So What Else Is On?

I can't remember what it was that first made me want to see War Horse. A friend's recommendation? A critic's review? The pleading eye of the titular horse gazing out at me from the poster? Regardless, the other week I finally found myself shuffling into my seat in the New London Theatre on Drury Lane to watch a moving tale of a boy, his horse and the horrors of the First World War unfold, featuring astonishing life-sized puppets (the handiwork of the South African group Handspring Puppets) and superb performances from everyone involved. Top billing, if it is not to be awarded to any of the magnificent puppets, should really go to Bronagh Gallagher, playing the mother of said boy, an endearing portrait of a long-suffering, loyal and affectionate wife. War Horse pulls few punches- people are gunned down, animals are put out of their misery- and uses a fantastic concoction of sound, light, backdrop and a rotating stage to construct an intoxicating and compelling performance, in which a goose will make you laugh and in which the heads of dying horses, craning upwards pathetically, bring home the horrors of war better than any poem on a page.

Richmond Theatre Anniversary Exhibition

Here are a few words from one of our volunteers, Leanne Werner, who is working on the Heritage Lottery Project: Richmond Theatre 110...

As I’m sure you are already aware, Richmond Theatre will see the culmination of its 110 year celebrations with the launch in September of a new exhibition tracing its history.

This isn’t just any exhibition, but the work of 13 volunteers, including me, who have been tracing the history of the Theatre’s development. The exhibition will reflect Richmond Theatre’s rich theatrical history from serious plays to pantomimes to its musical offerings which have been as diverse as Rocky Horror and Russian ballet.

It will also reflect the memories of those who have been connected with the Theatre – ex-employees, cast members, audiences and patrons. So, if you do have any memories please contact Eleanor Packham – 0208 332 4526 or eleanorpackham@theambassadors.com. Better still if you have any memorabilia relating to the theatre (like photos, old programmes or posters) which you could loan to the Museum for the exhibition, we would all be extremely grateful!

Looking back through the archives I was surprised to find that the stage has seen many great artists including– Charlie Chaplin (my favourite!), Ralph Richardson, Alec Guiness, Omar Sharif, Glenda Jackson, Ian McKellen to name but a few! I am sure that we will uncover lots more interesting facts and stories in the coming months-I just can’t wait!

On the anniversary of Richmond Theatre’s first performance, Saturday 18th September, the exhibition will open at the Museum of Richmond in Whittaker Avenue (Tues-Sat 11-5 until the year end). So please come and visit! This will also coincide with London’s Open House weekend in which Richmond Theatre will participate, so visitors will be able to call at both venues that day and get a real sense of ‘then and now’ (and find out about all the juicy secrets!)

We'd love to hear from you

This year, we’ve been celebrating Richmond Theatre’s 110th Anniversary and one way that we’ve been celebrating is collecting people’s memories of the theatre. It’s been so interesting looking back over our long history together and remembering some of the incredible events that have taken place within the four walls of this beautiful building.

Norman Fenner, our archivist, remembers being taken by his mother to see Sinbad The Sailor here in 1924, when he was so terrified he had to be carried out screaming. While most of us don’t have memories which reach back quite so far, we all look back at our time at Richmond Theatre and one or two special moments stick out.

For Michaela, it was the first time that she walked into the auditorium and looked up. She never tires of staring at the ceiling, studying the scenes from Romeo and Juliet, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hamlet and Julius Caesar. Like all of us Michaela often has to pinch herself that she’s lucky enough to work here!

For Charlotte, it was the time that she met Matt Lucas and advised him on where to catch the football in Richmond, she loves how friendly all the stars are who come to the theatre – they can often be seen signing autographs for their fans after a show. Matt was kind enough to sign a congratulations card for Charlotte’s younger sister who had just completed her GCSE’s and is a massive fan of Little Britain.

From speaking to the members of our audience, participants in the theatre’s regular workshops and some of the volunteers who help out at the theatre we know that Richmond Theatre is a special place for so many people, not just the staff. This is why the major project for our Anniversary Celebrations is so wonderful.

“Late afternoon, Christmas time, 1970, after the matinee my three year old daughter stood at the top of the short flight of steps leading from the circle to the foyer. The rest of the audience had left but she would not budge, ‘We must go’ I said. ‘No’ she said, ‘I want to go back into the magic’. So she was hooked for life- just like her mother! Thank you beautiful Richmond Theatre.” J. Cunningham

A team of passionate volunteers are currently going through the theatre’s archive and are curating an exhibition of memorabilia, charting the history of our theatre which will be held at Richmond Museum from September.

And this is where you come in… our volunteers are eager to speak to as many people as possible, to collect everyone’s ‘special moment’ with Richmond Theatre as well as to hear what you’d like to see on display at the museum.

If you have a special memory that you’d like to share, please email eleanorpackham@theambassadors.com We’d love to hear from you.

The Tragedy of Soliman and Perseda at The Rose Theatre, Bankside

I battled valiantly with TFL to make my way to The Rose Theatre, Bankside, in Southwark last night – and yes it was definitely worth the journey. I was there to sample the first offering from Trifle (insert your favourite desert based pun here), who are “a new company set up to create cutting edge theatre and film” (hmmm, so far so good).

This first offering from Trifle is The Tragedy of Soliman and Perseda, “a rich and rare Elizabethan tale” accredited to Thomas Kyd. My plus one, Kaitlyn, was impressed with The Rose’s rich history, and excited to be seeing a show that was last performed in The Rose Theatre during the late 16th century, about 400 years ago.

The Rose Theatre’s well-preserved archaeology was discovered in 1989 during an exploratory excavation during the re-development of an office block. Since its discovery, the site became a major international news story, and the site attracted many thousands of visitors. Today people visit The Rose Theatre to learn about its life between 1587 and 1603. On Tuesday night we were most interested by the red rope lights marked out the original foundations of the theatre allowing us to imagine what it must have been like during Elizabethan Times.

