DREAMS FROM A SUMMER HOUSE. To 5 July.
Newbury
DREAMS FROM A SUMMER HOUSE
by Alan Ayckbourn music by John Pattison
The Watermill, West Berkshire Playhouset to 5 July 2003
Mon-Sat 7.30pm except last night at 6.30pm Mat Thu & Sat 2.30pm except final matinee 1.30pm
Runs 2hr 50min One Interval
Tickets 01635 46044
www.watermill.org.uk
Review Mark Courtice: 26 May 2003
Fun with fairies at the bottom of the gardenAyckbourn breaks the mould whatever he does, so his musical take on Beauty and the Beast is unexpected and clever. As the title suggests this is a midsummer night's dream, exploring love and the eternal rules that bind us in the matter of imagination and art. So far so intellectual. For the rest of us the question is - is it fun?
Being Ayckbourn he is not afraid to deal with all those things that so disturb about musicals, why do people sing when they could perfectly well talk? Here there is an explanation. We are taken to a tear in the lining between the fairy- tale world and reality; a respectable place to be, inhabited in the past by such as Shakespeare and Mozart. The mechanics of all this are impeccable (as usual). So far so logical but is it fun?
The production at Newbury is set at the bottom of a garden that seems, in Jessica Curtis' witty set, an extension of the theatre's lovely setting of lawns and riverside. This is clearly a magical place with twinkling lights and dingly dells, and, of course, a shed. At the other end of the path lies suburban hell -Leatherhead mock-Tudor.
This is where Robert works on his illustrations for children's stories and drinks too much. He is loved rather hopelessly by Mel, and hated passionately by his former wife Amanda (a splendid performance of sustained full-on rage by Annette McLaughlin). On the night of a party given by former parents-in-law Chrissie and Grayson, another world butts in ..is this going to be fun?
The performances are full of energy and most confidently enjoy singing Pattison's rather ordinary score. Especially enjoyable is Newbury regular Nick Lumley who entering to an approving murmur of recognition, had fun with the forgetful, charming and baffled Grayson. Rosalie Craig and Kelly Adams made Belle and Mel, respectively, distinct enough to offer Michael Shaeffer's louche Robert a real choice in the matter of love.
So, it's well done by a talented company supported by a proficient technical team of course its fun!
Mel: Kelly Adams
Chrissie: Elizabeth Counsell
Belle: Rosalie Craig
Grayson: Nick Lumley
Amanda: Annette McLaughlin
Baldemar: Stewart C. Scudamore
Robert: Michael Shaeffer
Sinclair: Giles Taylor
Director: Timothy Sheader
Musical Director: Paul Harvard
Designer: Jessica Curtis
Lighting: Philip Gladwell
Sound: Gary Dixon
Sponsor: Kerridge
2003-06-04 17:48:14