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<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=170 BGCOLOR="#111111" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="quotes/reviews"><U><B><IMG SRC="b2262510.jpg" border=0 width="98" height="81" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#111111" FACE="Cairo SF" > </FONT></div> <div> quotes/reviews</div> <div> <A HREF="id32.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Matt Jamie cv / resume"><U><B><IMG SRC="af73b3e0.jpg" border=0 width="59" height="62" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="portraits"><U><IMG SRC="a3932440.jpg" border=0 width="50" height="68" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id112.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="showreel"><U><B><IMG SRC="af8373e0.jpg" border=0 width="55" height="62" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id109.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="voice clips"><U><IMG SRC="8a020360.jpg" border=0 width="32" height="54" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="quotes/reviews"><U><B><IMG SRC="af94b3e0.jpg" border=0 width="75" height="62" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="CONTACT"><U><B><IMG SRC="b4a4a360.jpg" border=0 width="74" height="54" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#99CC99" FACE="Trebuchet MS" ><B>M a t t   J a m i e </B></FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#99CC99" FACE="Trebuchet MS" >  </FONT>  |  <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="M a t t J a m i e "><U><I>home</I></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id32.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Matt Jamie cv / resume"><U>cv/resume</U></A>   +  <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="portraits"><U>portraits</U></A>   +  <A HREF="id112.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="showreel"><U>showreel</U></A>  +  <A HREF="http://www.mattjamie.co.uk/voice" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.mattjamie.co.uk/voice"><U>voice clips</U></A>  +  <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="quotes/reviews"><U>quotes and reviews</U></A>  +  <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="CONTACT"><U>contact </U></A> +  <A HREF="id23.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="links"><U>links</U></A>  +  <A HREF="id24.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Detailed CV"><U>detailed cv</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Cairo SF" > <A NAME="top_of_page"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></FONT><B>Q</B><B>uotes from shows reviewed in the press or online </B>(some full reviews below)</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>READ NOT DEAD</B></div> <div> <B>Staged Readings of "Phoenix" & "Michaelmas Term"</B></div> <div> (Shakespeare's Globe)</div> <bR> <div> "<B>Sheer exuberance</B>...There is a unique pleasure in watching actors discover jokes as they perform them, and a sense of camaraderie between cast and audience as all head off-road together...  The cast's enjoyment is evident and crucial"</div> <div> <I><B>Times Lierary Supplement</B></I><I> (March 08) </I></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>KING ARTHUR</B></div> <div> (Arcola Theatre)</div> <bR> <div> "The actors perform with all the energy of a medieval troupe, and hold the space well as an ensemble"</div> <div> <I><B>Rougues & Vagabonds</B></I></div> <bR> <div> "Ten out of ten for atmosphere...Slow burning subtelty...Imaginative use of the Arcola's cavernous space"</div> <div> <I><B>Caroline McGinn, TIME OUT </B></I><I>(November 2006)</I></div> <bR> <div> "Captivating, moving and very effective...From the moment the spectator steps into the playing space all five senses are awakened and remain so until the auditorium is emptied...A performance that entertains and delights..."</div> <div> <I><B>Fiona Doyle, Extra! Extra! </B></I><I>(November 2006)</I></div> <bR> <div> "Innovative...mesmerising...The production shows exactly how fringe theatre can use it's strengths to challenge the mainstream."                 </div> <div> <I><B>Hackney Gazette </B></I></div> <bR> <div> "Powerful performances from the ensemble and [an] atmospheric production"</div> <div> <I><B>The London Student</B></I></div> <bR> <div> "Breathtakingly beautiful" </div> <div> <I><B>Resonance FM</B></I></div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>REMEMBER, REMEMBER</B></div> <div> (National Tour)</div> <bR> <div> "A must-see play... cleverly devised...skillfully played by five actors playing all the characters."</div> <div> <I><B>Katy Wright, BBC online </B></I><I>(November 2005)</I></div> <div> <A HREF="#remember_remember" TITLE="quotes/reviews"><U>see full review here</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>ROMEO & JULIET </B></div> <div> (London)</div> <bR> <div> "The performers give their absolute all.  Matt Jamie (Romeo) has a youthful and sympathetic delivery that totally suits the testosterone-driven son of Montague. Jamie has a uniquely emotive face; there is always humour in his eyes and his effect on the women in the audience was noticeably electric.<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Trebuchet MS" > </FONT>Claire Duttson (Juliet) and Matt Jamie were perfectly suited, and their love and downfall equally believable and regrettable."</div> <div> <I><B>Rouges and Vagabonds </B></I><I>(</I><I>October 2004)</I></div> <div> <A HREF="#romeo_and_juliet_rougues" TITLE="quotes/reviews"><U>see full review here</U></A></div> <bR> <div> "The actors are more than equal to the task. Matt Jamie makes a sympathetic Romeo, seamlessly taking him from despair to joy and back again..."</div> <div> <I><B>The Stage </B></I><I>(October 2004)</I></div> <div> <A HREF="#romeo_and_juliet__warehouse_theatre" TITLE="quotes/reviews"><U>see full review here</U></A></div> <bR> <div> "The Daylight Players show what is possible with the maximum imagination and commitment.... The intimacy and immediacy make for a close rapport with the audience."</div> <div> <I><B>The Advertiser (Croydon) </B></I><I>(1 October 2004)</I></div> <div> <A HREF="#romeo_and_julietadvertiser" TITLE="quotes/reviews"><U><I>see full review here</I></U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>ROMEO & JULIET </B></div> <div> (European Tour)</div> <bR> <div> "A heart-pounding Shakespeare... Every player is at the peak of their abilities...</div> <div> The core of every character has been chiselled out"</div> <div> <I><B>Kvallsposten / Kultur, </B></I><I>(</I><I>August </I><I>2003)</I></div> <div> <A HREF="#romeo_and_juliet__sweden_" TITLE="quotes/reviews"><U>see full review here</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <div> "The performance is a joy.  Six actors take on a lot more roles: the changes are elegant and work excellently.  Shakespeare's <I>star-cross'd lovers</I> are played with a youthful spark and love by Matt Jamie and Claire Duttson"</div> <div> <I><B>Skanska Dagbladet, </B></I><I>(24 August 2003)</I></div> <div> <A HREF="#romeo_and_juliet__sweden__2" TITLE="quotes/reviews"><U>see full review here</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>MACBETH - The Panto </B></div> <div> (UK Tour)</div> <bR> <div> "The funniest pantomime I have ever seen....The five members of Oddsocks did the work of fifty!"</div> <div> <I><B>Birmingham-alive </B></I><I>(online review)</I><I><B> </B></I><I>(13 January 2005)</I></div> <div> <A HREF="#macbeth_the_panto_mac" TITLE="quotes/reviews"><U>see full review here</U></A></div> <bR> <div> "Macbeth is a dark and horrid play...transformed into a comic masterpiece by five very versatile actors and a particularly flexible set...Very funny".</div> <div> <B>BBC online </B>(January 2005)</div> <div> <A HREF="#macbeth_the_panto_jac" TITLE="quotes/reviews"><U>see full review here</U></A><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Trebuchet MS" ><A HREF="#macbeth_the_panto_jac" TITLE="quotes/reviews"><U> </U></A></FONT></div> <bR> <div> "A real hit...Great ensemble acting from all five actors, with huge amounts of energy."</div> <div> <I><B>The News, Portsmouth </B></I><I>(7 December 2004)</I></div> <div> <A HREF="#macbeth_the_panto_portsmouth" TITLE="quotes/reviews"><U>see full review here</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <div> "The text worked at a whole set of different levels...Every joke was carefully timed, every ad-lib well judged.  