MAN OF LA MANCHA. To 19 May.
Edinburgh
MAN OF LA MANCHA
by Dale Wasserman music by Mitch Leigh lyrics by Joe Darion.
Royal Lyceum Theatre To19 May 2007.
Tues to Sat 7:45pm Mat Wed & Sat 2.30pm.
BSL Signed 9 May 7.45pm
Runs 2hr 20min One interval.
TICKETS: 0131 248 4848.
www.lyceum.org.uk.
Review: Thelma Good 4 May 2007.
Full tilt Royal Lyceum musical.
What is reality? What is happiness, how does it come? In Dale Wasserman’s musical drama “dreaming the impossible dream” becomes not only possible but the most sane thing to do. It’s witty, moving and well produced; you leave with more than a few songs and fresh sunnier feeling in your heart.
Miguel de Cervantes’s Don Quixote is the name a landowner, Alonso Quijana, gives himself when he decides to go off on a journey to defend the weak and destroy the wicked. Thrown into jail by the Inquisition, playwright, actor and novelist Cervantes (Nicholas Pound) finds himself having to save his manuscript of Don Quixote from the prisoners’ stove. He begins enacting stories within stories assisted by his manservant, played with equal energy by Steven Elias. The prisoners join in; songs and humour move the action along.
Not all the cast have the vocal power or experience of Pound or Elias, but nearly all sing with conviction, some skill and zest. All deliver vivid acting, with a heart-breaking Aldonza played by the excellent actress Pauline Knowles - though her first number demands a wider vocal range than she can supply. Aldonza is a peasant woman who sells herself but Don Quixote sees her as the purest, most lovely princess, whom he calls Dulcinea. George Drennan brings vocal charm to his roles as The Duke and Dr Carrasco while Jennifer Rhodes, Susannah van den Berg, James Spilling and Graham Kent also stand out.
Martin Duncan’s crisp, sure-footed direction is ably and fully supported by his creative team. Michael Popper’s choreography and Robert Pettigrew’s musical direction and arrangements, with the actors playing the instruments on stage, give zest and commitment to many scenes. The rape of Aldonza by the muleteers is fiercely theatrical and watchable while still conveying the enormity of such a horrible act without being uncomfortably graphic – an incredible feat. All is played out on Francis O’Connor’s clever high walled set, which becomes prison, inn, and many other settings.
The Duke/Dr Carrasco/(trumpet): George Drennan
Cervantes' Manservant/Sancho Panza/(clarinet): Steven Elias
Anselmo/Muleteer/(guitar): Stewart Henratty
The Governor/Innkeeper/(French-horn/trumpet): Graham Kent
Aldonza/(castanets): Pauline Knowles
Miguel de Cervantes/ Alonso Quijana/Don Quixote/(mandoline): Nicholas Pound
Antonia – Alonso’s neice/Serving Girl/Gypsy Girl/(flute/piccolo): Jennifer Rhodes
Pedro – Muleteer/(trombone): Andrew Scott-Ramsey
Captain/Padre/(violin): James Spilling
Barber/(percussion): Michel Travis
Maria – Innkeeper’s wife/Alonso’s housekeeper: Susannah van den Berg
Guards/Prisoner: Alastair Ewer and David Wallace
Director: Martin Duncan
Designer: Francis O’Connor
Lighting: Chris Ellis
Musical Director, Arrangement, (keyboards): Robert Pettigrew
Choreographer: Michael Popper
2007-05-07 03:35:25