Hofesh Shechter and Antony Gormley, Survivor, 2012. Photograph: Tom Medwell

A collaboration between such heavyweights as the British sculptor Antony Gormley and Israeli-born choreographer/composer Hofesh Shechter was always going to be an eagerly anticipated event. Anticipation, however, can be a double-edged sword, and it is probably due to the unrealistically high expectations of this performance, that it seemed ultimately rather lacklustre.

Survivor, which premiered at the Barbican Theatre yesterday (Thursday) night, is built around Shechter’s 75-minute composition, which features a dozen string musicians, and over a hundred crimson-clad drummers. Added to this mix are a troupe of six dancers, who act as living versions of Gormley’s famous sculptures, albeit often in a more animated state.

Gormley’s aesthetic contributions far outweigh Schechter’s musical and choreographic accomplishments. The ‘sculptural’ element is evident from the very start, when we are presented with a line of performers, each lit by a lantern swaying above their heads, becoming objects of focus in and of themselves. The human form seems vulnerable and exposed within the cavernous space of the Barbican theatre, only ever looking secure when amongst a throng of other bodies.

There was a consistent sense of discovery throughout the performance. Discovery of different spaces, such as underneath the stage, in the rig and among the audience, and discovery of different perspectives. A piece which involved the dancers writhing on the floor with cannonballs was transformed by a live video being simultaneously projected onto a vertical screen, creating an effect which has strong resonances with torture and physical torment.

There were humorous elements within this bleak landscape, particularly when Schechter employed his handheld camera to project images of the audience or the performers on to the gargantuan white screen. A distorted version of God Save the Queen by the drummers was also a somewhat light-hearted moment, although this too was put into perspective by the austere string version with which it was followed.

Overall, it was a lack of cohesion which prevented this collaboration from being truly engaging. Despite providing individual moments of powerful visual and sensory art, as a unit, the performance never seemed to form a coherent tone. Perhaps this was the intention, but it is a surprising choice, especially for Gormley, who is usually unparalleled as an articulator of his art.

Survivor is at the Barbican until 14th January.

Beowulf: 'boutique' panto. Photograph: Richard Davenport

The Charles Court Opera have built a reputation as one of the best value tickets in town in the five or so years since the company was formed.

Their Gilbert and Sullivan productions – they put on at least one a year at the King’s Head Theatre or the Rosemary Branch – have in recent years been joined by an annual ’boutique’panto, a riot of double entendre, melodramatic singing and sublimely funny dance routines to rival anything in the West End.

This year’s, Beowulf – The Panto!, offers a hilarious take on the epic Anglo-Saxon poem.

It comes in both regular and “adults only” form. I chose to see the latter and was in stitches.

All the cast are great but there are standout deliveries from Philip Lee, a great comic performer, as the monster Grendel, and John Savournin, who also directs the show, as Grendel’s mother. The superb Simon Masterton-Smith is wonderful as inebriated King Hrothgar.

One of the best you are likely to see all year.

There is still time to catch Beowulf – The Panto! at the Rosemary Branch Theatre, 2 Shepperton Road, De Beauvoir Town N1 until 8 January 2012. For tickets call 020 7704 6665

'Dark, but fun': The Reindeer Monologues

T’is the season to be jolly. Unless you are one of Santa’s reindeers and you are debating going on strike because the boss has been sexually abusing you and your colleagues.

This is what sets the story for The Reindeer Monologues, showing at The Lion pub in Stoke Newington. “It’s a very dark comedy but it’s fun,” says producer and performer Mattie Crowley. “It’s making humour out of very human issues.”

American Jeff Goode wrote The Reindeer Monologues a few years ago, and while there are a number of ways of interpreting what Goode was getting at, there are messages about corporate greed and corruption, as well as some indirect humour about the misfortunes recently suffered by the Catholic Church.

