The Scarlet Pimpernel (UK Tour, TABS Productions)
Aug 1, 2018 21:26:05 GMT
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wickedgrin likes this
Post by SageStageMgr on Aug 1, 2018 21:26:05 GMT
Cheap national tour of classic story, new treatment by Louise Page.
Saw this at Eastbourne Devonshire Park Theatre tonight, along with 52 others in the stalls (I counted when I got bored). Still a great original story, confusingly told in this adaptation, with no clue of genre identity throughout and limited understanding of pacing.
Production values are low; one set throughout, augmented by crates and boxes and a tinfoil standing mirror(!). Scene changes take forever, done by cast as quickly as they can, but involves putting the brakes on said wheeled crates, which gets laborious to watch by the third time.
Features a fantastically bizarre array of regional accents; RP, ‘Allo ‘Allo French, Yorkshire, Northern Ireland... it’s all very strange, even allowing for translation convention. It is particularly confusing when, the Scarlet Pimpernel is en route for Yorkshire, and instead spirits away to France (near Lille, apparently)... only to be greeted by the Thenardiéresque innkeepers, complete with broad Yorkshire accents.
Sadly, the audience didn’t enjoy this one. The traditionally older audience had problems hearing what was said throughout as the volume was ear-strainingly low throughout, despite the performers being mic’d. There were a few audible heckles from a younger couple (who didn’t return for the second Act), and a gentleman softly snored from the 30 minute mark or so, in the second row. Which can’t have helped the actors. No matter how poor a production, this seemed disrespectful, even if the guy was clearly no spring chicken.
Along with the weird accents (it’s like in the rehearsal room, the director said to the cast “what accents can you do?” with no thoughts of whether they made any sense), the costumes seemed to be off-the-shelf tat and the wigs... well... the tiny size of the cast do double/triple duty and usually their different characters were signposted by wearing a different, but equally ill-fitting rug, balanced precariously on top of their head.
In one early scene, an actress, clearly in her mid-20’s at most, appears in a grey wig delivering a strong northern Irish and a slight hunch. No effort was made to disguise her appearance apart from this. It felt enormously village hall am dram.
Remembering this is a professional tour of full price touring theatre, where £17 buys you a restricted view seat at the very rear of the stalls, £5/£10 more will get a seat somewhere with an equal view at most West end shows with far more money gone into them. I appreciate though this is a smaller scale play and they must charge what they do to have even a hope of breaking even. But when building hire costs and all the extra costs are so high, combined with a terrible (at least, at this venue) sales return, they couldn’t have charged less. That said, this production, like so many poor tours, is not worth £25.
Badly written, dumb.
Saw this at Eastbourne Devonshire Park Theatre tonight, along with 52 others in the stalls (I counted when I got bored). Still a great original story, confusingly told in this adaptation, with no clue of genre identity throughout and limited understanding of pacing.
Production values are low; one set throughout, augmented by crates and boxes and a tinfoil standing mirror(!). Scene changes take forever, done by cast as quickly as they can, but involves putting the brakes on said wheeled crates, which gets laborious to watch by the third time.
Features a fantastically bizarre array of regional accents; RP, ‘Allo ‘Allo French, Yorkshire, Northern Ireland... it’s all very strange, even allowing for translation convention. It is particularly confusing when, the Scarlet Pimpernel is en route for Yorkshire, and instead spirits away to France (near Lille, apparently)... only to be greeted by the Thenardiéresque innkeepers, complete with broad Yorkshire accents.
Sadly, the audience didn’t enjoy this one. The traditionally older audience had problems hearing what was said throughout as the volume was ear-strainingly low throughout, despite the performers being mic’d. There were a few audible heckles from a younger couple (who didn’t return for the second Act), and a gentleman softly snored from the 30 minute mark or so, in the second row. Which can’t have helped the actors. No matter how poor a production, this seemed disrespectful, even if the guy was clearly no spring chicken.
Along with the weird accents (it’s like in the rehearsal room, the director said to the cast “what accents can you do?” with no thoughts of whether they made any sense), the costumes seemed to be off-the-shelf tat and the wigs... well... the tiny size of the cast do double/triple duty and usually their different characters were signposted by wearing a different, but equally ill-fitting rug, balanced precariously on top of their head.
In one early scene, an actress, clearly in her mid-20’s at most, appears in a grey wig delivering a strong northern Irish and a slight hunch. No effort was made to disguise her appearance apart from this. It felt enormously village hall am dram.
Remembering this is a professional tour of full price touring theatre, where £17 buys you a restricted view seat at the very rear of the stalls, £5/£10 more will get a seat somewhere with an equal view at most West end shows with far more money gone into them. I appreciate though this is a smaller scale play and they must charge what they do to have even a hope of breaking even. But when building hire costs and all the extra costs are so high, combined with a terrible (at least, at this venue) sales return, they couldn’t have charged less. That said, this production, like so many poor tours, is not worth £25.
Badly written, dumb.