Chris Weare | Megan's Head

Decadence sparks

On August 3, 2009

DEC_1 I finally got to see Berkoff’s Decadence last night. It has come back to The Intimate after its sold out run, and is now part of The Mechanicals British Lines rep season. It’s directed by Chris Weare and stars Scott Sparrow and Emily Child.

I understand exactly why it was sold out the first time, and if you are a Slaapstad slacker you are lucky to get the chance to see it this time around. Make sure to check a schedule of when it’s on because it shares the space with The Dumbwaiter (and TheatreSports on a Monday night). Actually, just check The Intimate website for exact dates, like I just did.

This production is tight, slick and wonderful to watch. In fact, the biggest joy is seeing how the actors manage it. The script is 80% less shocking than it was when I first saw it, which means that you really see how the performers manage the text, pace, poetry and style, and they are fantastic. Emily Child is fantastic. She is intense, sexy, strange and totally magnetic. Scott, who is one of my favourites, looks like a bigger version of Daniel Craig and he is great as usual. Chris Weare’s direction is inspired and inspiring. He has not missed a hair of detail and pace.

It’s a special opportunity to get to see some classic theatre, exceptionally well done. Don’t wake up when it’s over and bitch that you missed it.

The Birthday Party

By megan

On July 17, 2009

In show reviews

On my way to The Little Theatre last night, for The Mechanicals opening of Harold Pinter‘s The Birthday Party, I flashed back to a most amazing memory. I remember it being a Saturday night; I was still at high school, and SABC 1, 2 and 3 were called something else (anyone remember what?), when Yvonne Banning, the continuity announcer, introduced one of her favourite plays and playwrights, Harold Pinter’s The Birthday Party. I remember being absolutely blown away. It was my first introduction to the play and his work and it was like watching a completely absurd horror movie that I hardly understood but loved.

That set up quite an expectation for me last night, which is a bit unfair since I am twenty five years older and have been through all the Pinter pieces that we did for our end of year auditions at drama school. Still, there was that feeling. And Chris Weare directing! (who probably taught me all I know about Pinter anyway).

The minute I saw the set I got it. That Pinter feeling. And certainly, when it started, with the wordless (and super talented and versatile) Scott Sparrow in the light, I shivered. Unfortunately, that menace, tension and confusion was quickly dissipated and never really came back. Oh the cast were good(ish), but they never really cracked it, and as I left the theatre I was trying to work out why.

So here are some of my thoughts. I think with Pinter you need a very long and focused rehearsal process and I think it’s possible the piece was under rehearsed. This means that the moments, the famous Pinter pauses, the bleakness and most importantly the savage menace were lost. I love the idea of a repertory company, and I’m even very jealous that I’m not part of one. I love the idea of the different seasons of work that a rep company can put on, but I do think that with a Pinter you need to give the piece proper, long rehearsal time. In a rep company actors are forgiven for being a bit too young, or not exactly 100% natural choices for the part, but then they have to work doubly hard to get it right.

Here, accents were dodgy, characters didn’t sit and stay, and the whole piece didn’t behave itself. Except for Nicholas Pauling, who stood out for me as absolutely brilliant. He is Pinter weird, darkly powerful and really, really good.

I think this piece will get better later in the run. But I would like to see it with about a month’s more detailed rehearsal time.

Yes! Elizabeth: Almost By Chance a Woman

By megan

On June 19, 2009

In show reviews, theatre stuff

liz What a great way to break the drought of plays. I am a reluctant and stingy standing ovationer but I was quickly up on my feet to applaud the cast, but mainly, Robyn Scott, lead supreme of this fantastic show.

Last night at the Little Theatre was exactly how theatre should be. There was a buzz in the air. The full house of audience came early and ate pies and drank beer (what a cool idea). Then we went inside and saw a brilliant script fantastically executed.

