Hit The baby, Natasha, Old Joint Stock Theatre, Birmingham, 21-23rd May
Birmingham.
HIT THE BABY, NATASHA!
by Philip Holyman after Anton Chekhov’s Three Sisters.
The Happiness Patrol at Old Joint Stock Theatre To 23 May.
Runs: 1hr 15min No interval.
Review: Jan Pick 21 May.
And then there were four.
It is astonishing how much can be done with puppets – here they play many of the characters of Chekhov’s Three Sisters in an innovative and ingenious adaptation by Philip Holyman.
The star of this show is Natasha, played by a dressmaker's dummy, cleverly operated and voiced by Catherine Boot. Holyman imagines her as manipulated and controlled by her father’s ideas, as are her future husband and sisters-in-law, and we watch in horror as we witness the shocking results as this shy, clumsy, romantic girl’s frustrated attempts to become accepted as the fourth sister, transform her into a monstrous harpy.
The three sisters, Olga, played by Laura Ellison, Masha (Hannah O’Leary) and Irina (Natalie Wilson) elicit our sympathy for their predicament, yet equally our contempt for their ineffectual lives and the petty snobbery with which they treat their new ‘sister’, horrified at her move up from below stairs and servant status.
Dan Handscomb is the hopeless and hapless brother, Andrei, from whom so much is expected and so little achieved, demonstrating his indecisive weakness and inability to satisfy any of the women in his life, as damaged by his father’s overarching presence as Natasha is by hers.
Commenting on the action and helping with the exposition of the story are Mishka and Grishka, two funny little puppets gossiping over the telephone. The other puppet characters are beautifully crafted - the army officers who momentarily breathe life into the stultifying atmosphere of the sisters’ existence, Anfisa the old nurse, Masha’s husband Koolyghin - and assume a reality and character of their own.
Philip Holyman and his company transform this Russian classic, presenting their audience with an exciting and original evening, culminating in a chilling tableau demonstrating the consequences of inaction. The sisters, who only have to do something positive to take control of their lives, fail to do so. Their fate is sealed.
Natasha: Catherine Boot.
Olga: Laura Ellison.
Masha: Hannah O’Leary.
Irina: Natalie Wilson.
Andrei: Dan Handscomb.
Voice of Natasha’s Father: Ian Craddock.
Voice of Mishka: Joanne Moseley.
Voice of Grishka: Darren Perry.
Director: Philip Holyman.
Designer: Nick Nicholls.
Lighting: Gareth Nicholls.
Sound/Music: Matthew Holland.
Puppets: Caroline McDowell.
Props/Puppet costumes: The Sisters Dolby.
Costume: Ruth Bagnall at Costumia.
Chekhov consultant: Dr. Rose Whyman, University of Birmingham.
2009-05-24 01:02:21