Review: Romeo and Juliet

Jo Emery's Pump House Theatre Company production of Romeo and Juliet is a real treat. The simple set, comprising of a metal bin and two towers of stage blocks manage to become everything from town square benches and garden walls to the infamous Juliet balcony. Transported away from Verona to somewhere outside London (Watford perhaps?) the focus is not on stage wizardry but on character and relationship, and the storytelling is all the richer for it.

The relationship between Romeo, Benvolio and Mercutio is absolutely wonderful. The moment you see them together you totally believe their friendship and it feels like they’re a trio who have been knocking about together for years. Romeo, played by Harry Miller, is the eager puppy of the group, obsessively excited by every new discovery and quick to forget former passions. His raffish wide eyed charm makes complete sense of the ease with which Juliet replaces Rosalind in his affections. Dashingly handsome in stylish skinny jeans, Juliet's sudden infatuation is easily believed. 

Benvolio, played by Christopher Vincent, is the gentle peace maker, occasionally bold enough to make a saucy joke but mostly a willing and necessary audience to his friends' more agile wits. One feels that without him Romeo and Mercutio would endlessly frustrate one another.

Which leaves Mercutio himself, the shapeshifting clown, played to perfection by Cat Harper. She inhabits a catalogue of disparate characters at break-neck speed, with the agility and precision of the much missed Robin Williams. With a shuffle of her feet or a twist of her wrist she transforms from a horse to a drunkard, from a squirrel to a sex pest, and all with such precision that there’s never any doubt of the exact image she wishes to project. In her telling, every line of Queen Mab made perfect sense, and her disintegration at the end of the speech foreshadows a sinister darkness in her soul. Her movements ranged from the buffoonish to the balletic, and I felt there was something inherently feminine in that dance-like quality. Although apparently a man in the story, with gags about fiddlesticks very much intact, in my mind Harper's Mercutio was irrefutably a woman. Dressed in a black vest and cargo trousers like a member of 90s girl band All Saints, she gave a truly mercurial Mercutio, who completely captivates the audience's imagination.

Jo Emery not only directs this production but also adapted the script, skilfully cutting away unnecessary distraction so the narrative can focus sharply on the young couple in love. And they certainly feel young, with their faces frequently buried behind smartphone screens and vital communications taking place on video chat. 

However, what particularly moved me in this production was the plight of Juliet, sensitively played by Poppy Zavazi. While Romeo is all energy and bounce, pacing the stage and auditorium, desperately displaying his heart on his sleeve, Juliet is much more caged, emotionally and socially. Trapped by a patriarchal society in which even the female characters reassert male dominance, she rarely gets the chance to be as open and honest as her paramour. Almost everything she says drips with irony or double meaning as she carefully tries to navigate a world in which she is seen as the property of her father, a gift he can bestow upon Paris with no regard to her consent.

The Nurse (Wendy Moir) and Friar Lawrence (Roger Saper) both provide moments of comic relief, with Moir in particular filling the stage with a matronly, giggling effervescence. Her shift from a louder than life chatterbox to a subdued witness of her ward's dismal end really drives home the tragedy of the play.

As with Baz Luhrman's groundbreaking film version, music is cleverly used throughout to create moods and contexts. Whilst most of the cast project wonderfully into the auditorium, some battle to be heard over background soundscapes like the bustle of a market or church bells, sounds which could perhaps be faded down once the scene is established.

Overall, a sensitive and fast-paced Romeo and Juliet for the 2020s, reminding us of the timeless nature and the intoxicating innocence of young love.

Winner! WACA Innovation Award 2024

 

Thank you to everyone who nominated me for the Watford African Caribbean Association Innovation Award 2024. It was a genuine honour and surprise to win the award. The Association made particular mention of the work I do for Inclusion and Diversity in Watford, our Black History and LGBT+ History Month Dial Up Open Mic events, and the success of the What's On Watford Podcast. Thank you to everyone who's helped make these projects thrive!

Review: Three Proud Men

 

“What have you done today to make you feel proud?” 

It's not just a quotation from iconic M-person Heather Small, but also the pithy question posed by a new one act play by Watfordian film-maker, Ian Port. Taking three separate narratives of men growing up gay in Watford, his scripts deftly weave their real life experiences together into a fascinating evening of insight, honesty and humour. Peppered with observations and facts about the visibility (and invisibility) of gay men throughout history, this simple structure helps draw out the contrasts and parallels between the men, whose experiences span different generations.

