Review: Almeida's Our Town

It's been said that since 1948, Thornton Wilder's seminal Our Town has been performed every single night, even on Sundays. In America, it's mega: amateur groups perform it because of the deliberately minimal staging, actors love it because of the naturalistic dialogue and directors worship it because of the bold metatheatrical devices, including having an on-stage 'Stage Manager' (played in this production by director David Cromer).

In the Almedia Theatre's new production, things have been stripped back even further: actors mime props, speak in thick regional English accents and David Cromer's stage manager oversees proceedings with a sense of casual ceremoniousness. When he enters, he describes the town of Grover's Corners. "The sky is beginning to show some sneaks of light" towards the back of the stalls and Main Street runs between rows A and B of the Almeida's new traverse auditorium.

And while this might sound like modernist mumbo-jumbo, it's actually good. Fantastic, even once it gets going. Cromer's simplistic staging ensures that the focus is always on the audience, and the theatrical revelation that comes in Act 3 filled the auditorium with gasps and even the odd teary eye. 

Marc Brenner

The cast, many of whom are making their professional stage debuts, give it their all, and special credit goes to Laura Elsworthy, David Cromer and Richard Lumsden as the everyman journalist Mr Webb. 

The lighting, while simple, is also standout. Performed mostly with the house-lights up, the gentle shifts to half-light and the sudden drop to black in third act did nothing but add to the startling intimacy and tenderness of this gripping production. 

With his production of Our Town, David Cromer has shone a light over the everyday. It is a play, and production, that asks us to not only look at the stage but also at each other; that young couple on the front row, the two pensioners at the back, me. While Wilder and Cromer share mayorship, it's still very much Our Town.

10/10

Review: Almeida Theatre's Mr Burns: A Post Electric Play

Ten minutes in the sighing started. Like nuclear fallout, it slowly crept forward, invisible, deadly, from the back of the circle down to the front of the stalls, until it was time for the first interval and like irradiated hyenas we scrambled out of the theatre.

It's no wonder people are escaping at the first interval. The first act of Anne Washburn's bizarre new play - Mr Burns - sees a group of people who I didn't care about enough to even remember their names huddling around a campfire, in the middle of the night in the middle of a nuclear apocalypse, tediously recounting the famous The Simpsons episode Cape Feare. Line by line, scene by scene, they work forward, dully recounting lines of dialogue in bad impressions of Homer, Lisa, Bart and Marge. In a bold move, director Robert Icke has chosen to stage the first act in almost complete darkness, but it's too dark on stage to see the actor's faces clearly, so act one is more like listening to a radio play in a dark room.

One scene sees the stereotyped cardboard cutouts - the geek, the mysterious, shotgun wielding drifter who seldom speaks, the paranoid woman - monotonously read names of lost relatives out of blank notebooks. Would it really have been so hard to just write some names down on a page?

The only redeeming features are the subtle references to what caused the nuclear apocalypse, life after it (one character describes a town devoid of all life, another describes the stink of irradiated corpses) and the genuinely sinister arrival of a giggling madwoman, played by Jenna Russell.

The second act, thankfully, skips ahead seven years. How do we know about the time difference? Each act opens with an obviously unhappy Almeida steward holding up a cardboard sign denoting the name of the play (as if we didn't know) the playwright (whose work I wouldn't be too keen on seeing anytime soon), and the time period. It's all very Brecht.

In the second act, the group of travelers from the first act have now formed a theatre troupe and, using scripts purchased off the black market, stage and perform television shows and the commercials. A rival group, the Primetime Players have a huge cast, while one group dedicates itself to performing episodes of the West Wing. 

Unlike the first act, subtlety isn't key here. One sections sees the cast perform a montage of classic songs a capella, from Britney Spears' Toxic to Daft Punk's Get Lucky. It's a brilliantly choreographed, exciting sequence, and the cast give it their all. 

© Manuel Harlan

I was genuinely unhappy when the second act finished. It really was great. It was a wonderful piece of post-apocalyptic black comedy, with a brilliant premise, great performances and a shocking and unexpected ending. 