There is a wealth of talent involved in the play’s production. Crowley and a number of the other actors are from Kevin Spacey’s Old Vic New Voices programme, which nurtures emerging talent in the capital. The show is produced by Iestyn Edwards, better known as Channel 4’s Madam Galina, and who has sung on board HMS Victory, in front of the Queen.

Crowley is incredibly happy to have secured The Lion, which is fast becoming one of the most exciting fringe venues in London, as the home for the show. “There is a connection between Stoke Newington and theatre,” says Crowley. “There are so many artistic people, I think everybody I meet down Church Street wants to appreciate Hamlet or Macbeth.”

This is not the first show Crowley has been involved with at The Lion, and he is hoping it will not be his last either. Crowley’s aim is to establish a new theatre in Stoke Newington, and he is calling on the local community to support the performances so that, eventually, a dedicated theatre for the area can get off the ground.

The Reindeer Monologues runs every Tuesday and Wednesday until Christmas at The Lion, Church Street, Stoke Newington.

For tickets call 07428 052 226.

Goodbye Barcelona starts on the streets of the East End as young Sam defies the march of Oswald Mosley’s Blackshirts, standing up for his Jewish identity.

We follow Sam from his East London home to Spain, as he volunteers to fight in the Brigades against General Franco’s fascists.

His mother, Rebecca, cannot bear to be without him and decides to leave London and nurse the International Brigades.

This new musical presents the unlikely relationships that develop at war, between soldiers and different nationalities. Goodbye Barcelona highlights the degradation and poverty suffered by the Spanish people and also the extraordinary bravery of those who tried to thwart Franco’s coup, with a fatal lack of resources and preparation.

Whilst Franco had his armoury bolstered by support from Benito Mussolini in Italy and Adolf Hitler in Germany, the newly-elected Republican government and its ragtag team of defenders from around the world only received military backing from the Russians and Mexicans. There are strong performances all round, particularly from Laura Tebbutt, Lucy Bradshaw and Mark Meadows. Meadows plays a gruff British fighter, brash and bolshy, haunted by his experiences of The
Great War.

The writers, KS Lewkowicz and Judith Johnson, found inspiration for Goodbye Barcelona from a collection of interviews with British fighters who survived the years in Spain. They were moved by the sacrifice made by people who left their homes and families, of their own volition, to fight against a movement that they knew to be wrong.

Goodbye Barcelona
24 November – 23 December 2011
Performances: Monday to Saturdays at 7.30pm  (including a matinee on Friday 23rd at 2.30pm), and for Saturday, matinees at 2.30pm.

Arcola Theatre
24 Ashwin Street
Hackney
E8 3DL

A special discounted rate of £10 seats is available to Hackney Citizen online readers.

Please call the box office at the Arcola on 020 7503 1646 after 1.30pm and quote ‘£10 offer’.

For any queries please email: contact@goodbyebarcelona.com

Review quotes:

‘fervently sung and warmly felt’ Observer

‘The staging is clever, the performances uniformly strong’ Daily Express

‘stirring anthems’ Evening Standard

‘a triumphant work of tender love, not to be missed’ Morning Star

‘Karen Rabinowitz’s production has plenty of punch’ Guardian

‘a wonderful night of theatre!’ Thoroughly Modern Millie

‘There is many a West End show that struggle to achieve as much’ Adventures of Miss H

Ugly: Cinderella's sisters Queeniqua and Victiqua are played by Tony Whittle and Kat B. Photograph: Robert Workman

The curtain lifts at Harknee-on-Lea, the setting for this season’s fairytale, as Cinderella, played by the wonderful Sophie Ragavelas, waits outside Hardup Hall for the arrival of her new step-sisters.

On a cold grey day on Mare Street, the Hackney Empire provides an assault on the senses: an explosion of glitter, exuberance and smut awaits, as the audience settle down for pantomime season with experienced director Susie McKenna.

Regulars to the panto here may be saddened not to see veteran dame Clive Rowe flouncing around, but there are enough familiar faces to make up for his absence.