The youngest performer, at 22, is Lee Keogh, who fizzed with affability and charm. He was a magnetic presence, filling the centre stage with his warmth, wit and, of course, his wheelchair, which he spoke about with intimate frankness. Keogh has Cerebral Palsy and the insights he shared about his experiences navigating the intersection between being gay and being disabled were extremely moving. His smile is like sunshine, and so when he opened up about his darker moments, his depression and his anxiety, it was deeply shocking and a perfect example of the searing honesty at the heart of this play.

The middle man, as it were, is Three Proud Men playwright Ian Port, who originally conceived the whole project and spearheaded its production. Wowed by the anecdotes of Bryan Timberlake, he wanted to find a way of getting them on stage and in front of a wider audience. Timberlake said he was game on the proviso that he wouldn't be up there alone. From such innocent pub conversations are wonderful works of art born! Port's story reflective, exploring with a critical eye his awareness of his own personal growth. He looked back on his past analytically, noting moments when he exploited his white privilege while working in India, or stayed silent about his sexuality when now he might speak out. His tale was an interesting reminder that social change and progress come through the work of each of us as individuals reflecting on our beliefs and behaviours.

That only leaves the elder statesman of the trio, the inspiration for the show, Bryan Timberlake. A former drag queen, jack of all trades and well versed raconteur, Bryan opened the show with a teaser about 'unusual erections' and had us in the palm of his hand thenceforth! He immediately put the audience at their ease with his twinkling eyes and impish grin. He reminded me a little of Peter Ustinov in the way he seemed stuff full of anecdotes and stories, most of which had more than a hint of naughtiness about them. The audience were left in no doubt as to why Ian felt inspired to get him on stage!

Directed by Olivier award nominee Dan Clarkson, and produced by Chris Wheeler of Harlequin Theatricals, this was a world premier and a real feather in Watford's cap. It's an honour to have three such dazzling talents declare Watford as their home and put that relationship front and centre in a dramatic work. Here I must declare an interest: as a Patron of Proud Watford I am fully invested in the aims and objectives of this feisty grassroots group, dedicated to bringing people together and championing inclusion and diversity in all its forms. I even played a song or two in the after party! But the emotional impact not just of the play itself, but the sense of celebration and support, of Watford's community coming together in an outpouring of friendship, and of the Pump House being the vibrant pulse Watford's cultural heart, is a feeling I shall cherish for a long time.

A one night only show is always going to push up against some limitations and hurdles, the most obvious of which was the cast's dependency on their scripts. But this didn't hinder the pace or the impact of the performance in any meaningful way, and small blips like the back wall being covered in pleated fabric so that the projections were obscured are easily remedied. The intention, as stated in the informal and informative post show Q&A, is to mount the show again in the forthcoming Watford Fringe. My advice: buy your tickets early. It deserves to be, and I anticipate it being, another sold out show.

Gotta Have Faith

Review: Fire Embers Ash

It continues to amaze me how consistently we under represent and under value the contributions of women to our global history, especially where war is concerned. And so it’s a breath of fresh air, though cold to the lungs, to watch Fire Embers Ash, a one hour play which imaginatively regales the incredible true story of the first all female aviation team in World War Two.

The Barons Court Theatre felt the perfect venue for this tale; a small, awkward cellar hidden under The Curtains Up pub becoming a resounding metaphor for this band of women hidden out of view doing remarkably important work and finally having the lid lifted on their story.

What struck me most was how it was a story of sacrifice, a story of women bravely and unsentimentally laying their lives on the line for a bigger victory that would not find space to adequately honour them for their role. This play felt like a crucial moment of redress. When photographs of the real five women (five of many who flew with the Night Bomber Regiment of the Soviet Air Force) are projected onto the stage at the end, it is genuinely and deeply moving.

This was an ensemble piece, with the 5 actors (Henriette Laursen, Maria Masonou, Yvonne Maxwell, Stephanie Van Driesen and Maya Waghorn) working efficiently and confidently as a team. Waghorn stood out for her dashing, strident bravado as Lydia Litvyak, as did Van Driesen as Nadezhda Popova, for the sensitivity with which she portrayed a dignified leader propelled into new authority too soon.

However for me the star of the show was the staging. Fuss was kept to a military minimum, clarity was key. And onto this prosaic foundation, ingenious details like the dangling model plane brought a delightful touch of magic. The use of torches to project the plane’s shadow and effectively turn the space into a shadow puppet theatre was spell binding. Despite the intimacy of the cellar, the planes and their flight paths came joyful life… and grim descent.