Elizabeth: Almost By Chance a Woman is the most unwieldy title of a delicious comedy written by genius and Nobel prize for Literature winner, playwright Dario Fo. Its subject is Queen Elizabeth, who is completely off her rocker. It is this that helps make this theatrical experience so wonderful. The play’s subject matter is irreverent and completely obscure, yet the brilliant script draws you in and the journey is a theatrical delight.

The supporting cast in this production are great. My favourite was Nicholas Dallas who plays Egerton. He is hilarious. Shirley Johnston has the unbelievably difficult job of playing poor Martha and she does so very well. It is a bit like the teeniest moon orbiting the biggest planet; but that’s what it is. Scott Sparrow in a dress and playing Dame Grosslady is weird and hilarious in turns. I had no idea what he was talking about for most of the time, but even that was very, very funny. Jaco Nothnagel and James MacGregor were also delightful in their small parts.

But, let’s face it, it’s the Robyn Scott show. And she is mind blowing. I don’t know where it comes from, but every nuance, movement, sound, tic, step, gesture, pause, cry, every moment is theatrical magic. She is riveting, hilarious, moving and huge. It is no small feat to pull off a monster of a part like this, and she is totally brilliant.

Chris Weare is in his directorial element here. You can see the fun he had with this one. And Daniel Galloway’s lighting, in the difficult Little Theatre, was really, really good. I also have to mention the costumes by Penny Simpson from Artscape, which were absolutely fabulous.

So, I imagine the long and obscure title is not going to make people run off to book tickets, therefore I am taking on the role of urging, nagging, cajoling and threatening people. Guys, if you miss this one you really will miss out. This is what theatre is all about.

Decadence – Sold Out!

By megan

On May 7, 2009

In theatre stuff

This amazing thing happened to me last night. I went to go and see a performance of Stephen Berkoff’s Decadence, with Scott Sparrow and Emily Child and directed by Chris Weare, at The Intimate Theatre and when I got there the door person asked if I had booked. When I said no he told me, “So sorry, but we are totally sold out!” I had been invited to opening night last week but I was sick, and decided to go off last night to catch up.

So here’s the deal. Word has got around really quickly that this is a fabulous production of a really excellent play. And guess what? People want to see it. Yay. Yes there is a recession. Yes people are going out less and spending less on entertainment and yes theatre in general is suffering. But. If there is something really good out there that sparks the imagination, people will go. And I have learned my lesson. I will book in future.

Big, glamorous, Macbeki mangle

By megan

On February 26, 2009

In deeply personal, show reviews

I have really wrestled about whether I should write this post. It is not a kind one and I know that people are going to get upset, but my reasoning is that it would seem weirder if I didn’t write it.

There are a few things I need to say up front. Yes, I was invited to the opening night. And yes, I didn’t make it for the second half. And of course I feel shit about it, but I really struggled with the first half. So, for all of you who think I shouldn’t base an opinion on just one section, please stop reading now, and forget you even saw this.

Macbeki is a brand new play by Pieter-Dirk Uys, performed by UCT drama students under the direction of Chris Weare. The piece literally replaces the characters of the Scottish play with an array of main players on the South African political scene. It is the same story as Macbeth, largely using actual chunks of Shakespeare’s verse, with bits and pieces of updates, and the occasional big deviance from the original. It is, in essence, a brilliant idea, with the comparisons between the two Macs, Manto ‘beetroot’ Tshabala Msimang as Lady M, the old king as Madiba, being potentially hilarious and even horrifyingly chilling. Unfortunately, no matter how hard everyone tried, it just didn’t work.

Firstly, the play is pure, impossibly difficult satire. The characters are ‘impersonations’ which give them little depth, narrow range and a completely ‘hit or miss’ quality. They are Pieter-Dirk Uys specials, and really, I could only imagine him managing to perform them all. Drama students are just too inexperienced to manage the irony of satire, no matter how huge their talent or commitment. Having said that, the blast of talent of Lerato Motshwarakgole as Lady Manta literally blew my socks off. She is in a league of her own, with a perfect impersonation, a savagely accurate handling of the comedy and a presence that takes over. The other success is the Porter, played by Gabriel Marchard, who is a treat. Granted, his character is the only fictional one, although he has to embody the psyche of the every white man in the country. He is also so …Pieter-Dirk Uys! Unfortunately, the rest, while never being totally hideous, struggle to manage the material.