The Ugly Sisters Queeniqua and Victiqua are played with great aplomb by old favourites Kat B and Tony Whittle. At one point they drag a poor schoolteacher from the audience and proceed to torment him with a particularly horrifying rendition of Sisters Are Doin’ It For Themselves. Mr Shaw from St Mary’s was a good sport, but will probably never live it down.

Also fantastic was the deliciously wicked Countess Anastia, played by Joanna Riding, who has perfected her cackle to terrify and delight the children in the audience. Her relationship with Cinderella’s father Baron von Hardup (Peter Straker) is a highlight.

The show is peppered with references to the local area, including very funny gags about the Olympics and the Ugly Sisters posh finishing school in Islington upon Thames. There were also biting references to the world outside of Harknee, such as when Victiqua describes Cinderella as “a nasty little hoodie and I wouldn’t want to hug her”. A particular favourite was when the Prince’s mother calls her son and says “Hello News of the World, I know you are listening”.

Cinderella and Prince Charming, played by Wayne Perry, perform an endearing duet, however their love story did not hold the interest of the majority of the young audience, who began chattering while Prince Charming was singing of his sorrow.

Their focus is regained when the Ugly Sisters return to the stage, accompanied by Alexandra Burke’s ‘Bad Boys’.

The Strictly Come Dancing style dancing contest at the ball is clearly popular with the audience; when the prince’s valet Dandini (Tee Jaye), takes off Bruce Forsyth, the roof is nearly blown off with cries of “NICE TO SEE YOU, TO SEE YOU NICE”.

At two and half hours long, the performance is perhaps a bit lengthy, but the finale is fantastic. The show culminates in a high-octane chase through Leyton Forest, with plenty of slapstick before the day is saved by a wholly unconvincing pantomime horse called Clapton.

The Hackney Empire has established itself as a top destination for pantomime lovers and Cinderella does not disappoint. Older viewers will find some genuinely funny gags and children will be delighted by the buffoonery as well as the very impressive staging. The singing is also surprisingly good, especially from the main lead. Worth a view? Oh yes it is.

Cinderella is at the Hackney Empire 27 November 2011 – 8 January 2012.

David Hugh in Macabre Resurrections. Photograph: Frank D J Eriksen-Miller

Every now and then, a piece of theatre arrives which makes the conventional sit-in-the-dark-and-watch fare on offer in the mainstream institutions seem woefully lacklustre in comparison.

Two site-specific theatrical offerings in Hackney this month do just that, tearing down the fourth wall in refreshing and powerful ways.

As part of the Barbican’s bite season, Hydrocracker’s The New World Order moves from its previous incarnation at the Brighton Festival to the stately structure of Shoreditch Town Hall.

The company, who are ‘committed to theatre as an event’, have amalgamated five of Harold Pinter’s later, intensely political, plays, and this material is used as the basis for a thoroughly immersive and painfully realistic tour de force. The resulting experience is such that a traditional review can hardly do it justice – its raw power must ultimately be endured first-hand.

Upon entering the venue, we are accosted by sinister, reflector-clad security officials, who proceed to frisk all entrants in a mildly brusque manner – a sampling of what is to come. Handed a badge which must be worn at all times, we are then greeted by a bureaucrat from the ‘Ministry of Cultural Integrity’ who apologises profusely for the traffic, and ushers us upstairs to attend a press conference by the newly appointed minister.

The play (for want of a more accurate term) then follows, quite literally, the travails of a prisoner of conscience who is being held and tortured by the authoritarian, 1984-esque state, as we are taken on a journey into the recesses of the site, and into the darker elements of this dystopian society.

As we are herded from chamber to chamber, attempts to convince oneself that the whole thing is make-believe become increasingly futile, and genuine fear unwittingly takes hold. In the scenes in which the prisoner is being abused, the desire to intervene becomes overwhelming.

The constant feeling of confinement perfectly complements Pinter’s writing, and even his famed silences are given an edge absent in conventional productions.