Especially memorable were the Three Witches<I> </I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Trebuchet MS" ><I>(Matt Jamie, Susie Ridell, Harriet Kershaw)</I> </FONT>- dressed in black and moving like manipulators in a Japanese drama - they were stunningly effective."</div> <div> <I><B>The Hexham Courant </B></I><I>(20 December 2004)</I></div> <div> <A HREF="#macbeth_the_panto_hexham" TITLE="quotes/reviews"><U>see full review here</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR </B></div> <div> (UK Tour)</div> <bR> <div> "Oddsocks adaptation positively fizzed along...full of pace and inventiveness. <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Trebuchet MS" ><B> </B></FONT><B>I was struck by the elegant timing of Matt Jamie.</B>  It was all great fun...  It brought from the audience a whooping, hollering set of prolonged curtain calls that were well deserved." </div> <div> <I><B>The Hexham Courant </B></I><I>(27 December 2002)</I></div> <div> <A HREF="#the_merry_wives_hexham" TITLE="quotes/reviews"><U>see full review here</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>"</B>Wives can never have been merrier than here...The Royal Shakespeare Company will be hard pressed to make the play funnier"</div> <div> <I><B>The News (Portsmouth) </B></I><I>(4 January 2003)</I></div> <div> <A HREF="#the_merry_wives__postsmouth" TITLE="quotes/reviews"><U>see full review here</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>THE COMEDY OF ERRORS </B></div> <div> (Cambridge Shakespeare Festival)</div> <bR> <div> <B>"</B>Crystal clear and hilariously funny...The whole works brilliantly. When the mystery is unravelled, the reactions all round are convincing."</div> <div> <I><B>The Stage</B></I><I> (1 Aug 2002)</I></div> <div> <A HREF="#the_comedy_of_errors" TITLE="quotes/reviews"><U>see full review here</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <div> "A most joyous occasion.  Everyone...flung themselves enthusiastically into the fun. </div> <div> Matt Jamie (Syracuse) and Alex Beattie (Ephesus) brought conviction to the absurdities and sent the audience home chuckling happily at the end of an <B>hilarious evening of comic delights"</B></div> <div> <I><B>Early Modern Literary Studies </B></I><I><B>8.2 </B></I><I>(September, 2002)</I></div> <div> <A HREF="#the_comedy_of_errors_2" TITLE="quotes/reviews"><U>see full review here</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>ROMEO AND JULIET</B></div> <div> (Cambridge Shakespeare Festival)</div> <bR> <div> "Matt Jamie is fiery as <I>Tybalt </I>and touching as an affectionate <I>Paris, </I>clearly seperating the parts"</div> <div> <I><B>The Stage</B></I><I> (22 Aug 2002)</I></div> <div> <A HREF="#romeo___juliet" TITLE="quotes/reviews"><U>see full review here</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>THE DEVIL'S LAW CASE </B></div> <div> (London)</div> <bR> <div> "Webster fans [should] throng to this rare London revival by the Instant Classics company.  Among several fine performances...newcomer <B>Matt Jamie crackles with conviction</B>.  Swift and entertaining performances by an 11 strong ensemble who play the drama of greed, jealousy and revenge with thoroughly satisfying relish"</div> <div> <I><B>What's On</B></I><I> (16-23 Jan 2002)</I></div> <div> <A HREF="#devil_s_what_s_on" TITLE="quotes/reviews"><U>see full review here</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <div> "This production generates...plenty of heartless comedy ripe for a modern, cynical audience"</div> <div> <I><B>The Stage</B></I><I> (10 Jan 2002)</I></div> <div> <A HREF="#devil_s_stage" TITLE="quotes/reviews"><U>see full review here</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>SAINT JOAN </B></div> <div> (London)</div> <bR> <div> "Vividly staged...in a half-dozen other productions I can recall none to rival it's sheer itellectual clarity"</div> <div> <I><B>The Stage</B></I><I> (20 Sept 2001) </I></div> <div> <A HREF="#saint_joan_full_review" TITLE="quotes/reviews"><U>see full review here</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <div> "A sensitive production - Not to be missed"</div> <div> <I>Chiswick and Hounslow Times (7 Sept 2001)</I></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>FULL REVIEWS from the press:</B></div> <bR> <div> <B> <A NAME="remember_remember"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></B><B>REMEMBER, REMEMBER (National Tour, Riding Lights)</B></div> <div> Katy Wright, <B>BBC (online)</B>, November 2005</div> <bR> <div> It’s about Guy Fawkes and his co-conspirators, says the publicity. But its significance as a piece of discourse on contemporary conflict makes this a must-see play, whether you’re a fan of history or not.  <I><B>Remember Remember</B></I>, written by Bridget Foreman and directed by Riding Lights founder member Paul Burbridge, is a cleverly devised re-enactment of the events that led up to the attempt by Guy Fawkes and his co-conspirators, to assassinate James I and the ruling Protestant elite.</div> <bR> <div> The story is told from the perspective of Everard Digby (Matt Jamie), a Catholic land-owner who attends Protestant church services in order to protect his job, working for the King. But following a spell of severe illness, during which he recalls the Latin prayers of his childhood, Digby reverts to Catholicism. And shortly after that, he's persuaded by his friend, Robert Catesby, to assist in the forced reinstatement of a Catholic monarchy. </div> <bR> <div> "We are the agents of God's purpose", Digby tells his wife as he attempts to explain why he's prepared to join Catesby in openly committing treason. England's Catholics are oppressed by the Protestant establishment: priests are commonly executed, and anyone found practising Catholicism is fined. The small group of which Digby and Catesby are a part, sees violence as the only way to respond.  </div> <bR> <div> Interspersed throughout the play are short accounts from people living in London at the time of the July bombs, and amidst the troubles in Northern Ireland. They're skillfully played by the same five actors playing all the other characters. At one point, a young man considers the motivation of the people behind the London bombs, and in the process asks the key question, "What is passionate allegiance to a religion?"</div> <bR> <div> I went to the theatre expecting to learn about the events leading up to the Gunpowder Plot, and the people involved. And I did. But I also came away thinking about the state of the world today and why, after 400 years of religious conflict, people still choose to kill, rather than tolerate, one another.</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="#top_of_page" TITLE="quotes/reviews"><U>BACK TO TOP</U></A> of page</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B> <A NAME="romeo_and_juliet_rougues"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></B><B>ROMEO AND JULIET (Warehouse Theatre, Croydon)</B></div> <div> Kevin Quarmby, <B>Rougues and Vagabonds, </B>September 2004</div> <bR> <div> I<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" >n Shakespeare's time, when the plague regularly hit London and royal edicts were issued preventing the gathering of people in places of public entertainment, there was nothing left to do. The hired men, those semi-pro freelancers who filled the stage with bodies and played every messenger and minion, were laid off, and a core of company actors, most likely the sharers who shared the company profits and losses and had most to gain, went off on tour. We know many of the towns they went to, and many of the places they performed. Town halls, country residences, the odd tithe barn, anywhere where they could set up their temporary scaffold or utilize the minstrel gallery or any other natural architectural feature. The finest of London's talent would perform some of the latest offerings form the capital's stage. </FONT></div> <div> There is a sense of this touring history with the production of <I>Romeo and Juliet</I> by the Daylight Players at the Warehouse Theatre Croydon. A troupe of six actors, four women and two men, recreate the romantic tragedy of the star-crossed lovers. With so few actors it is necessary to double, quadruple, and more, whilst a couple of members of the audience are roped into playing bit parts the company just cannot fill. This leads to an hilarious aspect when the earnest wannabe meets the hardened pro and vies for the metaphorical spotlight. </div> <div> If there are few performers there are even fewer stage props and certainly no scenery. The whole production takes place in the round, with the central acting space