Act three really gets weird. And when I say "really weird" I actually mean "really really really weird". Because it was. Set seventy-five years after act two, The Simpsons is now mythic. Opening with a yellow-robe wearing Greek chorus singing Ricky Martin's Livin La Vida Loca in an operatic style, the cast reperform Cape Feare, now fit to bursting with references to Christ and the Nativity and Ancient Greek Legend. Bart (Jenna Russell) wears a leather breastplate, crown and wields a sword. Lisa wears a headdress not too different from the Statue of Liberty's. And Mr Burns - confusingly replacing Sideshow Bob as antagonist - has  the thuggish Itchy and Scratchy as machete wielding minions.

This act, with beautiful music by Michael Henry and Fiona Digney with opera sung by Adey Grummet, is flat out confusing. I personally find it pretty unbelievable that it would only take seventy-five years for the show to receive mythic status and through Biblical imagery, Washburn may be attempting to show how ritualistic and revered religiously the show is, but this falls flat due to a complete lack of characterisation. It would have been far more effective to show, say, a family worshiping and discussing the show five hundred years into the future than only showing the ritual itself.

The Chorus Enters
© Manuel Harlan

There are genuinely some strong ideas inside Mr Burns. It's interesting and exciting with a beautiful score and evocative lighting by Philip Gladwell. However, it's hindered by a flat, turgid first act and unlikable characters. In contrast, act two is bold, funny and sad. And while act three provides no satisfying conclusion, it's complex and full of interesting metaphors and imagery. 

It asks some tough questions and leaves us to answer them, and ultimately asks what will happen if the world as we know it really does end. Will humanity focus on the essential or finding comfort in the trivial?

Mr Burns is the latter. But could have been the former.

6/10

Here Lies Love to Open at Dorfman in October

Here Lies Love, a new rock musical detailing the rise of Philippinian First Lady Imelda Marcos is set to open at the National Theatre in newly renovated Dorfman Theatre. Director Alex Timbers confirmed the transfer to the Hollywood Reporter in October. The piece takes place in a nightclub setting, with the audience standing and dancing for the duration of the performance. 

The musical is written by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim, and is currently at the Public Theatre in New York, having received rave reviews and warm audience reception.

The musical is based on a concept album written by Byrne and Slim released in 2010, featuring the like of Florence Welch, Tori Amos and Cyndi Lauper.

2014 Tony Awards Nominees Announced

The nominations for the 2014 Tony Awards, hosted by Hugh Jackman on June 8, have been announced.

Best Play
"Act One"
"All the Way"
"Casa Valentina"
"Mothers and Sons"
"Outside Mullingar"

Best Musical
"After Midnight"
"Aladdin"
"Beautiful - The Carole King Musical"
"A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder"

Best Revival of a Play
"The Cripple of Inishmaan"
"The Glass Menagerie"
"A Raisin in the Sun"
"Twelfth Night"

Best Revival of a Musical
"Hedwig and the Angry Inch"
"Les Miserables"
"Violet"

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
Samuel Barnett, "Twelfth Night"
Bryan Cranston, "All the Way"
Chris O'Dowd, "Of Mice and Men"
Mark Rylance, "Richard III"
Tony Shalhoub, "Act One"

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
Tyne Daly, "Mothers and Sons"
LaTanya Richardson Jackson, "A Raisin in the Sun"
Cherry Jones, "The Glass Menagerie"
Audra McDonald, "Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill"
Estelle Parsons, "The Velocity of Autumn"

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
Neil Patrick Harris, "Hedwig and the Angry Inch"
Ramin Karimloo, "Les Miserables"
Andy Karl, "Rocky"
Jefferson Mays, "A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder"
Bryce Pinkham, "A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder"

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
Mary Bridget Davies, "A Night with Janis Joplin"
Sutton Foster, "Violet"
Idina Menzel, "If/Then"
Jesse Mueller, "Beautiful - The Carole King Musical"
Kelly O'Hara, "The Bridges of Madison County"

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
Reed Birney, "Casa Valentina"
Paul Chahidi, "Twelfth Night"
Stephen Fry, "Twelfth Night"
Mark Rylance, "Twelfth Night"
Brian J. Smith, "The Glass Menagerie"