Experiments with interactive theatre are often let down by mediocre acting, and the success of this production is largely due to the exceptional cast, who rise to the challenge of performing with an audience, rather than merely for them. The authenticity of their characterisations accounts for a large portion of the play’s brutal realism, particularly that of Hugh Ross as the slithery, serpentine minister and Richard Hahlo as the largely silent prisoner.

In Ross’ mouth, the softly uttered phrase “God speaks through me” sends shivers down your spine, and Hahlo’s pained but resolute expressions are even more chilling to behold.

Mention must also be made of Ellie Jones’ direction, which aside from being a logistical marvel – the 80 minute experience is entirely seamless – manages to create an atmosphere in which even the most cynical of spectators become increasingly and irreparably unsettled. As we watch the barbarous subjugation of the innocent individuals in the play, associations with human rights abuses both contemporary and historical are hard to ward off – yet another reason to put this production on the top of your ‘must see’ list.

St. Mary’s Old Church, an ancient edifice halfway down Stoke Newington Church Street surrounded by an eerie graveyard, is the suitably gothic venue for Second Skin Theatre’s adaptation of Edgar Allen Poe’s macabre stories.

Fresh from their success with a production of Mario Vargas Llosa’s La Chunga, which transfers to a West End stage in January, the company reinvent six of the master of horror’s morbid tales, utilising every crevice of the church in which Poe, who was schooled on Church Street, may well have worshipped as a youth.

The audience are ushered into the pews, and the ‘service’ begins with an edifying sermon from the pulpit by Stephen Connery Brown, whose smug, alcoholic preacher is delightful enough to warrant a show of his own. His ‘flawed man of the cloth’ act re-emerges throughout the evening, seamlessly linking the six separate stories.

Each of the adaptations approaches Poe’s texts in a unique way. The Preacher and the Raven takes a rather straightforward route, delivering a haunting reading of the original narrative poem, which reverberates around the nave, while The Cask of Amontillado is reduced to an entertaining, if rather trivial romp. The Black Cat, in which the narrator is changed to a woman, is notable for an admirable solo performance by local actor Mia Zara, who is compelling in her lengthy monologue as the deranged yet calculating villain.

The most novel reimaginings are Premature Burial and The Pit and the Pendulum, both of which have been updated to modern scenarios, the former tackling the war in Afghanistan, and the latter swapping the Spanish Inquisition for an illegal US detainment camp.

The audience are shepherded to the ghostly graveyard to witness the eponymous burial in the first of these stories, which is a tremendously atmospheric event, even if not as petrifying as one might expect.

If there is a failing in this adventurous production, it is that the nuances of Poe’s original works are somewhat lost in the spectacle. That said, despite the sensational nature of the staging, the overwhelming notion is that hell is not ethereal, and is ultimately a human construct: as one character, pointing to his head, puts it, “there is no tomb except up here”.

The performance ends with The Masque of the Red Death, which is turned into more of a visual extravaganza than a drama, and is the most terrifying of all the segments. As we shuffle out of this iconic building past plaques which have been hanging, in some instances, for almost a millennium, this energetic and gutsy production seems a fitting addition to its extraordinary and colourful history.

The New World Order by Harold Pinter
16 November – 11 December
Shoreditch Town Hall

Poe: Macabre Resurrections
16 November – 4 December 2011
St. Mary’s Old Church
Stoke Newington

Eastend Cabaret: The Revolution Will be Sexual. Photograph: Laura Oliver

The newly constructed Arcola Tent is currently in the process of assuming its own, original identity. The Tent is set to boast a diverse range of programming, which this month includes a series of performances by highly acclaimed local duo EastEnd Cabaret.

Bernadette Byrne and Victor Victoria introduce narratives about sex, relationships and unrequited love and invite audiences to share their own stories, giving their performances a rare intimacy.