bare save for an unusual looking trolley contraption suitable for carting flatpack kitchen cabinets around IKEA. This trolley serves as mini-platform, prop table, Juliet's bed and the final resting place for the dead lovers. It may sound incongruous but it actually serves its function very well, and is used to great effect by the cast. </div> <div> Costumes are sparse but likewise effective, with more than a passing reference to Elizabethan dress in the doublets for the men's parts and the long dresses for the women's. A friar's cloak and a rich gown is all that's necessary to evoke a romantic early modern representation of an Anglicized Italy. </div> <div> As can be guessed by the company's name, the Daylight Players, the ethos behind the production is that it can, and should, be played in the daylight with as much light on the audience as on the actors. Graham Christopher effectively directs this production, and because it takes place in a converted warehouse on these sadly darkened evenings, there is as much of the lighting rig directed on the audience seating as there is on the central acting space. The concept is commendable and historically valid, although in such a small space, it can cause an uncomfortable squint in the average audience-member's eyes. At least the actors are able to occasionally escape the glare for an off-stage swig of water. We are constantly on show, gazing across the space, gauging each other's reactions. Concept great. In this space, not so sure. </div> <div> I am sure that <B>t</B><B>he </B><B>performers themselves gave their absolute all.</B> Claire Duttson (Juliet) began as a twenty-first century savvy young woman who has the authority that accompanies a wealthy and privileged upbringing. Her love for Romeo develops wonderfully, and the transition from anger to feigned contrition delightful and sincere. This was a doomed heroine to die for. </div> <div> <B>Matt Jamie (Romeo) has a youthful and sympathetic delivery that totally suits the testosterone-driven son of Montague. Jamie has a uniquely emotive face; there is always humour in his eyes and his effect on the women in the audience was noticeably electric. Duttson and Jamie were perfectly suited, and their love and downfall equally believable and regrettable. </B></div> <div> Tracy Keeling struts her stuff as the pompous Paris, whilst Patrick Knox has the difficult task of portraying both Mercutio and Capulet, two characters who could not be further apart in age and dramatic weight. Likewise, Kitty Martin as both Lady Capulet and Friar Lawrence makes a valiant effort to characterize these two opposing roles. Martin's Lady Capulet is an aristocratic neurotic desperate for her daughter to marry the right man, whilst her Friar Lawrence is a humble and emotional mendicant who attempts to unite the lovers but is beaten by circumstance. It is so refreshing to see an actor like Martin, cross-cast as Lawrence, playing a role without forcing an unconvincing gender change. A Friar Lawrence who never loses touch with his feminine side is far more convincing than a Friar Lawrence whose gender is warped by overt and stylised maleness. </div> <div> Although company energy and commitment is the driving force for this production, one actor provides the pumping heart to the evening. Kali Peacock plays five distinct characters, each a perfect study, each a comic or serious gem as the evening requires. It is Peacock who, as the Nurse, has to embroil an audience member to play her man, Peter. It is Peacock who is slain as Tybalt, and Peacock who metes out justice as Escalus, Prince of Verona. As the Nurse, Peacock is a sexy sassy woman whose earthiness and good-naturedness is in poignant contrast to the tragedy with which she is involved. Peacock succeeds in communicating with the audience at a level far deeper than the forced superficiality of her colleagues. Peacock gives a great performance from beginning to end. </div> <div> The Warehouse Theatre Croydon is making a valiant attempt to keep live local theatre a going concern in its local community, whilst attracting a wider London audience to its humble though friendly abode. Plans are afoot to raise a modern auditorium to replace this fine old workhorse, but that needs the support of all, from the council to the lowliest theatregoer. All we have to do to support this vision is to make our way to this quaint theatre so easily placed for the train and Tramlink. <I><B>Romeo and Juliet</B></I><B> is a fun production with dedicated professionals</B> who obviously benefit from a packed house. Go buy a drink, sit and watch and be watched, to see this simple but effective company at work. </div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="#top_of_page" TITLE="quotes/reviews"><U>BACK TO TOP</U></A> of page</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B> <A NAME="romeo_and_juliet__warehouse_theatre"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></B><B>ROMEO AND JULIET (Warehouse Theatre, Croydon)</B></div> <div> Liz Arratoon, <B>The Stage</B>, October 2004 </div> <bR> <div> Daylight Players adopts a back-to-basics approach in its productions. With minimal props, costumes and musical instruments, the cast of six takes on multiple roles and brings this classic to life. The odd hat, cloak or gown is thrown over everyday garb to denote different characters. This is confusing until they are all established. </div> <bR> <div> A simple cart serves as balcony, bed and tomb, and there are weapons for the fights and unlit lanterns for the night scenes. Seated in the round, the audience is bathed in the same light as the players and there is deliberate interaction, the cast often addressing the onlookers directly. A couple of audience members are cajoled into speaking lines.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Overall, the actors are more than equal to the task. Matt Jamie makes a sympathetic Romeo, seamlessly taking him from despair to joy and back again</B>, but Claire Duttson appears to be a slightly too mature and worldly Juliet. The Nurse often steals the show and Kali Peacock does not disappoint, making her contrast strongly with the male roles she undertakes. Kitty Martin shows her range as the distraught Lady Capulet and Friar Lawrence. Somewhat heavy-handed as Capulet, Patrick Knox carries Mercutio off with a swagger, while Tracy Keeling masters a fistful of less showy parts, including Benvolio and the haughty Paris.</div> <bR> <div> This informal format probably works better in an outdoor setting but its stripped-down style puts the focus firmly on Shakespeare's language, making it more accessible. This must have been invaluable for the exam students present, whose attention was held throughout.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Performed at The Warehouse Theatre, London, September and October 2004 (after a European tour)</B></div> <bR> <div> <I>More Romeo and Juliet Reviews Below</I></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="#top_of_page" TITLE="quotes/reviews"><U>BACK TO TOP</U></A> of page</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B> <A NAME="romeo_and_julietadvertiser"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></B><B>ROMEO AND JULIET (Warehouse Theatre, Croydon)</B></div> <div> Diana Eccleston, <B>The Advertiser - Croydon</B>, 1 October 2004 </div> <div> <B>* * *</B></div> <div> There are as many ways with Shakespeare as there are days in the year, and the Daylight Players, under the direction of Graham Christopher, present the tragedy in the manner of the old style mystery plays but with a modernism, even a playfulness, which does not look out of place.</div> <div> They act in the round with a small cart moved about to serve as balcony, bed and ultimately tomb.  And six performerd take all the roles, wearing basic casual clothes and adding a colourful waistcoat, gown, cloak, hat or other accessory to denote change of character along with altered tone of voice and posture.</div> <div> It takes a while to get used to this concept and the smaller roles don't make the same impact as the larger ones.  But the intimacy and immediacy make for a close rapport with the audience, while it is the dialogue which is thrown into the spotlight and demands our attention.</div> <div> Claire Duttson has the impossible task of portraying the lovelorn Juliet.  She manages but she sometimes seems too measured in her actions and I missed the excited spontaneity and impetuosity which this child-woman experiences when she falls for Romeo in love at first sight.