Ballet - Sleeping Beauty

Performance: Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty
Date: 1st December 2015
Location: Sadlers Wells, Angel, Islington, London.
Seat: Second Circle, Row O, Seat 16
Rating: 4/5

Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty is my third ballet experience. Unfortunately I felt I went in with a bit of a prejudiced opinion after seeing Cinderella at the Coliseum in July, and feeling like nothing could possibly match this. Whilst Sleeping Beauty was incredible and beautiful, there is no denying that, I felt it lacked something.
The music for Sleeping Beauty was composed by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1889, and first performed the following year. Along with Swan Lake and The Nutcracker it is among Tchaikovsky's longest lasting and most famous repertoire. Tchaikovsky is quite possibly my favourite composer, therefore I loved the music, it was incredible. It is hard to understand why Tchaikovsky hated his music so much. However Sleeping Beauty was not played live, rather it was pre-recorded which I felt took away from the magic slightly.
Bourne, like Wheeldon with his contemporary take on the ballet, changed the story slightly. Instead of a spindle which pricks Aurora and sends her into her sleep, it is a rose. Furthermore, Bourne used the different acts to be set in different periods of time, for example the last act was set in the modern day as opposed to the first act which was set in the 1800's. The first three acts, I felt worked really well, fitting in with the classical tropes of fairy stories and ballets with beautiful glittering costumes and props. However, the modern act, Aurora's marriage, I felt took the magic away from the ballet and the fairy story, with the characters dressed in jeans and hoodies. This to me felt like a betrayal of the enchanting and mystical nature of the fairy tale, and I feel one of the beauties of watching the ballet is seeing the intricate and exquisite costumes that are presented, which compliment the beauty of the dancing. Moreover, unfortunately I found the storyline a little muddled and hard to follow. The ballet was marketed as a Gothic Romance, and this came into play with the fairies. However, it was hard to decipher whether the fairies were good or evil, and what role they played within the story. The man that falls in love with Aurora also gets some sort of vampirific transition at the end of act II which was just a bit strange. I understood the practicality of it, it meant that the man she loved could then live 100 years to eventually wake Aurora up, but it just didn't fit in well with the storyline, and I felt there could have been better ways around this plotline.
Bourne, must however, be commended on the fantastic use of puppetry in the first and final acts. The young, baby Aurora, is represented through puppetry and it was just wonderful. The movements of the puppet looked so realistic it took me a while to establish it was in fact a puppet and not a child. It was incredibly clever and was the subject of quite a lot of mischievous humour, much like a child which me and the audience appreciated immensely. 
Additionally the staging exceeded usual expectations. The stage had two conveyer belts at the back which the fairies in particular stood on and danced, and it really added some interesting and wonderful dimensions to the dancing, making the fairies look like they were truly floating. The transition of time between the four acts was conveyed wonderfully through the staging, with the windows being broken and taped and the closed gates growing ivy and trees. It goes without saying that the choreography and dancing was breathtakingly beautiful and wondrous, as they usually are.
Overall, I did enjoy Sleeping Beauty immensely, the music, set, costumes and dancing was beautiful. I just felt at times the plot and storyline was confusing and hard to follow, the characters hard to decipher who was who, and some of the classic tropes of ballet and fairy tales were taken away, which in turn took away some of the beauty of the ballet and the story.

Theatre - Lulu

Performance: Lulu by Frank Wedekind
Performed by: Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Date: 2nd December 2015
Location: Silk Street Theatre, The Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Barbican, London, United Kingdom
Seat: Unreserved (Near the front at the centre)
Rating: 4.5/5

