A Recital of Opera, Song and Musical Theatre

 

You can't get more local than singing at an old people's home in Kings Langley, realising you don't have a sustain pedal on your keyboard, and rushing over to Bushey to pick one up! Except of course that Thomas Isherwood is even more local than that. An operatic baritone with a sumptuous and versatile voice, he actually began his training at Watford School of Music at the tender age of eight. It's a pleasure to see a 'Hertfordshire lad done good' up on the Pump House stage taking part in the Watford Fringe.

His diverse repertoire took us on a well organised grand tour of English folk song, German lieder, Italian opera, art song, and musical theatre. The joy of the show was not just in his confident, clear performances which imbued the music with a passionate sense of character and narrative, but also in his charming contextualisation of the music. He balanced witty asides and personal anecdotes with knowledgeable insights about the history and traditions of his chosen songs.

Elspeth Wilkes was a marvellous accompanist, following closely and intuitively through fast paced patter, steep rallentandos and the free, open rhythms of Isherwood's storytelling style. Congratulations also to the sound technician who initially had quite a job on their hands managing the frequent switches between Isherwood's gentle, unassuming talking voice which he used to introduce each of his songs and the booming power of his baritone singing voice at full belt.

Overall, this recital was a delightful evening of musical appreciation which placed the love of song centre stage. Isherwood informed, educated, entertained and entranced in equal measure, delivering a beautiful voice matched with a sweet selection box of melodies.

Review: A Year On

 

It's rare for a fringe show to start with such a meek introduction as David Naylor's A Year On. He openly says how worried he was about choosing the topic for his show, how anxious he was about not having done much since his Watford Fringe Festival show the year before, and how he turned to a moment of quiet reflection to find direction. The result of which was a simple realisation: he had to tell his story.

And what an interesting story it is. Naylor meanders calmly through his tale of record deals and music touts, flitting briefly on episodes as diverse as working as a carer for a man with cerebral palsy, quitting smoking, performing at open mics, training in music therapy and suffering from brain injury. He talks about feeling lost, and about asking for help, in essence about the much lived and rarely discussed truths of the human experience. It was like watching someone unpeel themselves on stage, unwrapping the hardened outer layers of self to expose the truthful, private layers underneath.

Naylor's style is slow and meandering, rambling even, but with the show coming in at 30 minutes that's never a problem. If anything, it's a refreshingly charming and intimately personal performance style. 

You feel an immediate sympathy and connection with Naylor, and although I felt compelled to stick with him to the end, it would have been enjoyable to have some music peppered through the show. There was a guitar and drum in full view for the entirety, and I felt myself willing him to pick them up and use his music to help enrich his storytelling. In the end we got one song at the show's conclusion. A magical moment which it would have been great to see more of throughout.

Review: SafeHaven - a place to call home

 

The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has been devastatingly far reaching. Alongside the medical and health concerns have been a wide array of social impacts. Young people have faced a trench of these, having endured disruption to their school lives, their socialising and their extra-curricular activities.

In that context, The Dan Tien Performing Arts Studio deserves a big round of applause for enabling this devised performance to go ahead as part of the Watford Fringe Festival. The young people involved here have clearly had a wonderful time flexing their creative muscles, creating an intriguingly original story, a range of challenging characters and a stage set that is both visually dynamic and Covid safe.

SafeHaven is a dystopian tale, which is perhaps unsurprising in the current times, but there are also touches of comedy, optimism and resilience. Nine women are forced together in a quest to escape a prison like existence watched over by an anonymous Doctor who surveils their every move but himself remains a disembodied voice. The story brings to the foreground a range of contemporary concerns around authority, rebellion and technology. Bubbling under the surface are many of the worries connected to social media, in particular concealed identities, curated identities and exaggerated life stories. 

For this young group to have produced this during lockdown is impressive. I understand the play is going to be developed further over the next few months and I wish the young cast every success as they continue to adapt their creativity to fit the the new norms of devising, rehearsing and performing in a pandemic.

Review: Rough Sleeper

 

Rough Sleeper is the self-told tale of a homeless man who is busking, begging and sleeping in the doorway of a closed down high street store. The published synopsis places the story in an affluent South-Eastern City. However, the set is effectively a blank stage, a black floor against a white background, which cleverly situates the action both anywhere and everywhere. It reminds us throughout that while we're hearing a specific person's story, the experiences he recounts are more disturbingly universal.

The structure is basically that of a monologue, with our homeless protagonist addressing us as an audience directly. The actor (whose name unfortunately I can't find on the Youtube page on which the show streamed) did a very convincing job of balancing the pessimistic fatalism of someone ground down by the relentless discomfort of life on the street, with the glimpses of disbelief and optimism which spring from memories of his affluent past and his dreams of a happier future.

