MYSTERY OF THE BLOOD BEAST HORROR OF WOLFBANE MANOR MYSTERY. To 27 January.
Ipswich/Woodbridge
MYSTERY OF THE BLOOD BEAST HORROR OF WOLFBANE MANOR MYSTERY
by Julian Harries
Sir John Mills Theatre To 20 January
then Seckford Theatre 23-27 January 2007
Mon-Sat 7.45pm Mat Wed & Sat 4.15pm no performance 25 Dec
Runs 2hr 40min One interval
Tickets: 01473 211498
www.easternangles.co.uk
Review: Timothy Ramsden 7 December
Blood, thunder and peals of laughter.
After travelling their region all year, Eastern Angles return annually at Christmas to their Ipswich home for another dollop of hefty genre material spiced up and spoofed by playwright-director-actor Julian Harries. This year (with an extra week added at nearby Woodbridge) it’s the yowl of the Werewolf, mixed with a frogspawn of witch’s curse and a toenail-clipping of exotic travel.
These shows are a niche market in Ipswich, a kind of pantomime without the Pantomime. The singalong requires no words, just animal noises with appropriate movements (the night I went, an inebriated audience-member enjoyed varying everyone else’s “Moos” with a “baa”, possibly reminding himself where he’d just come from).
Harries might go for the jugular in a different sense. He creates a spooky Victorian atmosphere so well, it would be good to have a serious story from him. But it won’t happen. Through the title’s shrouded in “Mystery”, it’s clear the audience is here for the laughs.
And there are plenty of them in a script where overmuch innuendo, eventually cancelling out its effect, is about the only weakness. There are plentiful opportunities for visual humour, including transformations into and out of werewolf form, or Harries setting himself up as a semi-naked statue dared not to giggle when brushed with a feather-duster.
The intimate stage’s limitations are exploited by the admirable, hard-working cast, with sections of banister passed around as a long staircase is climbed, or a low-ceilinged attic manufactured with 2 pieces of wood. There’s an instant eastern bazaar, its traders setting British theatre back several decades in portraying foreigners. Still, who notices a cliché in a niche?
But length is evident. Here’s a near-perfect 2 hour show that’s 40 minutes longer than that. Doubtless performances will tighten; there were cues missed by actors and soundtrack alike at the second performance. But, while Harries capably directs his own material, a dramaturgical hand (or claw) might have helpfully pruned some areas (Harries’ Werewolf, for example, repeatedly paws the air just to fill time). No-one, however, should attempt to cut back on Nipper the expressively vicious cat. Uncredited, it’s a star-turn.
Prince Regent/Picksniff/Lugger/Dr Fresco: Greg Wagland
Wolfbane Wilidwood/Wildwood: Julian Harries
Fool/Percy Tadworth: Philip Benjamin
Gamshanks/mina Fresco: Betsabeh Emran
Hazel Bunting/Mrs Drascombe: Tracy Elster
Director: Julian Harries
Designers: Dora Schweitzer, Steve Wilson
Lighting: Penny Griffin
Musical Director: Pat Whymark
Costumes: Faby Pym
2006-12-10 01:35:41