatic lighting. The characters clung to each other for dear life and ran back and forth to successfully create the illusion that the stage was indeed the deck of a ship, rolling to and fro with potentially life threatening results.
Then; all is calm. An angelic girl's face appears in the top left of the set and begins to sing a tune softly. You later find out that this girl is Ariel - a powerful spirit who had been trapped by Sycorax the witch on this mysterious island. Ariel was played by Susanne Sheehy, and she quickly became one of my favourite characters in the play. Brilliant acting by an actress who resembled a very beautiful, ballet-dancing Tinkerbell. Another stand-out actor was Dominic Bullock, who played the sorcerer Prospero. His piercing glare and crystal clear voice sent shivers down my spine. Superb. He utilised the two-level set to its full potential. Upstairs, above the main stage, was a second level covered by a sort of muslin cloth stretched tight. This created the perfect representation of Prospero's omniscience over his island, from behind which he could watch the action like a grand, looming figure of doom (wearing a rather excellent magician's cape). Actually, the acting was of an incredibly high standard from everyone.
It was a perfect evening where you either found yourself silent in awe, or laughing at the moments of wonderfully directed comic relief. Sections of dance and singing were weaved into the story masterfully. I did think at one point 'Am I really witnessing this?', when a bare-chested Ferdinand (played by Alfred Enoch) was repeatedly wolf-whistled by members of the High School Musical collective. However, their thunderous applause made up for their terrible behaviour throughout the play - I'm glad they enjoyed such high-brow entertainment. It was a brilliant play. I urge you to go and see it - if only so you'll then understand what John Fowles is going on about in The Magus.