It is that time of the year again when Guildhall puts on its Christmas show, and as per usual it exceeds expectations by being truly wonderful. Lulu was written by Frank Wedekind in 1895 and is formed of two plays Earth Spirit and Pandora's box (however in contemporary theatre it is condensed into one play under the name of Lulu as this performance was). Lulu is among Wedekind's most popular works along with Spring Awakening.  It depicts the dark but deeply humorous tale of the alluring and beautiful Lulu and her many (many!) sexual experiences and relationships with men and women alike, and the descent of each into destitution or death, and finally Lulu's descent herself. Lulu evaluates many different issues which are hugely relevant even in today's society. Lulu herself represents that of the strong empowered feminist trapped in the patriarchal society of the late Nineteenth century. Despite being an active character and the centralised theme of the plot, every plot, action, endeavour and achievement is governed by a man often through marriage, in which she can only escape through death. Her promiscuity and adultery only goes to further this view point, that she cannot escape marriage, nor does she want to, for she fears being alone, without the male dominance above everything else.  The play portrays an incredibly dark side to human sexual nature and particularly male sexuality and the affinity toward younger girls. Wedekind's own life is perhaps reflected within the play with his deep rooted jealousy in his own marriage, his utter scorn for adultery and his belief sexual allure and sex was the only thing to keep his marriage alive. We can see familiar attributes in Lulu's character in conjunction with Wedekind's in her desperate need for validation from her husbands, her constant erogenous presence through her actions, her outfits and her speech, and finally her ultimate demise at the hands of a man, as a result of her constant philandering.
Lulu is deeply sexual and strangely liberating for a late Nineteenth century play. It appears Wedekind enjoyed to push social boundaries and causing a stir with his exploration of the fiercely private sex life, marriage and its mockery through Lulu's satirical adultery and lesbianism, these same tropes can be seen through Spring Awakening, essentially a critique of the privacy of sex, and the consequences of such prudishness. It is hard to imagine in a world dominated by sex, that such plays would be so frowned upon, but the Nineteenth Century was one dominated by the private sphere, sexual repression and prudishness.
Guildhall's production of Lulu was absolutely fantastic. The staging was incredibly simple, but effective. The most powerful staging was the photographs of the actresses playing Lulu in different (incredibly sexual, I might add) poses, which then turned to paintings, which were both creative and interesting. This was particularly powerful in Act I when Lulu is being painted and the photograph was the pose in which she was striking on stage.
A further striking but brilliant feature of the Guildhall interpretation of the play, was at the end of each act, the actress of Lulu changed. I was initially hesitant with this idea but felt it worked well and was portrayed cleverly with each previous Lulu handing a prop to the next Lulu in scene changes, almost passing the torch if you like. It made for an interesting portrayal, as each Lulu slowly sank into demise.
I furthermore, couldn't write a review without mentioning the music that was written especially for the play. The music by Alex Hall, a composer at Guildhall School of Music and Drama, was very potent and interesting. It was very dark, eerie and ethereal, particularly in Act III, with the jazz influenced movements. The music complimented the dark plot beautifully.
Overall, Lulu by Guildhall was a fantastic take on a fantastic play. It illuminated some very interesting and dark issues, with some very clever humour, which took some relief from the essentially incredibly depressing end to the play. It is with great regret I announce tonight was the last performance of the play, or I would urge all to go and see it!

Theatre - Jesus Christ Superstar

Performance: Jesus Christ Superstar
Performed by: Really Useful Theatre Group
Date: 24th September 2015
Location: New Wimbledon Theatre, Wimbledon, London
Seat: Stalls, Row T, Seat 9.
Rating: 3.5/5

I will begin by being the first to admit that I don't know the biblical stories very well, I was never brought up in a particularly Christian way nor did I really take an interest in it, therefore I went into Jesus Christ Superstar only having a vague understanding of the plot which may have been a disadvantage to me and why I perhaps did not get the full potential of the musical.
I will begin by saying that the vocal range of some of the songs of this musical are incredible and indisputably more difficult than that of Phantom of the Opera. I found myself in awe at the incredible power and beauty of the voices demanded of Judas and Jesus in particular, by Lloyd-Webber. Glenn Carter the actor who played Jesus delivered the high notes perfectly and beautifully.

In typical Lloyd-Webber style there was hardly any speech but more a continuos stream of songs and recitative, which I felt made the plotline slightly harder to follow. That said, the music was the entirely redeeming feature of the musical with only one word to describe it. Incredible. I will be the first to admit I felt nothing could ever sway my love for Phantom but Jesus Christ Superstar knocked it right off its pedestal. It goes without saying that the storyline of Phantom is stronger, but the music for Jesus Christ Superstar is vocally and audibly more impressive and awe-inspiring.
Unfortunately, the best and arguably most famous song of the musical (to which it is named after) 'Superstar', I felt in this particular production was gimmicky and almost cheap, and I missed the entire meaning of the song, that being Judas in hell, feeling it was more Judas in X-Factor than anything else. Furthermore, I felt Mary Magdalene and her general presence in the musical was unneeded in a sense. Whilst I appreciate that Mary Magdalene was an important part of Jesus' story, it felt like the love story that was trying to be established between them  was one-dimensional and quite frankly non-existent. I felt no sympathy for the character of Mary and her heartbreak as I felt there was no depth to her character or to Mary and Jesus' relationship.
That being said, there were many more amazing things than terrible ones. 'The Temple' in which Jesus is overcome by Lepers was an incredible scene, and 'Herod's Song' was, although almost drag-like in its nature, a much needed relief (much like the Thénardiers presence in Les Miserables) from the heavy and dark plotline.
The one scene which stuck out the most impressive to me was 'The Last Supper'. The company arranged themselves on stage to mimic Leonardo Da Vinci's famous painting The Last Supper which I felt was a fantastic touch and a brilliant reference to the painting and its legacy.
Jesus Christ Superstar, was a very good production, with some incredible vocal talent and aptitude and fantastic music, however the storyline was rather weak and was not interesting enough to carry the musical through. Furthermore, some of the songs may have been slightly misinterpreted or portrayed in the wrong way upon stage, sometimes making them difficult to follow. 

