BLOOD AND ROSES: Trestle, touring, till 16 Oct

BLOOD AND ROSES: Trestle Theatre
Touring till 16th October
Runs: 2h 5m, one interval
Review: Rod Dungate, mac, 12th October 2001

Toby Wilsher is a master of his craft: BLOOD AND ROSES marks a shift in direction, the company's mask work is as miraculous as ever and the production a delight.

BLOOD AND ROSES marks a shift in direction for Trestle though none of their magic is lost. Directed by Toby Wilsher, it has a stronger narrative than is usual: their trade-mark use of masks enables them to adopt entire characters at the drop of a hat. The company's mask work is as miraculous as ever, and the production a delight.

The play tells the surprising story of Lambert Simnel, plucked from nowhere and set up to challenge Henry Tudor's right to the throne – potentially continuing the Wars of the Roses after Henry thought he had concluded them. The Simnel faction was defeated by Henry who spared Simnel's life only to set him to work in the royal kitchens.

Trestle set their story in the kitchen. The cooks, all without masks, are supervised by Super Cook Ugolino, an enormously entertaining, hi-energy performance from John Killoran. The cooks tease Simnel mercilessly about his past which unfolds for us in a series of film-like masked sequences. The masks, astoundingly evocative, lend these sequences a disturbing nightmarish quality entirely in keeping with the story they unfold. Moreover, while the masks signal character to us, they render the characters themselves chillingly inscrutable.

Wilsher is a master of his craft and has pitched the acting style larger than life. The result is strong physical comedy in the unmasked kitchen scenes with a style that feels natural in the masked sequences: the two parts merging seamlessly. Tor Clark, who plays the girl-dressed-as-a-boy in the kitchen is able to give a truly touching performance as the elderly, lonely and far from inscrutable Margaret of Burgundy.

Remarkably the small company (five actors) are able to turn the mad chaos of the kitchen during a royal feast into an effective and witty representation of battle in the field: they even employ spring onions to represent waves of flying arrows!

Paul Amos plays Lambert Simnel, the still centre in the middle of the storms. He has a natural quiet charm, that sets him apart from the plotters (culinary and state), finding a way through it all to start a new life at the end.

2001-10-13 18:44:15