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News: Pubs and theatre. An age-old pairing.
This exciting project will no doubt resonate with anyone that has ever stepped into a pub, so this February, grab your pint of Drunken Nights and witness something completely original and unique.
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News: The 28 Day Project launches wonderful opportunities
The 28 Day Project is an exciting initiative offering emerging talent a step into the film business.
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Have you got the Star Wars X Factor?
Thousands turned away at open auditions after standing in the rain for hours.
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News: TheatreCraft returns to help young people’s backstage careers
The 8th annual event returns to the Royal Opera House later this month.
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BLOG: Theatre: the best casino shows around the world
Casinos around the world offer some of the best theatrical entertainment you can find.
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BLOG: 5 Best Actors in Superhero Cinema
Is “superhero” acting any less challenging?
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Blog: Films to study for inspiration
Watching great actors can often inform your own work.
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Blog: Shakespeare experimenting with the limits of contemporary drama
Briony Rawle heads to Yorkshire and takes a closer look at Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale.
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Review: Bat Boy, Southwark Playhouse ✭✭✭
A campy fun musical with bite screams Douglas Mayo.
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Review: Visitors, Arcola Theatre ✭✭✭✭
Barney Norris first full-length play is an exquisitely written examination of love and loss, writes Alex Delaney.
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Review: 1984, Almeida Theatre ✭✭✭✭✭
This fresh vision of 1984 feels like a rediscovery of Orwell’s dystopia, writes Sophia Longhi.
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Review: Secret Theatre – Show 4, Lyric Hammersmith ✭✭✭✭
This review comes with a capitalised, emboldened and even italicised, SPOILER ALERT. That should do, writes Briony Rawle.
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Review: The Faction’s Mary Stuart, New Diorama ****
Simultaneously innovative and traditional The Faction’s Mary Stuart, at the New Diorama, impresses Alice Anderson.
Add a commentMary Stuart plunges us head-first into a dangerous world where Queens send traitors to the tower; Earls commit treachery and public executions are organised at less than twelve hours notice. It is a long way from the carefully orchestrated photo-calls and charity work of William and Kate, the beautiful faces du jour of the British Monarchy. And yet, by telling the story of the last days of Mary, Queen of Scots in a minimalist, pared-down way, The Faction theatre company successfully brings Schiller’s piece, first premiered in 1800, bang up to date.
With its clever use of projections instead of hand-written letters; unfussy costumes that nod towards the 19th century instead of actually taking us there, and slick staging in the shiny new black-box space of the New Diorama, The Faction’s Mary Stuart is a thoroughly modern production. If it was not for the complicated dialogue flying from the actors mouths at break-neck speed, we could be watching a political drama unfold live on Sky News, or an unseen episode of The West Wing.
the real joy is found in watching the highly skilled ensemble of eleven actors work seamlessly together
These modern touches make the production instantly accessible, but the real joy is found in watching the highly skilled ensemble of eleven actors work seamlessly together to pull off tricky scene changes, precise bursts of choreography and a complex execution scene that has the potential to go wrong, but does not.
Derval Mellett brings a cool, icy calm and a Tilda Swinton-esque presence to the role of doomed Mary Stuart, while Kate Sawyer is equally impressive as a confused Queen Elizabeth. Richard Delaney makes a confident, engaging Burleigh; Shai Matheson is amusing as Count Aubespine and Jonny McPherson is sweetly uncertain as Kent, who unexpectedly takes a pivotal role in the story’s action. Tom Radford is compelling as a passionate and impressionable young Mortimer, who flits between the two Monarchs before deciding it’s his mission in life to save Mary Stuart. Bounding on stage in his Barbour jacket fresh from an 18th Century gap year, he has excellent command of dialogue and a beguiling innocence – something which makes his fate all the more distressing.
Overall, The Faction’s Mary Stuart is a carefully constructed, slick piece of theatre which treads the fine line between innovation and tradition exceedingly well.
**** (4 stars)
Runs in repertory until February 18th
More infoPublished on January 12, 2012 · Filed under: Featured, Reviews; Tagged as: Derval Mellett, Jonny McPherson, Kate Sawyer, Mark Leipacher, Mary Stuart, New Diorama, Ricahrd Delaney, Shai Matheson, The Faction, The West Wing, Tom Radford