Facsimile Productions

Remote Goat review Dr Faustus at the White Bear:

This production presented in what is essentially a black box containing the audience, starts in a haze of dry ice. Fortunately, this is the only mystifying part of the show and everything which follows only serves to clarify this classic tale of a man selling his soul to the dark side in exchange for instant pleasures, power and youth.

Performed in modern dress and directed with gusto by Andrew Hobbs, the revised text has been pared down to a lively 45 minutes each way and peppered with modern references. When it comes to contemporary resonance though, the tall, imposing figure of Edward Pemberton’s Mephistopheles does the job – all sharp-suited sangfroid as he demands the client’s loan agreement be signed in blood.

Robert Paul, who is also the producer, plays Faustus as a regular guy; perhaps a little too regular as in order for this play to work well, we need to feel great sympathy for the doctor and his reasons for entering this diabolical pact which must be deeper than a passing interest in the scantily-clad night-club dancers conjured up for his pleasure and appropriately choreographed by Lucyelle Cliffe.

Anton Shelupanov as Lucifer and S. P. Howarth as Beelzebub are two devils with the grotesque faces and foreign accents that we know all devils must have. There was comedy in the smaller parts with Alistair Smith as the slothest of sloths, barely energetic enough to pronounce his own name, and from those playing the household servants. Emma Burn is turned into an ape by a devilish spell which she is convinced has not worked until she tries to speak; while Simon J. Grant knows the campest way to sweep up spilled salt.

A word about audience participation:If you are going to bring up audience members onto the stage to take part in the action, you must be ready to handle whatever they throw at you. A confident woman pulled from the front row on the night I was there nearly had the actors corpsing. A more talented extrovert could have stopped the show.

In the end, it is the soaring poetry of Marlowe’s writing which is the star of the evening, especially at the climax when Faustus describes seeing heaven opening and all Christ’s blood unable to save him. It is to their credit that all concerned seldom stand in the way of this lofty grandeur and indeed, often enhance it. The voice-over prologue was particularly exciting and the atmospheric sound track complimentary throughout.

Four stars by Malcolm Eadie 28/09/11

Fringe Review reviews A Season Before The Tragedy of Macbeth at the Camden Fringe Festival:

It’s a brave writer who attempts to add to or tweak the existing Shakespeare canon, and Gloria Carreno’s new piece A Season Before the Tragedy of Macbeth, while accomplished, falls into the rather predictable trap of not being up to the quality of the existing work. The grasp of language is impressive, as is the thought and research that clearly went into this new project, but the final result is unfortunately a little flawed. This production struggles impressively through and make the piece all the more watchable, but a plethora of small flaws mean this entire project is, while enjoyable and a credit to the team involved, nothing too special. It is still a commendable effort, and the final piece is something Shakespeare enthusiasts will appreciate and enjoy, but is that really enough?

If you’ve ever wondered what led up to the events of Shakespeare’s classic Macbeth, this new piece by Gloria Carreno is definitely one to see, artfully blending fact and fiction into a new piece of quasi-Shakespearean drama. Carreno posits how Macbeth and Lady Macbeth may have met, and what their histories may have been, leading into one of the better known Shakespeare pieces. While the story is clearly well researched and much like in tone and language to the piece it is emulating, there are more than a couple of stumbling blocks, leaving the production with a lot to do in the short hour in which it runs.

The scriptual issues are mainly plot-based, although the biggest bugbear in the room is iambic pentameter, which seems to have be sidelined pretty early on in the process: the Shakespearean language, without the poetic form, is nowhere near as pretty to the ear. This, combined with the general tendency to describe over show events within the plot structure, leaves much of the production stuck in direct conversation between the leads: a little static at best. There is also a general sense of anti-climax throughout the whole piece: the plot pootles along, setting the scene for the grim plot arc of Macbeth, but never really following much of an arc of its own; nowhere near enough happens to constitute a good reason as to why this story should be told.