</div> <div> Matt Jamie gives a watchable performance as her romeo but he also needs a little more of the fire of youth.</div> <div> Kali Peacock gives a masterclass in quick change role-swapping.  She is a lovely, warm, feisty nurse, a stately and austere prince, feuding firebrand Tybalt and a couple of servants too - each one making its mark.</div> <div> Kitty Martin, Tracy Keeling and Patrick Knox share the other roles and a couple of members of the audience will find themselves getting roped in to being a serving man and peter, the nurse's man.</div> <div> The Daylight players show what is possible with the minimum of money and the maximum imagination and commitment.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <I>More Romeo and Juliet Reviews Above and Below</I></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="#top_of_page" TITLE="quotes/reviews"><U>BACK TO TOP</U></A> of page</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B> <A NAME="romeo_and_juliet__sweden_"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></B><B>ROMEO AND JULIET (Sweden)</B></div> <div> Malen Forsare,  <B>Kvallsposten / Kultur, </B>August 2003</div> <bR> <div> <B>A heart-pounding Shakespeare</B></div> <bR> <div> Every performance of William Shakespeare - the theatre's champion and poetry's undeniable master - has its own interpreter. Romeo and Juliet, possibly the most-loved and clever of his works, has been interpreted thousands of times, in different forms and widely varying casts.</div> <div> There is a risk when a director takes on a Shakespeare drama: Keen to set his or her own mark on the work, the director risks letting this get in the way. The greatness of Shakespeare is that everything is in the script. The challenge therefore is to trust the playwright and bring forward the language's wonderful swings. To keep pace in the rush between subtle, intensive poetry and burlesque humour. </div> <bR> <div> When the English ensemble Daylight Players set out on the winding way between Romeo and Juliet's burning hearts, they have a totally fresh translation to work with. The translation is not yet released on the book market so the premier at the Scanian Glimmingehus was also the world premier.</div> <bR> <div> The Daylight Players trademark is, as the name suggests, to use natural light. The consequence is that there is no border drawn between the actors and the audience. The performers and the spectators approach the drama on equal terms, and the Daylight Players also choose now and then to react towards, or with, the audience. Some lines and brought forth from the seats, and eye contact with the people is generous.</div> <bR> <div> The players, all based at the Globe Theatre, are only six in number. The list of characters in Romeo and Juliet is much longer and so every man and woman must perform in several roles. <B>To shift between the drama's different characters demands incredible concentration and a mastery of the script that is more than 100 per cent.</B> The role changes involve rapid costume changes, often in the middle of the stage.</div> <bR> <div> It is rare that you see a performance where <B>every player is at the peak of their abilities.</B> Through director Graham Christopher, <B>the core of every character has been chiselled out, both in physical and verbal form.</B> The Spartan set involved only a trailer. It is the actors that provide the colour, and they do that with a gripping empathy. That one or two lines dissolve in the fresh air can be excused.</div> <bR> <div> The sunlight falls at an angle on the performance spaces stone walls, and after the intermission, the floor is lit up with candles. The resolution of Romeo and Juliet is doomed to tears. But on the way home from the performance, my heart is still pounding. </div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Performed at Various venues across Sweden and Europe Summer 2003 and 2004</B></div> <bR> <div> <I>More Romeo and Juliet Reviews above & below</I></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="#top_of_page" TITLE="quotes/reviews"><U>BACK TO TOP</U></A> of page</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B> <A NAME="romeo_and_juliet__sweden__2"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></B><B>ROMEO AND JULIET (Sweden)</B></div> <div> Ulf Persson, <B>SKÅNSKA DAGBLADET</B>, 24 August 2003</div> <bR> <div> <B>Shakespeare in English a pleasure at Glimmingehus</B></div> <bR> <div> Fortune favours the brave, as the saying goes. And these words of wisdom sound even more fantastic in Shakespeare's English. The fact is that it was brave of producer Maria Anderberg from the "cultural metropolis" of Norra Björstorp to bring over six English actors to produce the best ever love story, the one about the lovers in Verona, Romeo and Juliet.</div> <bR> <div> It is also brave when these actors, without no resources other than their skills, throw themselves into such a project. And it is even brave when all the arrangers buy the performance immediately. As we said, happiness favours the brave bee. The reward for everyone, including the audience, is a vital performance that shows what you can call the basics: where theatre actually does best - telling a story. </div> <bR> <div> Without any special effects, without props and without artificial light (hence the name Daylight Players), they perform Shakespeare's drama for, and sometimes with the audience. They haul in a barrow with the clothes hanging on a rack, you hear delicate Elizabethan flute music, Shakespeare himself in the form of Boel Larsson makes his entrance, and receives help from the audience, and they are away. Such a folksy introduction. As it once was.</div> <bR> <div> At Glimmingehus, the audience sits on garden chairs in a square around the performance area and the physical closeness to the actors feels palpable. The concentration is total. Then it is interesting to notice the changes in the body language, tone and dialect when the actors change roles. They have to do so when <B>six actors have to take on a lot more roles. The changes are elegant and work excellently, a joy to behold. Take for example the excellent and gifted Kali Peacock, who one moment is the rebellious and cheeky Tybalt and the next becomes Juliet's nanny.</B> The speech reveals the societal status, and as the nanny, she has rushed "downstairs".</div> <bR> <div> Language and body language clearer and let you identify the characters in the blink of an eye. It is well done, and they get away with it. As the apothecary, Tracy Keeling's body language is humble, servile and fawning, while as Count Paris, she is a pompous snob, and as Benvolio she is full of energy. It works, as I said, as long as you keep up.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Shakespeare's "star-cross'd lovers" are played with a youthful spark and love by Matt Jamie and Claire Duttson.</B> If you want to, you can read in their costumes a timelessness, a line from Shakespeare to our days. What do you say about a little Renaissance elegance together with gym shoes. Good looking but not showy.</div> <bR> <div> It is interesting to see that director Graham Christopher has not followed the latest trend at the death scene of letting Juliet awake before Romeo swallows the poison, a trend that began with Baz Luhrmann's film. As an interpretation and variation it is interesting, but it did not happen here. Here we are following Shakespeare. </div> <bR> <div> Patrick Knox has a power in his acting and his voice. He lets Shakespeare's word echo in the courtyard so that the swallows were disturbed in the evening quiet. It is great, sort of like the Globe. There the problem is to get the groundlings to be quiet; here it is the swallows. <B>Knox is an excellent and witty Mercutio, as well as Capulet and Brother John.</B></div> <bR> <div> Kitty Martin takes care of the prologue and then plays Lady Capulet (Juliet's mother) and Brother Lawrence. From the mother's submission to the men, to her hardness against the daughter, and to the monk's understanding and goodness. <B>It is a sharp change for Martin, who does it with talent and elegance.</B></div> <bR> <div> The performance's strength comes from just that. The sharp changes and the concentration on the play. As an anglophile, you get an extra bonus: the language. We are a pair who are overjoyed by sayings such as "Wherefore art thou, Romeo?" <B>Here is Shakespeare in his own language for two and a half hours. It is a joy.