Overall, a mighty and important story, subtly told. **** (4 stars)

Fire Embers Ash is presented by Threedumb Theatre as one half of a double bill of all female 5 handers celebrating untold stories of women in history. You can read the review of the other, Paved with Gold and Ashes, here.

You can catch both plays until 27th January with great deals for those 'doing the double'. Tickets available from Barons Court Theatre here.

Photography courtesy of Stephen Smith

Cinderella @ Watford Palace Theatre

Everybody loves a panto at Christmas, and each year the Watford Palace Theatre comes up trumps delivering a fun-filled show stuffed to the gills with enough heart, humour and local references to keep all the family happy!

Under the capable direction of James Williams, Watfordians can once again be confident that this year's panto, 'Cinderella', lives up to expectations. From the moment you step into the auditorium you are greeted with a colourful, eye-popping stage celebrating a plethora of Watford High Street landmarks. From Gibson's Butchers to Jackson Jewellers, and from the iconic spiral car park to the Harlequin Centre (we'll never forget!), such careful thought and detail has been put into making the Cinderella story feel rooted in our town.

Terrence Frisch returns as our beloved dame, Fanny G in this incarnation, who seems a woman of many talents, running a market stall, spinning the discs as a DJ, and of course being Cinderella's fairy godmother! Frisch has a winning way with the Watford audience, building a quick, comfortable rapport and landing cheeky asides with confidence.

Soleil Quarless as Cinderella and Samuel Wolstenholme as the Prince were nicely matched as our romantic couple, her evident poise and kindness seeming a perfect fit for his more awkward 'nerdiness' (but nerd in a good way, as Cinderella remarks!). Of the two it's Wolstenholme who really gets to interact with the audience. While Quarless gets shouted at during the 'they're behind you' scene (the intensity of shouts on the night I attended was testament to the engagement of the adults in the audience as well as the children, what a roar!) it's the Prince who gets to wow them with his dancing and super-speed flossing!

The most original element of this Cinderella tale is the inclusion of her best friend Furby (played by Mark Pearce), a fluffy pink 90s throwback who had the kids squealing with delight. The story is set on New Year's Eve 1999, so lots of retro-references are included which help keep the adults entertained. The idea of a human size Furby might terrify mums and dads, but the kids were enchanted by his playful innocence, especially when he cheekily played with favourite words like 'fuzzlebum'. I imagine many households are gearing up to hear that particular word repeated endlessly over the rest of the festive season!

The ugly sisters can be difficult to cast in our more sensitive age, but here were played hilariously by Luke Farrugia as Christina and Lucia Vinyard as Britney. More 90s references to enjoy of course, but cleverly their singing styles actually matched their pop princess namesakes. Farrugia was a particularly impressive vocalist whose runs and riffs would have easily earned him a place in any 90s pop group.

I went with my 4 year old nephew who, I'm delighted to report, was captivated with the story and characters, and whose favourite bit was watching Cinderella fly off to Pinner Palace in her Peasy Jet plane. He did get restless toward the end and I wonder if the 2 and a half hour running time is a bit long for younger audience members, but he certainly left singing the songs (of the retro soundtrack, the more up to date Harry Styles 'As It Was' turned out to be an audience favourite!) and full of smiles.

Overall, a highly recommended festive treat for all the family!

Review: Black History Month Dial Up

The Watford Pump House Theatre was proud to host a special Dial Up Open Mic in celebration of Black History Month as the final show of this year's Watford Fringe Festival. Inclusion and Diversity are central values at the Pump House, and I've been delighted to work with them in bringing the Dial Up's philosophy of celebrating community and creativity to the stage twice a year as a way of promoting that. Alongside our BHM event in October, we also host an LGBT History Month Dial Up at the Pump House each February. For dates and details click here.

It was a pleasure to welcome such a range of talent, as the photos below (kindly taken by Amy Hart) demonstrate. Whether you Black, White, Asian, Minority Ethnic, Mixed or differently identified, performers felt supported to share their stories, their talents, and their truths. Watford really has an amazing abundance of creativity and love, and it was palpably visible on the stage tonight. I look forward to hosting many more of these events in future years!

Above: Bon Siu on saxophone, Matt Wakefield on piano and host/ singer Alexander Williams