Luckily, the production company and cast struggled through the script with some aplomb, and many of their efforts paid off. A much needed fight scene at the beginning of the piece felt completely out of place, but picked up the pace excellently from the off, and set the scene well for the excellent Alexis Strum, playing Lady Macbeth (who was exasperatingly called Lady Macduff in this script, which may be historically accurate, but just adds confusion where none is needed). Her strength and poise gave her character some much needed gravitas, although the villainous turn she starts to take was just a little bit to cliche to believe. Backing her up effectively was Julian Brown as Macbeth, a great portrayal of the grunting soldier, although there was little to see here of the warrior-poet of Shakespeare’s original. Also commendable was Joseph Law as the Servant: although his comedy moments were a bit too hammy, he did add convincingly to the whole.

In short, this piece of theatre is an interesting effort, and a great evening’s entertainment for the Shakespeare enthusiast. That being said, there are some big flaws here, and both writer and company need to spend a bit of time refining this production if they hope to take it any further.

Three stars by Chris Hislop 07/08/10

Remote Goat reviews A Season Before The Tragedy of Macbeth at the Camden Fringe Festival:

A production acting as a prequel to “Macbeth,” is a feat in itself. A well written piece with a magnificent grasp of old English and a natural conversational flow marks this production as a success.
The actors own grasp of the complex dialogue and the natural ebb and flow made this piece an enjoyment to watch. Unfortunately so many productions fail instantaneously in the true understanding of old English. Whereas to recreate it on stage in 21st century England constructs an otherwise intimidating piece into a well developed and well conceived piece finishing with the witches at the beginning of “Macbeth”.

Gloria Carreno’s use of characterisation and interaction of the characters has taken many leads from the original play. For example, the pure narcissism and eventually deadly ambition of Gruoch, the future Lady Macbeth played by Alexis Strum, literally spits venom and conceit upon others in a hellish ‘make way’ for the future King and Queen of Scotland. Gruoch’s son from her dead husband also leaves one to question further into the quote from the original play, “While it was smiling in my face, pluck’d my nipple from his boneless gums, and dash’d the brains out,” the sons fate was not quite revealed. Contrasted to her mother played by Maggie Robson, a far more visually and supernaturally wild, yet sensitive character, only serves as the future Lady Macbeth’s punch bag.

Julian Brown’s Macbeth, had charismatically sensitive words furtively equipped by his ever questioning thoughts leave the audience waiting for Lady Macbeth’s inevitable ‘kill’. Much like the lamb put to the slaughter. A Macbeth the audience can feel sympathy for, unlike the original. In a production full of dramatic irony the charming Joseph Law as the servant made way for some light hearted relief and also Lady Macbeth’s used lover.

The only problems arising from this performance were the lack of utilisation from the space. As often as it occurs in fringe theatre, the space (or lack thereof) can cause issues, but could have been easily solved with the use of tableau and lighting effects. A more detailed understanding of the space could see this performance soar further.

Four stars by Eleni Young 08/08/10

The Stage reviews Bacchus In Rehab at the Etcetera Theatre:

Bacchus in Rehab is a bawdy romp that seems to have been scripted, performed and directed by students and a few people they picked up in the pub.

The plot revolves around the god Bacchus (SP Howarth) being cast out of Mount Olympus for seducing Zeus’ youngest daughter. Stripped of his deity status and forced to abstain from alcohol, he sets about attempting to reclaim his immortality by entering a playwriting competition that will see the winner made god of theatre. Along the way he meets a minstrel, frequents a tavern and falls in love with the owner’s daughter, all the while pursued by a vindictive Russian Hades and camp cultural bureaucrat Doris. The writers may have previously had applications rejected by Arts Council England as there are various pointed comments about how one needs to be a disabled lesbian to get arts funding.

Bacchus in Rehab is not awful – it’s presented with energy and it can be disarmingly silly. But the humour seems intended for adolescents (the comedy heavily relies on gay jokes, usually the preserve of public school boys) and the directing and performing are consistently clunky, albeit enthusiastic.

Bacchus in Rehab has the appeal of a university pantomime – it’s very rough round the edges but the cast are enjoying themselves, which is intermittently infectious. A little more focus and professionalism would go a long way.