</B></div> <bR> <div> As the chill and evening darkness sinks over Glimmingehus, the drama reaches its climax. <B>The thought of a new English performance next year sounds like an answer to our prayers. </B></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Performed at Various venues across Sweden and Europe Summer 2003 and 2004</B></div> <bR> <div> <I>More Romeo and Juliet Reviews above</I></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="#top_of_page" TITLE="quotes/reviews"><U>BACK TO TOP</U></A> of page</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B> <A NAME="macbeth_the_panto_mac"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></B><B>MACBETH THE PANTO</B></div> <div> www.birmingham-alive.com <B> </B>13 January 2005  (review of midlands arts centre performances)</div> <bR> <div> The performance had already started when we arrived, well before the advertised curtain-up time as a troupe of medieval minstrels was entertaining a packed house (comprising many young families, but also mature couples), while others sold programmes. These five people turned out to be members of Oddsocks, a small theatre company, and the sole providers of our evening's entertainment - and they did the work of fifty. </div> <div> I had expected a comedy based loosely on 'The Scottish Pay', but it was true to the original in plot (bowl of trifle - as - murder weapon aside) and used much of the original dialogue, albeit with added puns and double entendres. True, the fight scenes owed more to the Matrix, cleverly pastiched with the use of a luggage trolley (you just had to be there, OK?) and the humour was more Python and Frank Spencer than Bard. </div> <div> As with all good pantomimes, the humour operated on multiple levels, entertaining children with the most groan-some one-liners, but with clever political asides and topical references for grown-ups. Much was made of the crapness of the stage scenery, and the "bad acting" (though, of course, one has to be a really good actor, to act badly on demand). Audience participation was as good as obligatory, though only a real heel would have declined to hiss at Lady M. or to pretend to hide behind their hands "to surprise the enemy". </div> <div> <B>This was the funniest pantomime I have ever seen.</B> Oh no it wasn't! Oh yet it was! </div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Performed at The Midlands Arts Centre January 2005 (part of UK tour)</B></div> <bR> <div> <I>More MacBeth Reviews below</I></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="#top_of_page" TITLE="quotes/reviews"><U>BACK TO TOP</U></A> of page</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B> <A NAME="macbeth_the_panto_jac"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></B><B>MACBETH THE PANTO</B></div> <div> Michelle Moffatt (<B>BBC </B>- Online Review of Jersey Arts Centre performances) - January 2005</div> <div> If you like your Shakespeare mixed with a little Matrix style action, Russ Abbott wigs and audience participation, then Macbeth The Panto is for you.</div> <div> <B>Make no mistake Macbeth is a dark and horrid play 'made glorious summer' (sorry), transformed into a comic masterpiece by five very versatile actors and a particularly flexible set. </B></div> <div> The true action of the panto begins with a battle played out to a thumping techno-folk bagpipe soundtrack under red light. The sword fighting was already really something but even further improved with the use of a padded sack barrow and trolley which allowed the actors to fight in 'Bullet Time'. I'm not going to explain this one further, you'll just have to go and see for yourself.</div> <div> <B>The plot, well some of it...</B></div> <div> Macbeth and Banquo, kitted out in full-length Neo-style coats (Royal Stewart Tartan of course) are Scottish Heroes who meet some witches on their way back from winning a battle. The Witches promise Macbeth a new title, which he receives almost instantly and that he will also become King. Banquo's predictions are more cryptic, but basically boil down to the fact that he will not be King but his descendants will be. Macbeth is excited and writes his evil wife a letter and Banquo develops a fear of trifle.Macbeth, egged on by Lady Macbeth (boo, hiss) kills the King and get the crown after the King's son runs away to England. Macbeth becomes a paranoid tyrant, kills all his friends and his wife goes mad. </div> <div> Charming stuff, but very funny.</div> <div> There is something about the Oddscocks-Panto hybrid style of doing things that makes even the darkest tragedy much easier for the audience. The most evil characters can be boo-ed or hiss-ed and moral dilemmas can be replaced with slapstick humour; Banquo's fear that "The instruments of Darkness tell us truths; Win us with honest trifles, to betray's in Deepest consequence" is magnificently resolved into a tangible but metaphorical trifle, a reminder that meddling with witches might just lead to a sticky end...</div> <div> <B>The production's humour lies not just in the physical comedy but the fact they've wrung every last potential pun and homonym from Shakespeare's text which is in all honesty ripe with the stuff. </B><B>The gags come at unrelenting speed which may just catch you out if you're still laughing at the last one.</B></div> <div> A particularly splendid embellishment is the development of the character of Fleance, Banquo's young son. Harriet Kershaw plays the little tike in dungarees, tartan bobble-berret and bottle-bottom glasses with the most infections giggle I've ever heard. You'll have to see for yourself what happens when Fleance takes his wee specks off...</div> <div> As with most Oddsocks productions, tickets are hard to come by, at the time of writing this Thursday and Friday nights have already sold out, so <B>you'll have to be quick if you want to go; something which I heartily recommend</B>.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Performed at The Jersey Arts Centre January 2005 (part of UK tour)</B></div> <bR> <div> <I>More MacBeth Reviews above & below</I></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="#top_of_page" TITLE="quotes/reviews"><U>BACK TO TOP</U></A> of page</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B> <A NAME="macbeth_the_panto_portsmouth"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></B><B>MACBETH THE PANTO</B></div> <div> Neil Pugmire, <B>The News, Portsmouth</B>, 7 December 2004</div> <bR> <div> <B>"Oh yes it is: panto version of Bard's Bloodfest proves a real hit"</B></div> <div> Those who studied Macbeth at school might baulk at the thought of seeing Shakespeare's tragedy as pantomime.  How could those gloomy monologues, bloody murders and wierd witches possibly be funny?  But Oddsocks return in triumph - and kilts - to proove that this Scottish bloodfest has the classic elements of panto.</div> <div> All they need to do is get the audience to hiss at Lady Macbeth, enlist their help as an English army advances, and throw in umpteen bizarre props and silly puns.</div> <div> Despite Oddsock's wacky style Shakespeare's words remain intact.  In fact, there's an argument that their physical comedy and daft wordplay actually helps those who arent Shakespeare connoisseurs to know what's going on.  Whatever, it's definitely funny. </div> <div> And you know you;ve crossed some kind of line when the audience creases up as MacDuff hears his wife and children have been savagely slaughtered.  </div> <div> There's great ensemble acting from all five actors, with huge amounts of energy and countless tartan costumes.  But Robert Laughlin's gormless grins as MacBeth - more Frank Spencer than Laurence Olivier - are pricesless.  And Jonathan Stokes somehow gets laughs simply by moving scenery around knowingly.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Performed at New Theatre Royal, Portsmouth - December 2004  (part of UK tour)</B></div> <bR> <div> <I>More MacBeth Reviews above and below</I></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="#top_of_page" TITLE="quotes/reviews"><U>BACK TO TOP</U></A> of page</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B> <A NAME="macbeth_the_panto_hexham"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></B><B>MACBETH THE PANTO</B></div> <div> Peter Lewis, <B>The Hexham Courant</B>, December 2004</div> <bR> <div> The Queen's Hall had, to quote the bard in the Scottish play, been determined to "hang out the banners on theoutward walls".  No sooner had the summer fesitivities at Prudhoe Castle closed and the annual Christmas visit of Oddsocks been announced then the cry was "still they come!".  