Doors will open at 7.30pm, and the audience are encouraged to relax, converse and drink mulled wine at their leisure, as the cabaret characters mill about amongst them. The performance begins at 8.30pm and when it’s finished the crowd is welcome to remain in the immersive experience, indulging in the responses and reactions the duo have provoked.

At the Edinburgh Fringe Festival earlier this summer, EastEnd Cabaret proved that the show was truly improvised, changing it with every performance.

For their Hackney shows, the lewd lyrics to their songs will undergo further alterations. Remembering their time in Edinburgh, Byrne says: “The fact that we were nominated for a Total Theatre Award was huge because cabaret has not been recognised by these types of institutions.” The company believe they are the first cabaret act to be nominated for the award, and this nomination comes in the first year that cabaret was recognised as a separate genre within the Fringe programme.

The show, say the duo, incorporates some of what the East End represents. “We live in East London,” says Victoria. “In a bedsit,” adds Byrne.

“Together. So we’re very familiar with East London,” Victoria says.

“We spent a lot of time working in bars, in Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club,” Byrne explains. “We’re actually planning on squatting in the tent in November. Just to get used to the space. Although Arcola may not know that so don’t tell them,” she adds with a mischievous smile.

Victoria is very clear in describing why local theatre lovers should see the show. “They will definitely be entertained and they will be amused and possibly quite aroused as well.” The pair promise music and dirty songs, accompanied by piano, violin, musical saw, ukulele and perhaps even a kazoo.

A semi-political element is also present within the performance, embodied by a peculiar prop. “Mr Little Red Book is our special guest. He is very wise. I was given him as a child by my father. He is Mao’s little red book and he has a moustache and a personality.”

EastEnd Cabaret tell me that they met many years ago and performance has always played a big part in their relationship. Byrne says: “We have known each other since we were very small. And then I left.”

“And I followed you,” says Victoria. “We have always, even since we were children, sung songs together,” reveals Byrne. “In our bedsit, drinking tea out of an old dirty sock, we decided it was time we gave it to the people. That was about a year and a half ago now.”

Tom Velvick, Creative Director of EastEnd Cabaret, said: “We are proud of what we can give to East London and, as East London has shaped the show, we hope it’s something the people of Hackney can be proud of”.
The duo take great pride in the unpredictable nature of their show and the fact that local people can add to it.

“It evolves every time we do it”, they say. “It’s always about the people. We love that our show depends on having a little conversation with the audience.

“People change the show every night. We’d like it to grow and take on its own momentum. Join the revolution because it’s the most fun you’ll have in a tent…ever!”

EastEnd Cabaret: The Revolution Will Be Sexual
16-19 and 24-26 November
The Arcola Tent
Ashwin Street E8 2BS
020 7503 1646

Second Skin Theatre perform La Chunga. Photograph: Helen F Kennedy

Hot on the heels of The Lion, Ryan’s Bar launches itself as the latest Stoke Newington venue for fringe theatre as artistic director Andy McQuade settles in downstairs with his newly established company Second Skin.

The intimate venue promises to be an exciting place to watch theatre in the future, but the theatre’s flawed first play struggles to merit the effort of such a strong cast.

McQuade has chosen La Chunga to mark the inauguration of  the Church Street Theatre. This is a two-act play by prolific Peruvian writer and 2010 Nobel Prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa, has never been performed in the UK before, which makes this an ambitious production and gives it good publicity value.

Three men are in a down-at-heel bar somewhere in Peru in 1945, very well evoked by the intelligent lighting and set design (and the fact we can hear the upstairs bar). La Chunga is the bar woman, caustic and indifferent. Victoria Grove brings a physical assuredness to the part that has her slowly dominate the stage, playing with ideas about gender performance that are central to the play.

La Chunga becomes captivated by Meche, the pretty blond girl who arrives at the bar to see Josefino, one of the dice players. Josefino decides to ‘lend’ Meche to La Chunga for the night for 300 sous, telling her, “she won’t do anything to you, she’s a woman”.  The two women disappear and after that evening Meche is not seen again.

