The Rest Is Silence by Dreamthinkspeak

Whilst staying true to Shakespeare’s tragic tale, Dreamthinkspeak’s The Rest is Silence offers audience members a genuinely unique, immersive experience of Hamlet. 

http://caravanshowcase.org.uk/dreamthinkspeak/

Having read about the company’s tendency to deconstruct plays, I wandered curiously into the black box room, (surrounded on all sides by windows), expecting to be presented with abstract fragments of Shakespeare’s great play. This was not what turned out to be on offer. Dreamthinkspeak’s performance abridged the original text, it reorganised, re-ordered and collapsed divisions between scenes. However, the story remained at the forefront of the show, lovingly and honestly re-told through clearly presented vignettes distilled from Shakespeare’s epic tragedy.

I love Shakespeare and I love Hamlet, but, for me, because the play centres almost exclusively on the melancholic bard, it can prove overly gloomy and repetitious. Adding to these problems, the success of the play has meant that the story itself has become tired and clichéd. Dreamthinkspeak hurdled these significant obstacles, not by offering their own, remoulded version of the play, but by revealing the perspectives, thoughts and feelings of characters, lost behind the morbid personality of the bard in the original text.

Each window in the set unveiled a scene within the hidden kingdom hinted at in Shakespeare’s play. Thus, we were presented with the drunken frivolities of Claudius, partying with Gertrude; the dumbfounded reaction of Rosencrantz and Guidenstern having witnessed Hamlet’s madness; we were party to the preparations of Claudius, readying himself to address his nation after the death of their former king; and we witnessed the love-struck desolation of Ophelia, tormented by the inconstant Hamlet. No lines were added to the script, but the inclusion of these scenes added colour to the text, helping to illuminate the larger world that effected and was effected by the actions of the unhappy prince.

http://exeuntmagazine.com/reviews/the-rest-is-silence/

Passing repeatedly over this strange world  was the figure of Hamlet’s dead father, tormenting those who had done him wrong, racking them with guilt, and pressing his distressed son to avenge him. At times his image was projected across multiple windows, walking eerily through a forest. At other times his appearance within scenes, though unrecognised by the other characters, functioned like a catalyst, stirring and upsetting the characters.Thus Dreamthinkspeak painted Hamlet’s father, not Claudius, as the rotten core at the heart of Denmark. The corruption, according to the company, lay not in the vile deeds enacted by Claudius, but in the inability of each character to forgive and forget these deeds.

The Rest is Silence may well irritate hardcore Shakespeare fans, who believe that the works of the bard ought never to be tampered with, and that a director’s role is to slavishly reproduce Shakespeare’s plays exactly as they were written and as they were intended to be performed. For the open minded audience member however, and for those who are willing to find new ways to engage with Shakespeare and his great texts, this performance is an absolute must see.

9.5/10

Einstein on the Beach

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Einstein on the beach was first performed at the Avignon Festival in 1976. The performance received instant acclaim by critics who applauded the way in which Wilson had challenged the conventions of opera. Wilson eschewed traditional narrative and created the performance through a series of drawings that he made in his sketchbook. He then handed these sketches to the composer (Philip Glass), who composed an original score based upon the images in the book.

In his interview, published in the programme for the performance at the Barbican Theatre, Glass notes, ‘essentially, Einstein is a non-narrative, artificial theatre in which the function of narrative has shifted completely from telling a story to experiencing a story.’ Key to the success of this experiential style is the ability to fuse the creative elements within a performance: acting, movement, dance, lighting, set, props and music. Wilson’s considerable ability to fuse these artistic disciplines turned him into one of the most important theatre directors of the twentieth century.

 Einstein on the Beach starts with one of many ‘knee plays’, thus called because the scenes punctuate the performance, connecting scenes disparately related together. During the scene Characters 1 and 2 are sat at desks, lit in a bright white box at the front of the stage. Character 1 engages in hand gestures that seemingly mimic the movements of a typewriter, whilst the hands of character 2 are held inches from the table, unmoving. Philip Glass’s now iconic score is blended seamlessly with dialogue (written by Christopher Knowles) whose primary function is the creation of dynamic rhythm.