All of the hurly burly was done in the box office, with four houses, auditorium and balcony completely sold out and with people lurking in the vestibule for returned tickets.  I brought back just one and found a replacement in the seat next to mine before I got into the theatre.  <B>The tremendous popularity of Oddsocks is a tribute to their wit and energy </B>and to the intelligence of their writing.</div> <bR> <div> They are always at their strongest when they adapt Shakespeare.  The full force of the great lines roll under the farce on stage.  I did wonder about the capacity of Mcbeth to inspire comedy.  All of the other tragedies have comic characters or elements of satire, but Macbeth is about unqualified and God-rejecting evil.  True, there is in the original the oroginal knowck knowck who's there? incident of the porter, but he is the guardian of hell and his humour, even when penetrated, is blacker than the words around him.  Oddsocks wisely deleted him from the cast.  As ever they incorporated tje audience into the action.  Rival Malcolms were recruited to shout "Can I Be King yet?", messengers werw "volunteered" to shamble onto the stage and be gently abused and - perhaps the most effectie theatrical coup of the year - we all became Burnham Wood.  The front row all waved miniature Christmas trees, while the rest of us waved our branches and twiddled our twigs with whispered accompaniment.  </div> <bR> <div> The evils of the play were never glossed over.  MacDuff's family were butchered, Lady MacBeth went extravigantly mad and the blood flowed like the Tyne in flood.  But it was all done with care and good humour so that the children were not unduly affrighted.</div> <bR> <div> The text worked at a whole set of different levels.  For those who knew the words there were a whole series of in-jokes, not least macDuff's chickens.  <B>The stage busines, the fights, custard-pie jokes, the acrobatics were as professional as the palladium.  And every word spoken was heard at the very back of the auditorium, every joke carefully timed, and every ad-lib and insult well judged.  </B></div> <bR> <div> The founders of Oddsocks, Andy Barrow and Elli MacKenzie were elsewhere, though they had written, produced and directed it between them.  <B>Their company of five were, I think, one of the most talented of any they have assembled. </B> I am always a sucker for the Buster Keaton-kind face and antics of Rob laughlin.  Matt Jamie and Jonathan Stokes gave great support.  Harriet kershaw was especially brilliant as Fleance while Susie Ridell was the best lady macBeth I've seen for some years, including those in Startford, London and Newcastle.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Especially memorable was the creation of the Three Witches (Jamie, Ridell and Kershaw).  Dressed in black and moving like manipulators in a Japanese drama they were stunningly effective.  For many their joint performance will be the lond term memory of this production.</B></div> <bR> <div> Then it was time to go home through a babble of prasie out into Hexham town centre where Birnham Wood was sparkling diamond white across the Sele.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <I>More Macbeth Reviews above</I></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="#top_of_page" TITLE="quotes/reviews"><U>BACK TO TOP</U></A> of page</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B> <A NAME="the_merry_wives_hexham"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></B><B>THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR</B></div> <div> Staff Reporter,  <B>The Hexham Courant, </B>27 December 2002</div> <bR> <div> HAPPINESS AND LIGHT IN THE HOUSE OF WINDSOR </div> <div> IT WAS a good start to the weekend before Christmas. The frost was deep and crisp and even colder than before; white lights twinkled in the trees of the park and hordes of people were pouring through the doors of the Queen's Hall. It could only mean the start of another visit from Oddsocks. In the guise of the Pembroke Players they were here to present their production of Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor. </div> <div> I'm intrigued by the way in which this touring company has, like ivy, so entwined itself around the cultural life of Tynedale. They are now welcomed twice a year, first for their open air productions in the grounds of Prudhoe Castle and then in December for their invasion of the Queen's Hall, which this year has been extended to four nights with every seat sold. On their first night the audience was made up of families ranging across the generations. <B>Even before the lights went down their was an atmosphere of expectant delight. </B>We were, the actors' ultimate dream, an audience determined to enjoy ourselves with the aid of, whatever the television polls might say, the greatest of Englishmen, William Shakespeare. </div> <div> I have friends, well more like acquaintances really, who look down their sniffy, stuffy noses at Oddsocks' productions. I have pointed out that the original Elizabethan and Jacobean theatre was much more like this than our more reverential large scale treatment of the Bard. Then, clowns added stage routines, the actors and audience exchanged compliments and brickbats and there was a general air of uproar. </div> <div> The company advertise their wares as "pure fun, pure enjoyment look out panto here we come!"  I'm not so sure about the purity, either of Shakespeare or of Oddsocks, but it does provide an opportunity for the youngest members of the audience to explain the bawdiest bits to granny and Aunt Ethel. </div> <div> The Merry Wives of Windsor is not a text much liked by academics. In one book I know, of over 500 pages, the play is dismissed in one half line as "of no great moment." I beg to differ. Legend says that Shakespeare wrote it in a fortnight at the command of Queen Elizabeth I who wished to see Falstaff in love. What she got was a kind of Tudor soap opera, full of familiar characters, young lovers, suspicious husbands, lecherous aristocrats, and two middle-class women totally in control of their lives and the lives of others. Mistress Page and Mistress Ford are the direct ancestors of the Slater family of Albert Square. It's this domesticity, this rare depiction of the middle-class scene that makes the play so attractive. And whatever elitists might say it always works well on stage. </div> <div> <B>Oddsocks grasped their opportunities with both hands, with well stuffed codpieces and low cut bodices. Andy Barrow's adaptation remained true to the original and positively fizzed along</B>. The omission of certain characters actually clarified the plot.   Even so, a cast of five actors had to play a dozen roles with multiple changes of costume, movement of a complex set as well as providing their own music. </div> <div> <B>It was all great fun and, mercifully, never in the best possible taste. </B></div> <div> Oddsocks was founded in 1989 by Andy Barrow and Ellie Mackenzie. In the early days they both performed. </div> <div> Now the pressures of parenthood mean that one or other of them tread the boards. This time it was Ellie in charge and she proved an able dominatrix of the company. </div> <div> Over the years the younger members of the company have changed. For this production there were four newcomers. <B>I think that they were the best balanced, talented and supportive group that Oddsocks have assembled. </B>They spoke the lines well, audibly and coherently (RSC please note!) and worked hard for each other. </div> <div> Look out for Susanna Meese, an actress of versatility and variation. </div> <div> <B>I was struck too by the lank lugubriousness and elegant timing of Matt Jamie, one half of a comic duo with the small, but beautifully formed, Sam Cocozza</B>, who has a nice line in grotesque faces, strange voices and acrobatics. </div> <div> Paul Chesterton had the seemingly impossible task of playing the young lover, the comic Welsh parson, and Falstaff himself. Given the complexity of his costume changes and his many precipitous staircase entrances his was a great achievement. Each character was separately delineated and I liked his sorrowful plea: "I do have feelings you know!" </div> <div> Ellie Mackenzie was, as always, brilliant as well. I liked the depiction of Mistress Quickly as a doorstep cosmetician  "Stratford on Avon Calling" and she delivered well the lines that traditionally begin the second act: "have you all been? The management can't take any responsibility if you haven't." </div> <div> <B>The direction was full of the pace and inventiveness