Arts Reviews
Holly Williams looks at what theatre is coming up in York this summer and our reviewers look back on some modern classics
This term’s line-up in the Drama Barn looks set to be one of the most varied and interesting yet, from new writing to musicals, to French poetry and physical theatre. The term high-kicks off to a dramatic start with a fund-raising cabaret during week 2, promising to bring together a mixture of comedy, drama and musical numbers for your entertainment and to raise money for student productions planning to go to the Edinburgh Fringe this summer. Go on, show your support! Performances take place at 7.30pm, Friday to Sunday.
One of the plays the cabaret will be raising money for is Man and God, on the following week, written and directed by second year Chris Bush. An ‘energetic fast-paced, philosophical comedy that takes on mass media, organised religion and celebrity fixation’, Man and God promises to be thought provoking as well as providing a fun evening of new student theatre.
Week 7 sees another piece of new writing from Nick Payne, following on the success of Omerta in the Drama Barn. His play Flourless, which has already had a rehearsed reading at London’s Soho Theatre, is about ‘a brutal act of violence and baking’. It too looks to be a thought-provoking production, tackling racial unease in London.
If these plays give you the bug for new writing, you can hop on a train to Leeds and check out Janus at the West Yorkshire playhouse. From the 9 – 13 May, there will be a series of readings and performances by European Playwrights, specially adapted by ‘the best in northern New Writing talent.’ Janus is the exciting culmination of the Playhouse’s yearlong project to discover and develop the best writers in Europe. The theatre also offers the chance for budding new writers to get their work read. Their Script Reading Service is open to any writers; see their website for more information: www.wyplayhouse.com.
Taking an innovative approach to a Classic, Ellie Bailey’s production of Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw will see the barn divided up on the diagonal to create multiple spaces, and will include video footage and a ‘funked-up’ Period style. As a Linguistics student, Ellie was attracted to this most famous of phonetic dramas, which should give her cast plenty to get their mouths round in week 4. If you miss out on this Drama Barn production, York Theatre Royal is also putting on Pygmalion, from 27th May – 17th June.
Week 9 will see the Barn turn big top, for the ‘end of term extravaganza’ that is Cyrano. Combining 17th century French love poetry with physical theatre, Cyrano promises to be one of the barn’s most unusual productions. And if visual spectacle is your thing, then head over to the Lyceum in Sheffield, where West-End hit Cats is prowling around till the 6th May. If you’re looking for something a bit more hard-hitting than Andrew Lloyd Webber, then Bad Girls – the Musical might fit the bill. Following the current trend for outrageous musical versions of TV shows, Bad Girls – the Musical has an original score to accompany the inmates of HMP Larkhall’s breakout onto the stage of the West Yorkshire Playhouse. By the writer of the original TV show, it’s on from 27 May – 1 July.
Summer is here (as the abundance of fluffy baby geese round campus suggests) and with the theatre that can only mean one thing – outdoor Shakespeare. Over weeks 9 and 10 a double bill of Twelfth Night and A Midsummer Night’s Dream will be on in Hull Road Park and the Museum Library Gardens respectively, as part of York Council’s River Festival. In sumptuous costumes and beautiful outdoor settings, York University students will project the bard’s word over balmy summer evenings. However, if it’s barmy you want rather than balmy, then look out for the truly original performance of Hamlet that will also be taking place outdoors this summer – on a bouncy castle.
It might seem like a bit of a trek from York, but it must surely be worth a few hours on the train to make it to Stratford-upon-Avon this summer. The Royal Shakespeare Company’s ambitious complete works project has opened to enthusiastic reviews, and offers a chance to see truly classic performances alongside unusual interpretations and rarely performed plays. Add to this the incentive of the RSC’s £5 16-25s discount tickets, and a summer road trip is surely in order.
