Belt Up - The Boy James Review

Review: The Boy James

Directed by Dominic J. Allen

Production by Belt Up Theatre at the Southwark Playhouse

Viewed: 23^rd January 2011.

Belt Up Theatre return to the Southwark Playhouse with The Boy James, a play based on the life and works of Peter Pan author J.M. Barrie. Alexander Wright’s short work begins with the promise of characteristic Belt Up playfulness, but the audience and the fun are soon left far behind as we are plunged into a dark (and frankly quite miserable) ordeal.

The play is about the loss of childhood, the sadness of realising that we won’t ever get a letter inviting us to Hogwarts, that Narnia isn’t the other side of our wardrobe door and that our teddies don’t really appreciate our love and attention. Yet more than that, it is about what happens when childhood is lost prematurely. Belt Up has found a fantastic premise for a play, but sadly The Boy James fails to meet its potential.

Jethro Compton’s performance as the boy James is worthy of applause (although typically with Belt Up we are denied the opportunity to do so at the play’s conclusion) and his interaction with the audience at the start of the show incites the atmosphere expected at a Belt Up production. Encouraging the audience to talk to each other and play stuck-in-the-mud in a cramped little space is just what you would expect, but the audience are very quickly forgotten and left to simply observe the dramatic action unfold. When a single audience member was then called upon to conclude the play, it felt strange to suddenly be acknowledged in the room again, as we had been flies on the wall for the most part.

The play also fell short in its exploration, or explanation, of who these people were. We come to understand that the part played by James Wilkes is the adult James, but the role of the dark and mysterious girl, played eerily by Lucy Farrett, is left somewhat unclear. Is she a sexually charged Wendy, or does she represent the virgin wife of J.M. Barrie?

Overall The Boy James had the promise of being an insightful new play by this usually exciting company, but in action it was too vague and left too many questions unanswered. It felt as though they were skating on the surface of something they felt was too deep to delve into, or perhaps they themselves were under the ice and they just didn’t want to let us in.

RSC- Romeo and Juliet Review

Review: Romeo and Juliet

Directed by Rupert Goold

Production by Royal Shakespeare Company, London Season at the Roundhouse in Camden

Viewed: Press Night, 2nd December 2010.

Romeo and Juliet is the first of eight plays being performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company over a ten week run at the Roundhouse in Camden, and if this opening production is anything to go by- it looks set to be an outstanding season.

Rupert Goold’s production was a thoroughly gripping and exceptionally well-acted piece of theatre, which reached the high standards one would expect from the RSC. To my delight, it first appeared to be in traditional Shakespearian dress, but then Romeo appeared in corduroys and a hoodie, and Juliet in a simple dress and Converse trainers. Although this obvious distinction of the title roles could have been jarring, it somehow did not matter, and by the end of the (very long) first half it had actually become quite fitting. It appeared that the lovers were stuck in a society which needed to be liberated, and brought (as the company so aptly do with Shakespeare’s works) into the 21^st Century.

Although the first half was very long (almost two hours), its climax was spine tingling. Sam Troughton’s Romeo was honest, passionate and perfectly spoken, and Mariah Gale’s Juliet was sassy and yet tender. Jonjo O’Neill gave a bold, stand-out performance as a wickedly funny Mercutio and special mention ought also go to Forbes Masson for a truthful and heartfelt performance as Friar Laurence. Although Gale sometimes verged on portraying a stroppy, over-emotional teenager (and hence almost undermining the intensity of the love, and the plot), the strength with which she played the emotional scenes made her Juliet all the more believable.

Overall this was a first class performance, which effortlessly incorporated live music, choreography, special effects, moving sets, fight scenes and, most importantly, consistently passionate acting throughout. All this put together made a dark, sexy, thrilling production which opens the RSC’s London Season with a resounding “Wow”.