For the rest of the play the men take it in turns to imagine what may have happened that night.  They move in and out of fantasies that become increasingly abusive and surreal.  This should be engaging. However, interesting ideas (guilt and sexual identity, the possibility all relationships verge on the exploitative…) are treated with a heavy-handedness that left me feeling patronised and impatient.

None of the characters have been adequately developed to provoke any real concern for them; they resemble types, not complex individuals. As the second act persists with a kind of hollow eroticism it starts to feel this is a playwright over indulging himself. This is a shame as the acting is strong and the staging is imaginative. So, faults aside, definitely worth watching this exciting new space.

La Chunga
The Church Street Theatre
Ryan’s Bar
Tuesday 27 September 2011

Related: Church Street Theatre opens

Film, performance, music and book readings are to mix in this ‘21st century happening’ inspired by JB Priestley’s survey of a troubled 1930s England. The Lea Valley area, the Olympics and the Barbican itself will form the thematic core of the event.

To win two  free tickets to the Barbican on 22 October to an evening entitled English Journey: Re-Imagined, with Iain Sinclair, Alan Moore, Shirley Collins, simply answer this question correctly: What is the title of Iain Sinclair’s latest book?

a)      Buried At Sea
b)      Ghost Milk
c)       Moby Dick

Email your answer by 15 October to
editor@hackneycitizen.co.uk

or send by post to:

The Editor
Hackney Citizen
9 Perseverance Works
38 Kingsland Road E2 8DD

Second Skin Theatre perform La Chunga. Photograph: Helen F Kennedy

An ambitious new theatre has opened this month in Stoke Newington, presenting professional productions whilst running a project for a local charity.

Church Street Theatre, housed beneath Ryan’s Bar on Church Street, opened its doors yesterday (5 September) with the UK premiere of Nobel Prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa’s work La Chunga, performed by resident company Second Skin, who will also be orchestrating a programme aimed at getting local youth involved in theatre.

The theatre is the creation of Andy McQuade, artistic director of Second Skin and a member of the Young Directors programme at the Young Vic. McQuade was invited by the owner of Ryan’s Bar, Ged O’Sullivan, to set up a theatre in the basement of the venue, with an aim to transform it into one of London’s top fringe theatres within six months. O’Sullivan ploughed thousands of pounds into renovating the space, and in partnership with McQuade and producer Samuel Julyan, converted it into an intimate, 34-seat theatre.

As well as putting on a professional production every two months, the theatre will run a communal scheme called The Offline Project, in association with Seven Sisters based charity Chance. The four month-long programme will offer young people from local estates the chance to study theatre and drama in a supportive environment, under the tutelage of experienced professionals. Students will be able to study acting, as well as other disciplines of theatre, such as lighting, sound and costume design.

Many of the cast and crew of La Chunga are full time company members and will be helping with the project. “Everyone will be getting involved,” says McQuade, “we will all be running workshops, tutorials and master classes”. McQuade’s own experiences as a teenager inspired him to get the scheme off the ground. “I grew up on a council estate in Reading,” he says. “I was lucky; I was plucked out by someone involved in a church choir who got me involved in the arts. My life got a little derailed later on, but because I had a foundation in the arts it gave me something to go back to.”

As a previous resident of Seven Sisters who moved in to the area after the Broadwater Farm riots in 1985, McQuade is convinced theatre can make a difference to disillusioned local adolescents. “There are so many kids caving in to peer pressure these days”, he continues.

“I know for a fact that if we can get some of these kids aged 16 or 17 involved; if they’ve got an arena, an opening, a number to call, we can do great things.”

La Chunga
Mon 5 September – Sun 2 October

The Church Street Theatre
Ryan’s Bar (basement)
181 Church Street
Stoke Newington N16 0UL

Monday – Thursday evenings 7:30pm
Friday evenings 7pm
Sunday matinees 3pm.
No Saturday performances.
Tickets £10.