well here it is good people.. The peoples verdict..... Read on at your leisure: On the rather more than 2 hour drive home last night.. Les Mitch and I tried to unravel exactly what it was that brought the West End productions of Stephen Ward & From Here to Eternity crumbling to their knees...and to early closure.. The big picture obviously was that the critics were far from kind.. and audiences didnt flock in ...Chickens and Eggs? But what was truly amiss? So heres our humble opinion from a real theatre punters point of view.. Stephen Ward: Subject matter: Not the greatest.. most appealing to current West End demographic and whilst we appreciate the darker nature of the narrative.. You sort of had to be there in the 6o’s or be a fan of the Scandal to get excited .. The opening sequence in the Blackpool wax works was dire... and why oh why when the lyrics bleat... “ Stuck between Hitler and the Acid Bath murderer”.. does the poor man really have to re-position himself so he IS?? Designer/Director.. have a glance at the Fuc@ng script!! Music: Mostly at odds with the tone of the narrative.. acoustic.. pretty.. minimalist.. very little drive and urgency...it seemed like Lloyd-Webber re-cycling his ‘left overs’ acoustic back catalogue. Lyrics: Call Tim! Black Curtains: Too many.. Slide Projections: Don’t project soft focused slides onto rippled black curtains.. In a Positive mode Keeler.. Mandy Rice .. and even Ward had clearly worked on characterisation.. but were often given such twee sung/narrative dialogue that it often became awkward.. “You look far too young to be have a daughter.. old enough to be a short hand typist..” The Act 1 ‘1963’ closing number finally gave the show some lift and dynamic and showcased the enormous rapport between the 2 girls.. a moment of real presence .. but it then led to a very un-climatic and muddled end to Act One. Elements of the Staging: A little bit ‘A’ level.. the actors were mostly trapped by the uninspiring settings.. (my year 10’s are quite slick with cross cutting and it is so embarrassing to see professional actors having to handle it in such a clumsy way!) There were some very awkward moments in the tediously over long Trial sequences.. when the company even tried to play it for ‘smutty’ ‘Blood Brothers‘ laughs with the pervy Judge cliché... it just didn’t work and significantly cut across the darkness of the narrative. Overdose Death Moment: Ooh please.. a little dignity.. and a little more thinking...and perhaps research. Awkward 30 minute pause after death moment to create impact... : Don’t expect us to ‘read’ and be shocked by powerful images and clips from period newspapers that are projected on to black rippled curtains .. because we can’t read them. The end sequence was overly drawn out.. and does beg the comedy question when one is already stifling a giggle.. ‘How can he belt out that ‘Phantomesque Coda’ when he has just taken a massive overdose.. I suppose we should just buy in and suspend our disbelief... but in order to do that.. you have to care.. don’t you? Best Lyric: “Stephen Ward.. your friendly osteopath” .. Worst Lyric: Everything else!! Best 3 seconds “Yeah Yeah!” From Here to Eternity.. Oh Lordy... The Choreography: A positive plus.. if not a little too overstated..butt.. tight butt testosterone in Khaki giving it some physical Fosse laced with army drill manoeuvres .. is always a good way to set the physical agenda of a show...Set: looked promising.. it just failed to inhabit the massive cavern that is the Shaftsbury stage.. all on one level apart from a pointless lift/riser upstage that sadly some of the older actors could not navigate.. Plus.. this is the era of beyond Hi-Tech.. why are so many tables..chairs.. beds..trunks etc being dragged on by actors? The ‘Saigon’ screens that were randomly flown in.. did little to help suggest location. Acting: Possibly the worst we have witnessed on the West End stage... Darius McPlonkerman whatever the person really is ..was entertainingly and sometimes comically dreadful .. we have never seen a human walk, talk and move in such a peculiar way... Plot/Narrative: About 22 relationship/narratives colliding.. We were confused about who we should be caring about. Lighting: Too obvious... if you are going to snap the lights on every third line.. have a care for our epileptic friends. The Book: Dreadful.. some of the worst clichéd lines we have ever heard.. put these into the mouths of bad actors and you are assured a collision course to disaster.. Music: Failed to live up to the promising overture and was mostly very middle of the road and lame.. apart from the soaring closing number.. plus a ‘blues duet and a bit of a Bruce Springsteen’ inspired number. Lyrics: Thankfully quite classy.. simple stuff.. they rhymed.. were eloquent and articulate and did attempt to advance the Plot. Climax: In its favour.. even though terribly clumsily introduced for all the special needs historians in the audience...by ‘Bad Darius:’ He says.. “December 7th..” (that might be wrong.. I wasn’t listening properly ) “1941.. remember that date...that’s when I said I would marry you”.. The following sequence was to be honest visually stunning.. excellent slow motion work.. (and you cannot deny the physical effort that the male ensemble delivered throughout.) .. brilliant hi tech effects/projections... but ‘9’ minutes of good stuff where choreography.. design.. direction.. and actor’s skills come together is not enough to save a show. Most moving moment was a young lad .. way at the back .. row three.. second one in... who was so distraught during the final number that he broke down and wept like a ‘benny’... and that.. and that alone touched me.
Posted on: Sun, 30 Mar 2014 13:21:24 +0000
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