that we have come to expect. </B></div> <div> Particularly well done was the final midnight scene in Windsor Park which, in many productions, can be a fey embarrassment. </div> <div> Here it was spectacular, thrilling and scary. <B>It brought from the audience a whooping, hollering set of prolonged curtain calls that were well deserved. </B></div> <div> A final serious note. Oddsocks are much loved and appreciated by their audiences. As well as their usual shows they do workshops in schools and corporate training for business. They are a valuable part of the national arts scene but their applications for part funding from the Arts Council of Great Britain have been rebuffed. If we don't want to see Oddsocks disappear or diminish, let the arts council know, either directly or via the Queen's Hall, how highly we rate them. </div> <div> Best wishes to Oddsocks. In the words of the play. May they long continue to make the world their oyster! </div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Performed at The Queen's Hall, Hexham, 20-23 December 2002 (part of UK tour)</B></div> <bR> <div> <I>More Merry Wives Reviews below</I></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="#top_of_page" TITLE="quotes/reviews"><U>BACK TO TOP</U></A> of page</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B> <A NAME="the_merry_wives__postsmouth"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></B><B>THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR</B></div> <div> Mike Allen, <B>The News </B>(Portsmouth), 4 January 2003</div> <bR> <div> <B>Wives can never have been merrier than here </B>- or more dominant.  Actress Elli Mackenzie remarks about colleague Susanna Meese at one point:  "She's awfully good, isn't she?" - and the praise is well deserved.  And the comment could easily have gone the other way.  Both know how to serve the post-Christmas ham with lashings of sauce.</div> <div> This is Oddsocks, a company with a panto-style approach to Shakespeare. So Mistress Quickly is a beautician, and whenever she appears she says "Stratford-Upon Avon calling!" - the audience responds with "Ding Dong!".  And even if the joke wears thin, only people suffering seriously from Oddsock's fatigue could resist the company's other trademarks.  </div> <div> The set's, for example, are not only wonderfully versatile in their own right, but lend themselves to slapstick.  </div> <div> The point is that <B>in a play that's no deeper than a romp, the edges between Bard and invented buffoonery are cleverly blurred</B>.  Of course with only five actors the chaacters and story have to be condensed, but the essence of the lecherous Falstaff's humiliation at the hands of those merry wives is all there.</div> <div> <B>The Royal Shakspeare Company </B>will be more faithful to the text at the Mountbatten Centre in April - but <B>will be hard pressed to make the play funnier.</B></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Performed at the New Theatre Royal, Portsmouth, 2-4 January 2003 (part of UK tour)</B></div> <bR> <div> <I>More Merry Wives Reviews above</I></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="#top_of_page" TITLE="quotes/reviews"><U>BACK TO TOP</U></A> of page</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B> <A NAME="romeo___juliet"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></B><B>ROMEO & JULIET (Cambridge)</B></div> <div> Valeria Grosvenor Myer, <B>The Stage</B>, 22 August 2002</div> <bR> <div> The overriding impression left by this production, directed by Laura Baggaley in the gardens of Girton College, is that the truth about romantic love is best expressed by Mercutio: scornful, bawdy, disaffected, camp. Sean Douglas is riveting in the part, which he doubles with that of Old Montague. </div> <div> Natalie Clayton's Juliet is all anyone could ask, passionate, fluent, lyrical and sensitive to the poetry, a teenager thrilled by her first discovery of sex. Romeo's delivery is mainly flat and seemingly mechanical. Andrew Mulquin appears to be less a sighing lover, freshly bowled over, than an experienced young man in a hurry and something of a social climber. Though their families are said to be "both alike in dignity", Juliet's accent is cut-glass while his is distinctly downmarket. Phil Regan brings a classy edge to Old Capulet's explosions of rage and Juliet's mother (Gigi Burgdorf) is equally posh. </div> <div> Sophie Corless is an amusing Nurse and doubles as Samson and the apothecary. <B>Matt Jamie </B><B>is fiery as Tybalt and touching as an affectionate Paris, clearly separating the parts. </B>Bryce Paul Mills satisfies as Benvolio and Jenny McKinlay offers an incongruously feminine Friar Lawrence but so well spoken we forgive her. Stella Willows as Chorus, Friar John and a Prince who wears a dress uses her exhilarating vocal resources to the full. She also gives a delicious comic performance as Peter. </div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Performed at the </B><B>Cambridge Shakespeare Festival 2002</B></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="#top_of_page" TITLE="quotes/reviews"><U>BACK TO TOP</U></A> of page</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B> <A NAME="the_comedy_of_errors"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></B><B>THE COMEDY OF ERRORS</B></div> <div> Valeria Grosvenor Myer, <B>The Stage</B>, 1 August 2002</div> <bR> <div> Clare Prenton's direction of the complications arising from mistaken identities is <B>crystal clear and hilariously funny </B>at Griton College gardens. Tessa Hatts, as the neglected Adriana, who loves her wandering husband despite everything, gives a strong and truthful performance.  Her weary take on the realities of marriage when lectured by her single sister Luciana (Judith Quin) is an offering to be treasured, providing fresh thoughts about Shakespeare's attitude to women.  <B>Luciana's resistance to what she imagines to be an attempted seduction by her brother-in-law [Matt Jamie] provides high comedy, as does her relief when he turns out to be an eligible batchelor.</B></div> <div> Patrick Hyde doubles a dignified Duke with an hysterical Pinch, exorcising imaginary demons, and Ellen Callendar brings warmth and tenderness to the Abbess who is also Egeus' long-lost wife.  David Milne is an accomplished Egeus, a pleasingly campl Balthasar, and also does duty as Second Merchant.  Andrew Mulquin plays First Merchant and Angelo the Goldsmith and is wierdly effective as the Courtezan, despite his beard.  The approach is straightforwardly pantomime and the whole works brilliantly.</div> <div> <B>The twins are enough alike for the confusions to be convincing.  Matt Jamie, as Antipholus of Syracuse, is a bewlidered innocent</B>, while Antipholus of Ephesus [Alex J Beatie], his hellraising twin brother, falls into towering rages.  Dromio of Syracuse and Dromio of Ephesus (Nicola Hinton and Sueleen Fletcher respectively) are a complimentary double act, and <B>when the mystery is unravelled, the reactions all round are convincing.</B></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Performed at the Cambridge Shakespeare Festival 2002</B></div> <bR> <div> <I>More Comedy of Errors Reviews below</I></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="#top_of_page" TITLE="quotes/reviews"><U>BACK TO TOP</U></A> of page</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B> <A NAME="the_comedy_of_errors_2"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></B><B>THE COMEDY OF ERRORS</B></div> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#993366" FACE="Arial" >Michael Grosvenor Myer. "Cambridge, Summer 2002." </FONT><I><B>Early Modern Lit</B></I><I><B>erary Studies </B></I>8.2 (September, 2002): 20.6</div> <div>  </div> <div> Directors faced with The Comedy of Errors tend, in my experience, to suffer a rush of blood to the head in their determination to spice it up, or make it interesting, or relevant, or whatever; there's a feeling abroad that it won't work if it isn’t done something with. The last three I've seen were set, respectively, in India at the time of the Raj, in the Wild West, and in a Vogue-reading thirties Noel'n'Gertie-Land. Why oh why, I demanded plaintively in my Guardian review of this last one, can we never just see a straight production of the play Will wrote? Well, at last, the Festival has brought us one. And <B>a most joyous occasion </B>it turned out to be. Clare Prenton played it at lightning pace, and everyone from Nicola Hinton and Sueleen Fletcher's cheeky, attractive pair of Dromios to Ellen