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play
Sarah Green, "The Cripple of Inishmaan"
Celia Keenan-Bolger, "The Glass Menagerie"
Sophie Okonedo, "A Raisin in the Sun"
Anika Noni Rose, "A Raisin in the Sun"
Mare Winningham, "Casa Valentina"

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
Danny Burstein, "Cabaret"
Nick Codero, "Bullets Over Broadway"
Joshua Henry, "Violet"
James M. Iglehart, "Aladdin"
Jarrod Specter, "Bullets Over Broadway"

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical
Linda Emond, "Cabaret"
Lena Hall, "Hedwig and the Angry Inch"
Anika Larson, "Beautiful - The Carole King Musical"
Adriane Lenox, "After Midnight"
Lauren Worsham, "A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder"

Best Direction of a Play
Tim Carroll, "Twelfth Night"
Michael Grandage, "The Cripple of Inishmaan"
Kenny Leon, "A Raisin in the Sun"
John Tiffany, "The Glass Menagerie"

Best Direction of a Musical
Warren Carlyle, "After Midnight"
Michael Mayer, "Hedwig and the Angry Inch"
Leigh Silverman, "Violet"
Darko Tresnjak, "A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder"

Best Book of a Musical
Chad Beguelin, "Aladdin"
Douglas McGrath, "Beautiful - The Carole King Musical"
Woody Allen, "Bullets Over Broadway"
Robert L. Friedman, "A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder"

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theater
"Aladdin" (Music: Alan Menkin; Lyrics: Howard Ashman, Tim Rice and Chad Begeulin)
"The Bridges of Madison County" (Music & Lyrics: Jason Robert Brown)
"A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder" (Music: Steven Lutvak; Lyrics: Robert L. Freedman and Steven Lutvak)
"If/Then" (Music: Tom Kitt; Lyrics: Brian Yorkey)

Best Choreography
Warren Carlyle, "After Midnight"
Steven Hoggett and Kelly Devine, "Rocky"
Casey Nicholaw, "Aladdin"
Susan Stroman, "Bullets Over Broadway"

Best Orchestrations
Doug Besterman, "Bullets Over Broadway"
Jason Robert Brown, "The Bridges of Madison County"
Steve Sidwell, "Beautiful - The Carole King Musical"
Jonathan Tunick, "A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder"

Best Scenic Design of a Play
Beowulf Boritt, "Act One"
Bob Crowley, "The Glass Menagerie"
Es Devlin, "Machinal"
Christopher Oram, "The Cripple of Inishmaan" (show to the right)

Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Christopher Barreca, "Rocky"
Julian Crouch, "Hedwig and the Angry Inch"
Alexander Dodge, "A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder"
Santo Loquasto, "Bullets Over Broadway"

Best Costume Design of a Play
Jane Greenwood, "Act One"
Michael Krass, "Machinal"
Rita Ryack, "Casa Valentina"
Jenny Tiramani, "Twelfth Night"

Best Costume Design of a Musical
Linda Cho, "A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder"
William Ivey Long, "Bullets Over Broadway"
Arianne Philips, "Hedwig and the Angry Inch"
Isabel Toledo, "After Midnight"

Best Sound Design of a Play
Alex Baranowski, "The Cripple of Inishmaan"
Steve Canyon Kennedy, "Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill"
Dan Moses Schreier, "Act One"
Matt Tierney, "Machinal"

Best Sound Design of a Musical
Peter Hylenski, "After Midnight"
Tim O'Heir, "Hedwig and the Angry Inch"
Mick Potter, "Les Miserables"
Brian Ronan, "Beautiful - The Carole King Musical"

Best Lighting Design of a Play
Paule Constable, "The Cripple of Inishmaan"
Jane Cox, "Machinal"
Natasha Katz, "The Glass Menagerie"
Japhy Wideman, "Of Mice and Men"

Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Kevin Adams, "Hedwig and the Angry Inch"
Christopher Akerlind, "Rocky"
Howell Binkley, "After Midnight"
Donald Holder, "The Bridges of Madison County"

Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the TheatreJane Greenwood

Regional Theatre Award
Signature Theatre

Isabelle Stevenson Award
Rosie O'Donnell

Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre
Joseph P. Benincasa
Joan Marcus
Charlotte Wilcox