-
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.
-
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.
-
Have you got the Star Wars X Factor?
Thousands turned away at open auditions after standing in the rain for hours.
-
News: TheatreCraft returns to help young people’s backstage careers
The 8th annual event returns to the Royal Opera House later this month.
-
BLOG: Theatre: the best casino shows around the world
Casinos around the world offer some of the best theatrical entertainment you can find.
-
BLOG: 5 Best Actors in Superhero Cinema
Is “superhero” acting any less challenging?
-
Blog: Films to study for inspiration
Watching great actors can often inform your own work.
-
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.
-
Review: Bat Boy, Southwark Playhouse ✭✭✭
A campy fun musical with bite screams Douglas Mayo.
-
Review: Visitors, Arcola Theatre ✭✭✭✭
Barney Norris first full-length play is an exquisitely written examination of love and loss, writes Alex Delaney.
-
Review: 1984, Almeida Theatre ✭✭✭✭✭
This fresh vision of 1984 feels like a rediscovery of Orwell’s dystopia, writes Sophia Longhi.
-
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.
-
Review: The Faction’s Miss Julie, New Diorama ***
David Richards is drawn into The Faction’s mesmerising blend of physical action and theatricality in the final play in their rep season, Miss Julie.
Add a commentHow exciting it is to see The Faction Theatre company complete its first full season of rep theatre, with this new translation of Strindberg’s classic Miss Julie.
This is an enticing and dark piece of theatre which explores a game of love and power between the powerful, Miss Julie, played by Leonie Hill, and the powerless, Jean, Cary Crankson; mistress and servant. Throughout the piece we question who really has the power . In Strindberg’s world money and status do not automatically ordain one with superiority.
The fusion of theatricality and our perceived reality is mesmeric
The minimal set comprises a table and a few chairs, relying on the actors to create the rest through mime. As we enter the space, which is set in the round, we are confronted by Kristin, Kate Sawyer, working in a kitchen. It is not long before we notice the muffled voices coming from the ensemble behind us, indicating a party upstairs. Through Jon Edgley Bond’s numerous sound effects and Mark Leipacher’s physical theatre direction, we can ‘see’ everything in the space from the insignificant action of putting a glass down on a table, to when Miss Julie smears blood over her face – causing the audience to shudders. There is no glass, nor blood, but the actions are so perfectly timed with the sound effects that everything becomes real. The fusion of theatricality and our perceived reality is mesmeric. In order for these effects to work the actors are forced to be very physically energised which makes them engaging to watch.
In this intimate space Sawyer does well, giving a measured and natural performance, particularly at the beginning of the play. Hill has an excited, youthful and naive energy. She is restless and wreckless. Her performance has a presence which oozes sensuality from every pore. We can see sexual desire in her eyes, and her voice is full of fluid emotion creating thick imagery. As Miss Julie, she is captivating. Crankson is a strong Jean, with fierce intensity, but in order for us to fully witness the shifts of power between Miss Julie and him, his performance needs more light and shade.
The Faction Theatre Company has devised a fascinating piece of theatre forcing us to see a very real world in a strikingly bare set.
– DR
*** (3 stars)
Runs in repertory until February 18th
More infoPublished on January 27, 2012 · Filed under: Featured, Reviews; Tagged as: August Stindberg, Cary Crankson, Jon Edgley Bond, Kate Sawyer, Leonie Hill, Mark Leipacher, New Diorama, The Faction