Callander's Edinburgh-accented Miss Jean Brodie of an Abbess flung themselves enthusiastically into the fun. Tessa Hatts's energetically troubled and abused Adriana contrasted nicely with Judith Quin as her sententious sister. David Milne brought dignity to Egeus, determination to Angelo's creditor, and a campness to Balthazar which suggested that naughty Ephesian Antipholus was putting it about in various directions, and not just to Andrew Malquin's lovely courtesan (he was Angelo too, but the incongruity of his beard somehow just added a dimension of strangely effective oddness to his feminine role). Matt Jamie (Syracuse) and Alex Beattie (Ephesus) looked sufficiently alike but differed sufficiently in the characters of the Antipholi to bring conviction enough to the absurdities and send the audience home chuckling happily at the end of <B>a brief but hilarious evening of comic delights</B></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Performed at the Cambridge Shakespeare Festival 2002</B></div> <bR> <div> <I>More Comedy of Errors Reviews above </I></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="#top_of_page" TITLE="quotes/reviews"><U>BACK TO TOP</U></A> of page</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B> <A NAME="devil_s_what_s_on"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#111111" FACE="Times New Roman" ><B>THE DEVIL'S LAW CASE</B></FONT></div> <div> John Thaxter,<B> What's On, </B>16-23 January 2002</div> <bR> <div> Back in 1620, flushed with success playwright John Webster watched aghast when this tragi-comedy, his third solo outing as a dramatist, bombed at the Red Bull pub theatre in Clerkenwell, thanks to an unfocussed story-line and insufficient blood and guts.  Since then it has survived as a textual curiosity, appended to popular editions of <I>The White Devil</I> and <I>The Duchess Of Malfi</I>;  totally ignored by commercial producers apart from the American premiere staged Off Broadway three years ago.</div> <div> But the play offers several riveting scenes including a widow mistaking her daughters suitor for a secret admirer, a duel arranged as a double suicide at knife-point, and a judge with a personal interest in the case doling out rough justice.  All of which - not to mention a pregnant nun, and a hospital stabbing that saves the patient by lancing his wounds - should encourage Webster fans to throng to the tiny auditorium for this rare London revival by the Instant Classics company, staged at the contemporary equivalent of the Red Bull.  </div> <div> But be warned: director David Cottis has discarded some minor characters, streamlined the more complicated plot developments and shifted the action to the late Victorian era - complete with selections from Sullivan's Savoyard overtures to bridge the scene changes.</div> <div> <B>Among several fine performances </B><B>Katerina Jugati</B><B> stands out</B> as the lusty widow who goes to court to prove her son (Leon Felgate) a bastard and ends up losing her own dower and taking the veil.  Too young for the part, <B>her performance </B>(confirming her recent West End successes with "Wicked Witch" roles) <B>nevertheless crackles with conviction. </B><B> </B><B>As does newcomer </B><B>Matt Jamie</B><B> as the misunderstood suitor who passes as a complete stranger when disguised in glasses, flat cap, and false moustache.</B></div> <div> The setting (designed by Christine Osborne) could hardly be more minimal, just simple drapes and a couple of benches.  And the costumes were probably picked up from a Portabello stall.  But none of this matters thanks to <B>swift and entertaining performances by an 11 strong ensemble of up-and-coming actors who play the drama of greed, jealousy and revenge with thoroughly satisfying relish</B></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Performed at The White Bear Theatre, January 2002</B></div> <bR> <div> <I>More Devil's Law Case Reviews below</I></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="#top_of_page" TITLE="quotes/reviews"><U>BACK TO TOP</U></A> of page</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B> <A NAME="devil_s_stage"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#111111" FACE="Times New Roman" ><B>THE DEVIL'S LAW CASE</B></FONT></div> <div> Barbara Lewis,<B> The Stage, </B>10 January 2002</div> <bR> <div> Director David Cottis tells that he chose to give this lesser known Webster drama a 19th Century setting in keeping with its emphasis on litigation and money making.</div> <div> Equally a 21st century atmosphere would have been appropriate for this unsung Jacobean play with an irreverent, contemporary feel.</div> <div> John Webster's reputation rests on his great two tragedies and this tragicomedy repeatedly teeters on the brink of disaster before snapping into farce.  The effect is less resonat that the Duchess of Malfi or The White Devil, but<B> this production generates a spoof feel and plenty of heartless comedy ripe for  amodern, cynical audience.</B></div> <div> From the outset, the characters tend deliberately towards charicature.  In the intimacy of a studio theatre we watch Leon Felgate as Romelio, a rotund financier, exaggerating his facial expressions of pleasure or displeasure, while <B>Matt Jamie</B><B> </B>as Contarino, suitor to Romelio's sister, visibly fails to comprehend.</div> <div> The trend towards farce reahces a climax as Contarino preposterously takes on rival suitor Ercole (Graeme Sanders) in a sword fight that would not fool a child.  Rather than resolving any issues, it provides more matter for Romelio's bizzarre plotting.</div> <div> Refreshingly, the women are played more straight.  Laura Donaghey is an upright, sincere Jolenta.  Her (and Romelio's) mother Lenora is played by a dolorous Katerina Jugati.  For all her souldful looks, she is as guilty as her son of whipping up tragedy even if, ultimately, she helps to avert it.  </div> <div> But, as is so often in courtroom drama, what is comedy for society, is tragedy for the litigators.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Performed at The White Bear Theatre, January 2002</B></div> <bR> <div> <I>More Devil's Law Case Reviews above</I></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="#top_of_page" TITLE="quotes/reviews"><U>BACK TO TOP</U></A> of page</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="saint_joan_full_review"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#111111" FACE="Times New Roman" ><B>SAINT JOAN</B></FONT></div> <div> John Thaxter,  <B>The Stage</B>,  20 September 2001</div> <bR> <div> A National Lottery grant has helped Alison Hancock to revive George Bernard Shaw's masterpiece for the Isleworth Actors Company, putting the refurbished Public Hall back on the map.  But the venue still presents staging and sightline problems for this ambitious professional troupe.</div> <div> A deep corner setting, designed by Emmett de Monterey, makes good use of white drapes to create a plain, tapestried downstage area with several entry points for the main action, a space enlivened by simple lighting effects (Rachel Francis).  But without helping to dampen the echo, this places several scenes too far back for best effect.</div> <div> In the title role, Teressa Jennings, the dawning spirit of European nationalism, is a gammin Wessex waif in a leather tabbard - a lively performance too often lost among the excitable ecclesiatics and suave fascists.  She has her finest moment downstage, after the rich melodrama of recantation, with a superbly delivered "lark" aria.</div> <div> In his wordy first act Shaw perversely avoids showing us the battles and the Rheims coronation.  <B>But after the interval comes a vividly staged trial scene and in a half-dozen other productions I can recall none to rival its sheer intellectual clarity.  </B>This is thanks to Nick Smithers as a silky Warwick - the pragmatic English "milord", Jonathan Tanner's Inquisitor - a model of serene analysis making every word count, and Geoffrey Drew with terrific presence as Bishop Cauchon - reacting to the horrors of the developing situation.  Finally, a special mention for Giles Glover, making a highly promising professional debut as a compassionate young Ladveu.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Performed at South Street Theatre, Iselworth, September 2001</B></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="#top_of_page" TITLE="quotes/reviews"><U>BACK TO TOP</U></A> of page</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> 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