Occasionally other actors appear for brief interactions with our hero, and shine in little cameos including a green belt obsessed mother and a disapproving GP. The most interesting of these minor characters is the playwright, who comes on stage to ask the homeless man about his experience and in that manner effectively prods the whole play into being. I think this idea could have been played with much more creatively to generate a fresh and exciting new dramatic structure. Perhaps a negotiation between the playwright who wants to sculpt and shape the homeless man's life story into a conventionally satisfying narrative, and the homeless person who wrestles to keep control of his own story, including its coincidences, inconsistencies and failures. At present, without that sense of dramatic conflict, the piece feels a bit like agitprop, with a likeable, sympathetic, liberal-minded homeless man monologuing eloquently on the hassles, irritations and discomforts of his life.

Homelessness is a really important social issue and it's great to see it tackled by writer Jo Emery with such detail and sympathy. What's lacking however is plot. Young adult novels like Robert Swindell's Stone Cold remind us vividly how accomplished story tellers can generate immense sympathy for the homeless while simultaneously telling a gripping story. Rough Sleeper is a socially conscious piece of theatre that would benefit from a sense of narrative drive.

Review: How To Space

This short film 'How To Space' is written by St Albans based Anna Reynolds and inspired by the world of her play ‘Nothing on Earth’. Many of the shots are beautifully framed, the proportions between character and space and sharp contrasts between light and shadow drawn with dramatic confidence.

The story is that of a young girl obsessed with the night sky and a yearning to fly out into the unknown. It's a story of breaking through barriers and overcoming societal limitations in order to fulfil astronomical ambitions.

It features actress Chanel Glasgow, whose beautiful voice wraps you in the story and drips with a sense of optimism in the face of frustrated dreams. Filmed under lock-down restrictions in her home of Trinidad and Tobago, tantalising glimpses of the beach and sea form the basis of some of the exterior shots.

Produced using Zoom under the creative leadership of Artistic Director Rosamunde Hutt and directed by Grant Watson, this is a thoughtful and reflective piece filled with poetic imagery and haunting language. A wonderful premiere for the Watford Fringe.

Review: The Dream Speaks Back

 

A panel conversation between three authors who explore the ups and downs of writing a joint book, this was an interesting hour of chat between three incredibly creative people who share an obvious friendship and love. Married couple Sue Hampton and Leslie Tate (happily dear friends of mine who have shared their work at my Dial Up open mic events in the past) are joined by Cy Henty, a comedian, actor and artist who created the front cover of the book (displayed above).

The conversation was eclectic and wide ranging, with a little bit of something for everyone, including energetic and emotional readings from the book itself. Not having read the book, this sporadic approach was at times hard to follow, and the friendship between the three meant they shared a carefree shorthand that was lovely to watch but sometimes left the audience missing a link in the topic progression. Nonetheless, the talk was pebbled with charming little gems of insight on topics ranging from mental health issues, growing up as non-binary, the process of writing autobiography as opposed to fiction and rediscovering the child within.

Leslie hosted the talk, and he was as ever a consummate chair and questioner (he hosts a regular show on local community radio). Streamed on Youtube, it would have been wonderful if the comments could have been enabled to allow the audience to engage and ask questions, but of course in the current context it's simply wonderful that it was able to go ahead.

Literature is often overlooked at fringe festivals, crowded out by comedy, theatre and music. I'm delighted space was made to enjoy and reflect on the power of the printed word.

Review: Shackleton- an introduction to a new musical

One of the joys of fringe festivals is the opportunity to catch new works in an early stage of development. What a pleasure then to find Shackleton among this year's offerings. Presented by the Rickmansworth Players, this 15 minute online taster of a brand new musical is slickly edited and confidently performed. 

There is clever use of photography and voice over to set the scene, while multi-frame face to camera shots of the actors in full voice, both solo singing and forming a tightly harmonic chorus, give an excellent insight into the overall musical style. More Lloyd-Webber than Sondheim or Herman, the melodies are light classical in feel with gentle open chords and sweetly slushy arpeggios in Andrea Rae's superb piano accompaniment.

The story outlines the epic journey faced by Sir Ernest Shackleton and his crew during their Antarctic expedition. The music captures in its frequent minor strains the futility and despair associated with what we as an audience already know is a journey doomed to grim failure. Yet there is something heroic too in the anthemic quality of certain songs like The Ones We Leave Behind which reminds of the courage and self-sacrifice of those involved, in pursuit of a goal far bigger than themselves. I'm sure echoes with our own contemporary situation could be teased out in a full production.