By Evelyn Curlet 30/11/09

Remote Goat review A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Shenley Park:

Shakespeare as it should be

There are many amongst us who would claim that Shakespeare should always be performed outdoors. I’m a neutral when it comes to that argument but surely no one can deny that this particular play should always be performed in the open.

Of course it helps when the location is as stunning as the walled garden at Shenley Park. Containing a grass covered amphitheatre, this setting on a slightly gloomy midsummers night was perfect for the Bard’s take on folklore, fantasy, love and nature.

The cast, all playing multiple roles, were uniformly good but special mention must go to Holly Berry’s passionate but confused Helena and also to Robert Paul for his pompous. self-obsessed Bottom. Many other things will stay in the memory though: Lucyelle Cliffe’s lovely singing voice, the inventive songs penned by Alistair Smith and Chris Sharp’s hilarious suicide as Thisbe in the play within a play to name just three.

Also S P Howarth’s sly, mischievious Puck and Emma Burn’s Hermia, especially when enraged, stood out.

Great credit must go to Una Buckley for her direction. Despite some occasionally long costume changes the performance never flagged and it was obvious all the players were word perfect and well drilled. She also managed to incorporate genuinely funny slapstick without ever overdoing it. This is also the only Shakespearean play I’ve seen that managed to sneak in a blast of ‘Let’s get it on’ by Marvin Gaye.

The cast, without lighting, microphones or effects, and despite blustery winds and two rainstorms, did exactly what everyone should do when they perform Shakespeare. They trusted the words.

To be honest, in an ideal world, Shakespeare probably IS better when performed outdoors. And in an ideal world it would always be performed by British Touring Shakespeare.

Five stars by Dave Evans, 21/06/08

Camden New Journal reviews Bacchus In Rehab at the Etcetera Theatre:

It was billed as a “comedy romp” but is the entertainment intended or merely incidental?

This play has energy and enthusiasm, but is at times poor in terms of quality.

Bacchus, the God of Wine, is stripped of his status as a God due to his debauched lifestyle. However, in becoming mortal, he learns that his previous lifestyle was misguided, and that even a mortal can become “like a god” by living their life properly.

For something which sounds like a production with a strong moral message, the script was obscene to say the least.

Arbitrary and unnecessary use of sexually directed insults obstructed the flow of dialogue.

It was a stab at risqué humour but greater laughs came from the more slapstick comedy, impressively performed by a few members of the cast, in particular Jamie Hannon and Joseph Law.

By Joe Rennison 03/12/09

The Stage reviews Romeo and Juliet at Tabley House:

British Touring Shakespeare, this hard-working and innovative young troupe, is currently touring the castles and stately homes of some of the leafy purlieus of England, winning acclaim with this tailored, slightly truncated version of Romeo and Juliet.

Tabley House, a beautiful Palladian structure from the 1760s, provided an open air atmosphere breathtakingly dramatic, as dusk fell and shadows lengthened in perfect harmony with the unfolding of the tragic events. The forecourt before the huge portico made a natural stage, framed by two curved staircases at either end, leading up to what might have been designed for Juliet’s balcony.

Clementine Croft as the tender Juliet delighted the audience almost as much as the eye of Romeo, who was played in no effete manner by Chris Chambers. They looked good together, their chemistry was right and when they kissed for the last time had this ancient house ever witnessed a more poignant stretched second?

This was in every way an economical but reflective and romantic affair for which director Una Buckley and producer Andrew Hobbs – also doubling as the willing Benvolio and the haughty Paris – deserve full credit. They took some liberties, it has to be said, but got away with them. The fights were perfunctory affairs, over before they had started, which is not to take anything away from Gareth Rubin who made a suitably menacing Tybalt.

And, oh yes, Mercutio was a woman, played to perfection as a jesting virago by Alison Playford, the star of the show, who also excelled as the Nurse.

The sky was pitch-black when the monument scene arrived. The great house had been swallowed up, apart from the weirdly floodlit pillars of the portico, which had become a shadowy Greek temple. It did not seem to matter that Paris did not show at all or Robert Paul’s diffident Friar failed to return. We were witnessing tragedy at its best, alfresco and with the pungency of the night.

By Andrew Liddle 15/08/06