Our imaginations ran wild with scenes of debauchery and chaos and back in the real world we were delighted to find that Tuesday night’s performance filled The Rose with dazzling frenetic energy. Ben Galpin’s Erastus delivered a solid tragic hero, liveried in the throes of love for Cassandra Hodges’ passionate Perseda. She in turn brimmed with desire for Erastus whilst fervent in her rejection of Israel Oyelumade’s shamelessly licentious Solomon. Fortunately this powerful trio of performances were matched by thoroughly enjoyable comic relief throughout from Carsten Hayes as Basilisco and Michael Linsey as Piston. We were especially tickled by Basilisco’s deft theft of a kiss from the dying Perseda, but his costume of flamboyant pastel striped pants and baby pink Abercromie & Fitch button down shirt combined with his front of bravery seemed to a bring forth a chuckle almost every time he stepped on stage.

We felt that this play seems a perfect example of how timeless theatre is, although with its short run it may be the audience who run out of time before having the opportunity to see it. Let’s at least hope that it’s not another 400 years before the opportunity returns.

The Tragedy of Soliman and Perseda will be playing at The Rose Theatre, Bankside, until Saturday, 1 May 2010.

Photo from The Rose Theatre Bankside website

Written By: Trish Langenau

Dancing in the Streets... or in the Stalls Bar

Dancing in the Streets is an energetic production, so we created a photo booth on Monday night, 12 April, for our upbeat audience. Richmond Theatre friends of all ages dressed up in wigs, sported peace-sign necklaces, and posed against a backdrop displaying Stevie Wonder, James Brown, Diana Ross and The Supremes. We must admit, we were guilty of jumping into a few of the photos… but we wanted to take pictures with some of our most loyal audience members. We’d like to say “Thank You” to everyone who participated. We love to have fun at Richmond Theatre, and the photos prove it! You can comment or tag yourselves by going to our Facebook page.

Written By: Trish Langenau

Romeo & Juliet

Reading reviews of Rupert Goold’s Romeo & Juliet, I wasn’t sure what to expect: critics have referenced the modern-day costumes and the simple set with varied opinions. However, the moment Romeo stepped on stage in his hooded sweatshirt and wrinkled jeans I was captivated. We listened to the monologue playing on his audio player which told us about, “two households, both alike in dignity, in fair Verona where we lay our scene.”

Immediately after the audio-played introduction, a violent stage fight ensued complete with fire exploding from the stage floor. Everyone who came out for the brawl was dressed in lavish Elizabethan costume. I especially liked the male costumes, which incorporated royal maroons and greens, and platform boots like I could have found at stores like Darkside in Camden.

The show continued to surprise me, with its humour. Jonjo O’Neill, who plays Mercutio, brought almost ten minutes of uninterrupted laughter during the first half. After exclaiming, “Romeo, that she were, O, that she were an open et caetera, thou a poperin pear!” and then proceeded to act out the meaning of his words! Mercutio was certainly a favourite, every time he came on stage he captured the audience’s attention and we prepared to laugh. Another humorous moment that I especially enjoyed, was in the beginning when the fighting Capulets and Montagues were ordered to drop their weapons. What the audience expected to be an immediate clatter of swords and shields became a farcical extended performance. Every time we thought all weapons were dropped, someone else would drop a weapon causing laughter with every extra club and dagger. This proceeded for quite some time, and had us laughing from the beginning, setting the mood for the rest of the production.

This said, the comic relief did not detract from the intensity of the love story. I appreciated how the careful portrayals of Romeo (Sam Troughton), and Juliet (Mariah Gale), showed not just two lovers, but too young lovers. There is humour in young love, and Goold was successful in poking fun at how awkward and irrational it is, without denying the strong emotions that are also a reality.

The Courtyard Theatre proved perfect for this production. It opened in July 2006 and will continue to be the main venue in Stratford during the transformation of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. The Courtyard Theatre’s stage configuration, which is a prototype for the redeveloped Royal Shakespeare Theatre, had seating on three sides of the stage. On my second day in Stratford, I had lunch at Oscar’s Deli Café, the food was delicious and local. As the weather warms up, if you are looking for a day trip, I would definitely recommend Stratford. Beyond it being a theatre-loving town, it has quaint Tudor architecture, shops, good food, and feels more relaxed than London.

One of our friends from Orange Tree Theatre, Meg Dobson, will be visiting Stratford on Sunday 25 April, to run in the annual Shakespeare Marathon. Wish her luck!

Photo from Royal Shakespeare Company website

Written By: Trish Langenau

The Gods Weep

Ok I confess, I rushed to book my tickets for Hampstead Theatre’s latest production, The Gods Weep by Dennis Kelly because it had Jeremy Irons in it and pretty much ignored what it was about, probably for the best as I’m not entirely sure that you could adequately synopsize the play’s 3 hour content! The evening got off to a cracking start as Irons, playing a kind of Gordon Gekko straight out of Wall Street role, dominated the scene in a fairly conventional board room setting. The subsequent action was then fast paced but never dull moving into a Quentin Tarantino phase before finally turning into a much calmer Waiting For Godot scenario with a staggering metamorphosis by Irons from his suited and slick get up to pajama wearing tramp in act 2. I know some critics have disliked this production but I LOVED it, it moved me, shocked me but always engaged me. I try and pop along to the wonderful Hampstead Theatre as often as I can and think they should be applauded for putting on this brave new production, please do go along and support it as it’s big, brash, ambitious and provoking - thank you Mr. Irons for taking on the challenge!

Photo from the Royal Shakespeare Company

Written By: Alison