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Dialogue, music and movement move in subtly changing circles in the performance to create scenes that are both repetitious and evolving. ‘There’s no repetition,’ Glass argues, ‘something is always going on…Repetition actually figures in the combination of acts that are constantly moving, constantly changing, even when they appear to be static…It’s a way of working where a thematic idea is stated and then constantly changed so that it is constantly morphing, constantly becoming something else.’

At first I found myself getting frustrated with the pace at which the performance was moving. I wanted something to ‘happen’. However, as Glass correctly observes, Einstein on the Beach is a performance ‘that teaches you how to hear it.’ Thus, my initial impatience was quickly quelled and I became entranced.

I know that it’s wrong. I know that the performance is meant to be ‘experienced’, not analysed, but in moments of trance I could not stop my mind from picking out scattered details of the performance and constructing from these fragments meaning. Thus, for me, the repeated appearance of a shell, which is held up and listened to by a performer repeatedly throughout the opera, reflects a pre-occupation with nature and the natural. This contrasts with the mechanical, and at times robotic movements of the performers, bright lights, images of machinery, and most notably a backdrop describing the effects of a nuclear explosion. Finally, Glass’s comments about repetition and change are reflected in the repeated appearance of compasses and clocks. Reformed and re-ordered in the melting pot of my mind I constructed, out of the chaotic harmony of these audio-visual images, a message about the dangers of scientific and industrial progression, a warning that even the smallest steps that man takes can lead humanity closer to self-annihilation. Thus, at the end of the performance, the Bus Driver apologises for the fact that the performance, thus far, has reflected ‘troubled minds’ and ‘ruffled spirits’ and leaves the audience with a somewhat cheesy story about a couple in love, because the night is drawing to a close and ‘the night should be a time of peace and tranquillity.’

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In the last couple of months I have watched performances by Theatre de Complicite and DV8- theatre companies of great renown. Despite the reputations of these theatrical giants, neither has escaped the sharp judgement of my critical eye, (for good reason). I would therefore like to apologise in advance, but this would not be a rose review if this article did not contain a few well-placed words of criticism. With this in mind I believe that it is pertinent to state the following. It is undoubtedly true that, when it first showed in the 1970s the style of the performance was revolutionary, (with its deconstructive form, bright lights and synthesisers). However, having lived through the 1980s, bright lights and synthesisers no longer wow me. They no longer function as an innovative image of the future. Similarly, although narrative driven performance is still the norm, theatre audiences are now familiar with postmodern deconstructive performances. Thus, for me, much of the drama of the original performance has been lost. In an interview with Wilson, which was used to advertise the Barbican’s performance of Einstein on the Beach, Wilson acknowledged that most of his work ‘should never be revived.’ However, he claimed, ‘Einstein is a bit different.’ The standing ovation at the end of the performance proved that Wilson was right in this assertion. However, this is not to say that the performance has not lost a little of its magic over the years.

8/10

(All quotes are taken from the programme to the performance, published by the Barbican Theatre)

Can We Talk About This? (DV8 at the National Theatre)

DV8 blend controversial and provocative social commentary with abstracted pedestrian movement in this hit and miss production, which will either offend or inspire.

'Can We Talk About This?' blends verbatim testimonials that discuss aspects of 'extremist' Islam with DV8's trademark brand of physical theatre. The premise behind the performance is that Britain's multicultural policies have resulted in a separatist society that protects peoples' rights to maintain the beliefs and practices that stem from their cultural backgrounds, irrespective of whether these beliefs and practices are consistent with freedoms that are otherwise maintained in the UK. Thus the play discusses, for instance: the Salmon Rushdie fatwa, the publication of cartoons that featured images of Mohammed in Danish newspapers, honour killings, and the silencing of those who speak out against Islam.

DV8 postulate that the governments' fear of offending the Muslim community has resulted in a situation in which criticism of Islam is not permitted. In short, in relation to the issues discussed above, the answer to the question 'Can We Talk About This', DV8 suggest, is NO. Verbatim testimonials go on to complain that the unwillingness to criticise conservative Islamic voices in non-Islamic communities has served to help to silence the more 'progressive' voices in Islam that seek to question 'extreme' practices and beliefs that are contrary to the values upheld in other cultures. Whilst this theory is interesting, the problem with this conclusion, is that the stories discussed in this performance are well known to us. This serves to undermine DV8's theory that there is a culture of silence surrounding these issues. 