Lyric writing, unlike poetry, needs to get its message across to its audience under the very tight constraints of rhythm, pitch and dramatic context. There is here an over reliance on repetition to meet those challenging demands. More variety, wit and originality in the lyrics would give the songs a richer depth, enticing the listener back for second helpings.

Overall, though, what a wonderful achievement to have come out of lockdown. Massive congratulations to Matthew Knowles (Book and Lyrics) and Simone Chiappi (Music) for producing such a compelling introduction to what I'm sure will be a magnificent new musical. I look forward to seeing a fully fledged production!

Review: txtshow (on the internet)

 

This UK Premiere of txtshow is easily the most unusual theatrical experience I've enjoyed all year. Dressed in a black jacket and sporting a Gandalf beard, the mysterious txt (created and performed by Brian Feldman) recites a script written anonymously in real-time by a live audience (on the internet). It's actually quite an unnerving experience joining the zoom call, changing your zoom name to anonymous and diving into this immersive experiment in online performance, but it's well worth facing the fear!

Every show must be entirely different, and indeed there is an 18+ warning which suggests some nights it must get quite explicit. Txt reads all the comments shared without bias and uncensored (so far as I could tell), so in that sense anything can happen. Consequently, I can only speak in detail about my own night, which had a family audience and a quirky, disconnected but fundamentally playful atmosphere. We quickly wrapped ourselves up in familiar words, typing musical theatre song lyrics, popular catchphrases, snatches of poetry and old nursery rhymes. In essence, we simply watched and giggled as txt repeated them back to us. 

So what was the charm? What kept this going for an hour? The comfort of words that are tried and tested? The joy of hearing the words we typed brought alive before us? The power and control that action implied? I found these questions engaging and sufficient to sustain the show, but also frustrating. Once the idea that human beings like to make other human beings do things for their own enjoyment (an observation I've repeated almost verbatim from an anonymous typer on our night's performance) you need something more to nourish your interest. Plot, character, context... The show's structure, in which txt is restricted to reading out our desperate chat comments, limits the development of those essential elements of drama. The format's intrinsic excitement is also its immediate limitation.

However, I think the future for this type of theatre is filled with thrilling potential. Once we get past the excitement of getting txt to sing songs, recite poems and call out our own names, which turned the show into a type of computer game with txt as our shared avatar, I think there is genuine potential to help audiences realise their own creativity through collaboration. A new type of theatre in which the audience is also the writer, listening to one another and responding through the same focal character. And what an amazing experience that could be. Let's hope this is the first step.

Review: The Show Must Go On... Online

Herts Inclusive Theatre is an award winning charity that uses the arts and wellbeing practices to build confidence and skills among their participating members. This year for the Watford Fringe they've produced a short film made freely available on Youtube called The Show Must Go On...Online. It's a fully inclusive production filmed by participants of all abilities and all ages during the Covid19 lockdown.

As you'd expect, they've made the film as inclusive as possible, including that thoughtful and inexpensive touch of providing accurate and unobtrusive subtitles, something a lot more online films could do well to follow.

The film itself is an amusing mix of comedy skits, songs and music, loosely woven around the production of Brushes With Greatness, a musical about dental hygiene. Expect puns aplenty! And fun aplenty. It's a pleasure to watch everyone involved throw themselves into the silliness and have such a great time. Good luck to Herts Inclusive Theatre with all their great work and future endeavours, let's hope you're all together back at Watford Fringe for 2021!

p.s. My favourite pun: Bob Flossy! 

Review: MCUsical The Unofficial Marvel Parody Musical

Parody has long been a staple of the theatrical landscape, from The Reduced Shakespeare Company and The 39 Steps to The Play That Goes Wrong and Forbidden Broadway, and in recent years the incredible global reach of mega-film franchises like Harry Potter and Star Wars have made for enticing targets. The Just Us League have lighted on The Marvel Universe for their inspiration, and revel in their nerdy knowledge of the intricacies of that world. There's a great song (itself an Avenue Q parody, more on that later), which highlights the interesting and complex copyright issues such a project entails, with Thor being perhaps the only character they can use without risk of being sued.

MCUsical: The Unofficial Marvel Parody Musical is as such not an original idea, but is definitely a professionally executed one. The show is in development and was streamed on Youtube, presented as a staged reading with 6 actors in a row standing before microphones dressed in theatrical black. For those of us familiar with such readings the jokes still shone through thanks to the energy, confidence and timing of the cast. For others, the reading in of stage directions, the actors holding the scripts and the lack of a present audience to mark jokes with laughter will have made it a challenge to watch. I applaud the cast for keeping the jovial atmosphere rolling from start to finish. In the wake of the pandemic, sometimes needs must.

