Carousel - Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

I'm guessing it's actually Mr Bascombe - the mill owner.

There is so much more to be explored thematically in the second half and perhaps if they'd cut Drew McOnie's self indulgent choreography by half they could have explored more symbolic ways of telling the story. The poles were a complete anchor on the second half - a distraction from the core action because of the time taken to plant them. Then, after a short lifetime of McOnie's fusion effort (looked like a bad improv session from my drama school days) the poles were removed. IT DOESN'T WORK.

What worked for JCS due to the angular arm sawing, flat hand movements etc to symbolise excess, fanaticism, obsession and idols, falls totally flat when you've eased your audience into accepting the gritty northernness of this new Carousel (though I heard Welsh, Tees, Coventry (obvs), Scots dialects, so God knows where it's meant to be set). Suddenly turning a group of working class folk into stylised dancers feels beyond far fetched. That said, I liked the way the story translated, it just didn't need such elaborate choreo.

What echoed for me was the differentiation: "I didn't beat her, I just hit her." The way the mental scars of domestic abuse were conveyed was very clever, allowing the characters to share their angst, anger, frustration, hurt. And, of course, the sad fact that the cycle appears to repeat until the chain is broken, the carousel stops spinning, or the human carousel of relationships throws you off the ride.

As a male who experienced domestic abuse from an ex-wife, this resonated with me. However,the whole show didn't go deep enough in the second half, choosing superficial over-stylised dance instead of character exploration. As a result, the audience probably doesn't care much by the end - for the story, outcome or characters.

What could improve it? More music - far too many flat spots for dialogue. Some of Tom Deering's orchestrations are fantastic (I hope they release the music) - they could do more. I usually like Tom Scutt's set design, but having the main exit and entry point at such a low height is going to result in more heads getting whacked. Pretty much every exit left me wondering how many times people have bashed themselves. Also, the exit ramp downstage right to Gangway 4 has a bit of a step down. I think the actors deserve to be able to enter and exit without fear of injury or a fall.

Highlights? The music, Joanna Riding, Declan Bennett. Lowlights? Choreography, messy second half, irregular cadence and no arc between beginning and end - this left a sense of audience indifference hanging in the drizzly night time air.

i'm not a purist at all, but some shows just don't work when people try to update them in some form.
Tim Sheader always tries to do something different with his shows, but not always successfully. I wonder how this will land with critics.

Drew Mc ‘one trick p’ Onie?

All of that endless modern interpretive daaaance is a right turn off for me.

I was interested in his Merlin at Northern Ballet but not after this

Or just an open mind.

On the floor.
I took a blanket when I was there.

I liked the poles.

Were there any more changes last night?

I don't think so from what's been described previously. 

I think further back is better due to the raised drum of the revolve. I'd hate to be front 3 rows for this.

Damn. I have row B booked for Mischief Movie Night In at the end of the month, which was fine last year, but I suppose they'll have to perform on the Carousel set this year. I suppose I'll have to resign myself to not seeing much (unless covid rates are still so high that I can't go, in which case I won't see anything).