The Book Thief - Book Review.

Title: The Book Thief 

Author: Markus Zusak

Published: 14th March 2006 (UK) 

Dates read: 8th September 2015 - 22nd September 2015. 

Rating: 5/5 

"The best word shakers were those who understood the true power of words. They were always able to climb the highest. One such word shaker was a small skinny girl. She was renowned as the best of her region because she knew how powerless a person could be WITHOUT words. She had desire. She was hungry for them." 

Where to begin with this wonderful book? I will begin with admitting that The Book Thief took me two attempts to read, and an aeroplane journey from Italy to England to get into. However, after the initial push I couldn't put it down! 

The Book Thief tells the story of Liesel and her childhood throughout the duration of Nazi Germany. She arrives at her foster parents house aged nine on Himmel Street, her parents having been taken away accused of communism to the much dreaded Concentration Camps, which would become so infamous. The first distinctive feature that sets this book apart from so many other WWII books is the fact it is narrated by Death, a feature I will be the first to admit which threw me at first. However, the further through the book I progressed I stopped finding this a confusing feature and instead found it actually an incredibly clever and insightful move on Zusak's behalf. WWII like most wars is riddled by the presence of death and suffering, and to have Death narrate, for me, further adds to the haunting nature of the book and of course WWII itself. You, as the reader, are therefore reading from both Liesel's perspective, and Death's. The second contradistinctive feature was the perspective of the novel itself. Most WWII fiction concentrates on the plight of the Jews and their suffering, or perhaps even the Nazi perspective. The Book Thief takes an entirely different objectivity by focusing on the life of a German child, who isn't entirely convinced by the Third Reich beliefs and propaganda and a town which isn't benefiting economically and therefore are suffering under hardship too. Whilst the issue of the Holocaust is explored through the character of Max, as it is can hardly be a WWII novel without this dimension, it is not the forefront of the novel and instead provides a backbone to the storyline (a beautiful storyline nonetheless). Furthermore, it defines the takeover of Hitler in a different way, it alludes to the power of words and their meaning, describing how Hitler took over the world with words, and not with force. I felt this was a very important lesson in general, about the power of words, the effect they can have, and how you can't always believe their meaning. The Book Thief takes a fresh perspective on WWII and Nazi Germany undeniably.. Finally, the prose of The Book Thief also makes it incredibly distinctive. It doesn't follow the standard novel text, but deviates including the handwritten stories written to Liesel from Max and drawings, which are so detailed to the fact that you can see the pages of 'Mein Kampf' showing through as described in the book. For me, this added to the beauty of the book and the importance of imagination. Furthermore, Death interrupts the book with little snippets of text throughout the book, relating to the story, for example dictionary definitions after Liesel receives a dictionary defining emotions parallel to the context of the storyline. I know many who have read this disliked this feature, feeling it interrupted the storyline, but I felt like this set it apart from other books in a wonderful way, so the reader could never forget the omnipresent sense of Death, much like how it must of felt during WWII. 

The Book Thief was truly an incredible read, which made me want to start reading from the beginning again the minute I had turned the last page (admittedly through my streaming eyes!), it made me laugh and cry, and Zusak's words sent me into goosebumps at some points in the book, with me sometimes having to close the book and just absorb the beauty of the prose. 