Rather than writing original songs, the writing team have re-written the lyrics to popular musical theatre numbers to suit their show. This is a clever idea because it adds a whole extra level of humour. The 'Avengies' become the High School Musical kids, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang becomes Itty Bitty Ant Man, and even Mary Poppins gets a shoe (or should that be umbrella) in. This show parodies musicals as much as the Marvel Universe, if not more so. While the Marvel references are mostly encyclopaedic, the choice of musical theatre tunes is sharp and satirical, placing familiar tunes in unfamiliar but cleverly paralleled contexts. But you need to know the musicals to get the jokes.

For those lacking a detailed knowledge of the films and musicals referenced, the giggles are few and far between. But for fans, this parody musical is filled with humorous story summaries, witty character impersonations, silly subversions and even puppets. It's a funny, fast-moving comedy show with a cast you immediately root for. Today's show was rightly sold out but they're on again on Sunday: catch them if you can!

Review: In The Secret Garden of Frances Hodgson Burnett

Opening with the gentle strains of the Celtic harp was the perfect mood setter for this intriguing one woman show about the life of much loved author Frances Hodgson Burnett.

A character who professes herself 'interested in everything', the show likewise touches on a bit of everything in its themes, from the joy of storytelling and the frustration of the writer's craft, to more universal themes like belonging, survival and the confusions of national identity (Hodgson Burnett herself was born in England but moved to the USA and had two American sons).

The actress (unfortunately on both Youtube where the video streamed and the Watford Fringe website I'm unable to source her name) was vivacious and energetic, with a clear love for Hodgson Burnett's books made gloriously evident by frequent twinkling glances to audience while reading extracts from the more popular works such as Little Lord Fauntleroy and The Secret Garden.

It was delightful to see period costume used to help bring us into the world of the play. The otherwise bare set, consisting only of a black folding chair and table against the back drop a theatrical curtain, worked brilliantly in encouraging the audience to focus on the words and stories of the monologue. Considering the subject of the monologue is the writer of more than 52 published books, such a focus was entirely appropriate.

Alongside the Celtic harp were frequent interjections from the accordion, a clever choice which added zest and energy to the performance. It wasn't quite enough to give the performance an overall sense of narrative drive, however. It would be interested to see, if the script is revisited, whether a clearer sense of purpose can be established in the opening moments to generate a more compelling story arch.

New monologues often suffer in comparison to Alan Bennett's Talking Heads, which themselves have been recently revived on television by the BBC and at the Bridge Theatre in London, the cast of one being perfect for the context of the Covid pandemic. It's lovely to see a monologue so different in style that such comparisons would be fruitless. Part biography, part memoir, part literary reading, In The Secret Garden is a sweet-tempered curiosity that thrives in large part due to the energy and charisma of the actress.

Review: A Country Way Of Life

 

After a tumultuous few weeks and months of updated protocols, new legislation and unclear messaging from central government, it's a genuine delight to see that the Watford Pump House team have managed to rally together through all the pandemic pandemonium and keep Watford Fringe Festival 2020 on the road! This is my first review, and as such I think it's only right I begin by taking a moment to thank the Pump House and Fringe Festival teams, as well as all their volunteers and supporters, for making the seemingly impossible possible and keeping the fringe alive this year. It has, I'm sure, required a huge effort to ensure all safety requirements have been adhered to and multiple online platforms generated to allow us to come together as a town and celebrate creativity in this way. On behalf of the entire Watford creative community, THANK YOU!

A Country Way Of Life is a great example of why it's so important the Watford Fringe Festival has been able to go ahead. Country music evangelist Jonny Brick seduced the small but entranced audience on Facebook Live with a collection of delightful melodies from Dolly, Willie, Garth and even Lionel Richie, played with confidence and charm.

There is a real difference between playing to a live audience and playing online. As more and more performances move online by necessity, I imagine small details which help create the right atmosphere will become more important. Dressed in a black Beatles Abbey Road T-shirt and a baseball cap, I did wonder if a more thoughtful costume choice and choice of background might have helped transport the audience into the world Charlie so eloquently described. Fortunately his bright, upbeat personality and cheerful anecdotes proved sufficient to draw you in.

Charlie is the perfect guide for someone new to the genre, brimming with enthusiasm and imparting knowledge in a lively and accessible way. Often this happened in the middle of songs as his eagerness to share insights bubbled over the melody. I personally preferred the side notes before and after each tune, as his playing and singing was strong enough to be really enjoyed without interjection. The great thing about an online show is it allows a type of interactivity that might be challenging in a conventional performance space. I typed a question about the difference between Country and Western music styles into the comments and Charlie was kind enough to respond to my question instantly, which was a delight. 

Overall, a joyful hour of accomplished Country and Western music from a passionate, affable and knowledgeable fan of the genre. For those who missed out today, there's Part Two tomorrow so do tune in: highly recommended!