 Indeed, whilst I may sympathise with the arguments against some of the beliefs and practices upheld by certain 'extremist' Islamic communities, I would argue that people in the UK are all too ready to find fault in the extremes of particular branches of Islam. The great shame, I believe, is that the wisdom inherent in Islam goes largely undiscussed. My fear, at the end, when people gave a standing ovation to the performance, was thus that the performance had merely served to validate the growing tide of Islamaphobia that has swept across the UK since 9/11.

Having critiqued the content of what is said in the performance it is pertinent to mention that the movement was, at times, exquisite. DV8 are masters at isolating everyday pedestrian movements, repeating and/or abstracting them and turning them into dance. In particular, towards the end of the performance, a dance is made out of everyday hand gestures used when talking. In another inspired piece of choreography, an elderly lady sips a cup of tea whilst being twisted and turned in every direction around the moving body of another performer.

At times the movement serves to both compliment and add to the dialogue that runs through the entire show. At other times, however, the connection between the dialogue and the movement is less clear, and the one starts to distract from the other. Indeed there is an over-abundance of both movement and speech in this performance. I therefore found myself dying to request that the performers either stop moving and just talk for a moment, or else stop talking and communicate exclusively through dance.

Prior to watching this performance, I had never watched a live performance of DV8 before. However, I was led to believe that the group are one of the most important physical theatre groups in the world. Being a massive fan of physical theatre, I was therefore giddy with excitement, rubbing my hands together, whilst sitting in The National Theatre, waiting for the performance to start. Having now seen the performance, I can assure you that the hype is not unfounded. DV8 is an immensely important and talented physical theatre group. However, whilst I would recommend fans of physical theatre to watch this performance, I would like to repeat my warning that this performance will offend as much as it does inspire.

7/10

Photos:
http://www.dontpaniconline.com/events/16181/can-we-talk-about-this
http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2012/mar/13/can-we-talk-about-this-review

Master and Margerita by Theatre de Complicite (Barbican Theatre)

Moments of multimedia genius mask an ultimately under-par complicite performance. 
Master and Margerita is an intriguingly surreal journey into the frustrated mind of a writer, stifled by the militant censorship of artists in Communist Russia. The plot centres around a novelist, who fails to find a publisher for his book about Pontius Pilate, but finds, instead, the love of a woman (Margarita) who both worships the book and adores him. In a satirical twist to this faustian romance, Satan appears, hell bent on taking out Moscow's artistic elite. The complex narrative and unusual mix of styles prompted the acclaimed director to proclaim that the novel was 'impossible' to stage. However, although many complained that the show lacked the historical realism that was an amiable feature of the novel, for the most part, McBurney successfully overcomes these obstacles and creates a show that makes sense.


 McBurney's love affair with the book is evident in this performance as he takes large swathes of dialogue directly from the novel. Regrettably, this is partly the reason why the show, though entertaining, ultimately falls short of the usual standard that fans of Complicite will have expected of the show prior to taking their seats at the Barbican Theatre. McBurney is LeCoq trained and thus Complicite are at their best when communicating narrative through visual imagery.  Sadly the acting skill on show was not sufficient to hold the audience's interest in the large sections of dialogue that take place, particularly in the first half of the performance. Indeed, this is most notably the case in respect to the lead actress, playing the role of Margerita, whose vocal delivery fails to communicate any more than the shallowest meaning of her character's lines. 


There are, however, moments of trademark Complicite visual wizardry. In a moment of incredible choreography, (which recalls the visual trickery exemplified by the french Compagne 111), an overhead video camera records chairs being pulled across the stage by an ensemble of actors.  When this image is then projected onto the back wall it becomes a galloping horse, ridden by Satan. In another nice, though simplistic moment, a moving ticket booth becomes a tram, which collides with an unfortunate Russian novelist.  However, although some moments in the performance are aesthetically pleasing, all too many of these moments are multimedia based, rather than the product of outstanding physical theatre acting, as one would usually expect from this company. As a result, although one leaves the performance generally satisfied, one does not leave with the feeling that one has witnessed anything truly magical.


7/10


(Picture taken from Wiener Festwochen http://www.festwochen.at/index.php?id=eventdetail&L=1&detail=756)