Theatre - Guys and Dolls

Performance: Guys and Dolls
Performed by: The Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Date: 7th July 2015
Location: The Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Barbican, London, United Kingdom
Seat: G19
Rating: 5/5


I am incredibly lucky because my boyfriend and many of his friends attend The Guildhall School, so I get to see a lot of their productions for free and have seen a few now (which I will review later!) So thanks to Matty for the free tickets as he was Production Assistant (good production assisting indeed!)
The first thing to say is that even though the productions are marketed as 'amateur' they are anything but, everything from the singing to the set designs are amazing, and definitely West End worthy.
The productions are part of the students curricular, so they often have to work on the productions and they are just incredible!
Guys and Dolls is a classic piece of Broadway musical theatre written by Frank Loesser and is coming back to London's West End this Christmas I do believe (can't wait to get tickets!) and premiered in Broadway in 1950. It is based on two short stories by Damon Runyon, and basically follows the story of Nathan Detroit, his search for the perfect location for his scrap game, his fiancee Adelaide's desperation to get married as well as the enigmatic Sky Masterson and his 'commitment' to the mission, and more its band leader Sarah Brown, all stemming from a single bet.
The first comment to make about the production was the impressive New York accents!
The whole production was excellent. The dancing and singing made so very famous by Frank Sinatra in the film adaption was more than lived up to! I have to admit that I myself haven't actually seen the 1955 film adaption (Shame on me!) It was very entertaining and engrossing .
The songs were delivered very well, some making the audience laugh out loud (particularly Adelaide's Lament in which she sings of how her lack of marriage is giving her a persistent cold!) and some making us dance in our seats (Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat) and all of the actors had the choreography down to perfection.
The dancing scene which stuck out the most was the scene in Havana, in which Sky and Sarah are caught up in the lively atmosphere of the evening. For effectively the whole scene there are dancers in the centre stage, dancing together in sync with the two main actors joining later, and the scene came together so well, which had several laugh out loud moments! Both the dancing and the choreography by Bill Deamer was very impressive
The set design was very simple but both impressive and effective. It was representative of the hustle and bustle of New York City with flashing signs, which moved, setting the scene for the audience and several props were introduced to each scene, creating the scene image further. ]
All in all for what was marketed in as an amateur musical, Guys and Dolls by Guildhall was a very professional, engaging and fun musical to watch and enjoy and they did a brilliant job! When the official West End production comes to London at Christmas, definitely go and get tickets its fantastic!

Theatre - Cinderella

Performance: Christopher Wheeldon's Cinderella

Performed by: The Dutch National Ballet

Date: 11th July 2015

Location: London Coliseum, London, United Kingdom

Seat: Balcony, Row F, Seat 38.

Rating: 5/5

Okay, it't not technically musical theatre, but it was on a stage, I was watching so in my books it counts! There is absolutely only one word for this performance. Incredible. 

It's such a shame that it has finished in the UK now because otherwise I would urge absolutely everybody to go and see it. It was beautiful. The ballet was choreographed by the wonderful Christopher Wheeldon, (who actually came out at the end!) and was set to Prokofiev's Cinderella score composed between 1940 to 1944, probably one of Prokofiev's most popular compositions. 

The Dutch National Ballet were beautiful. Every single move was just stunning, there were moments where I was almost brought to tears at the sheer wonder of the dancers. The costumes and sets designed by Julian Crouch reflected the magical and fantastical nature of the fairy tale and complimented the dancers, enhancing the sheer beauty of the dancers and the production. 

Christopher Wheeldon took a slightly different take on the original fairy story. Wheeldon used the idea of nature, Cinderella's deceased mothers spirit and four 'fates' to watch over the main character replacing the Fairy Godmother figure. Initially I was hesitant to this idea, having been so familiar with the original, but actually felt that this idea worked much better. In particular, the one scene which really consolidated this was the dress-making scene in which Cinderella is made a gown to attend the Prince's ball with. Wheeldon created the image of nature with dancers dressed in the colours of seasons representing woodland fairies, contributing further to the magic of the ballet.

However, always saving the best for last, I am yet to mention the most incredible scene of the whole ballet. 

The scene was created independently from the rest of the ballet by Basil Twist, who also created the tree representative of the mother's spirit. This particular scene was Cinderella's journey from the woods to the ball in the carriage. The carriage itself was made completely from the dancers, holding wheels and spinning them, and others at the front dressed as horses. Cinderella herself was lifted above them with her cloak billowing out, giving the impression that she was flying with the carriage. The scene was inventive, magical and just wonderful. As the scene before the interval, it definitely left the desired effect, leaving me and the rest of the audience in awe and wonder. 

I genuinely don't have a single criticism about the ballet itself, it was beautiful, the music was perfectly fitting, the choreographing was exquisite and the costumes were wondrous. The only unusual thing about the performance was its length and the fact it had two intervals. I have never experienced two intervals before and felt it was a little unnecessary breaking up the dancing and the flow of the performance. If it ever comes back to London, or the UK at that, I urge all to go and see it!