Everybody tried really hard. The actors gamely slogged their way through and Chris got them to do their absolute best. The lights and sound and set and costumes were great, but just couldn’t help enough.

So, while I sat there last night, in an audience that mostly really wanted the play to be brilliant, I really tried to enjoy myself. But it was hard. The man next to me giggled occasionally, but mostly his giggles, barely formed, petered out into…breathing, I guess.

I apologise for ducking out at interval. But I hope I’ve explained why.

Zoo Story

By megan

On October 29, 2008

In show reviews

It was a choc-a-bloc night at The Intimate Theatre for the opening of Edward Albee’s Zoo Story directed by Chris Weir and performed by Scott Sparrow and Nicholas Pauling.

I don’t know the play, but I was looking forward to it; I think Scott and Nicholas are super talented. This is the third The Mechanicals production and these guys are developing a relationship with each other and Chris Weare.

The play is a two hander (obviously!) set on a park bench in Central Park, and it’s about the interaction between two strangers that takes a dramatic turn. Albee manages to pose a deeply philosophical issue in the text, but the characters and the action keep the idea alive and prevent the play from becoming boring or talking heads, even though the whole thing is a (pretty one-sided) conversation.

This is a very good production. Nicholas as the weedy, passive and anal publishing guy was brilliant. He spent long periods silent but he didn’t fall out of being totally present and engaged. He was really convincing and moving. Scott was explosive. OK, so the character lends itself to explosions, but he blew up really well. His performance was dynamic, physical and razor-sharp; and it’s a really difficult part. Chris‘s direction was tight and simple, letting the actors live and breathe their characters, but holding a tight rein on the rhythm of the piece.

There were a few niggly things, the biggest of which was Scott’s flawed American accent, which Big Friendly and I discussed at length after the show. He was like, “If it’s such a big deal then put yourself out there to help with accents.” My whole thing is that there are plenty of actors, voice coaches and even dialogue coaches out there who can help. If you are doing an accent piece, go get big, proper help. I mean, it should be part of your preparation. But I digress. And it wasn’t that bad. Just niggly.

The second thing drove director Chris mad as well as me and Big Friendly (and probably everybody). It was an opening night gremlin that set the park bench in the exact position of it making the most terrible squeak/grunt/shriek every time either actor moved. Big Friendly was like, “It was like a three hander with that bench!” Which I thought was hilarious, but only afterwards.

My favourite part of the evening, however, was when the lights came up on the bench and I was looking at the carvings scratched into the wood and thinking, “How cool it would be if the some of the carving looked older than the rest….” when all of a sudden I noticed, carved deeply into the wood on the right hand side of the bench in a bold but unmistakable upper case, MEG 4 FRED. I loved it. I don’t know whose idea it was (which one of the actors), but it was brilliant. Thanks guys.

PS. How’s this for an interesting titbit? I found it on Wikipedia this morning.

“According to a report on NPR’s “Weekend Edition” on Jan. 19, 2008^[2], Albee has expanded his play “Zoo” from one act to two. The first act was first read publicly at the Last Frontier Theatre Conference. The move has raised controversy within the theater community because Albee is no longer allowing professional theater companies to mount the original play without the new first act. Non-professional and college theaters are, however, not bound by Albee’s stipulation.

In the NPR interview Albee defended the change and the addition of a female character who is Peter’s wife. Albee also noted the play was his to do as he wanted.”

Megan's Head

A place where Megan gets off her head.

Tag: Chris Weare (Page 2 of 2)

Decadence sparks

The Birthday Party

Yes! Elizabeth: Almost By Chance a Woman

Decadence – Sold Out!

Big, glamorous, Macbeki mangle

Zoo Story

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