I was last in the centre of Manchester some 15 months' ago, back in March 2020. It was raining; and so how fitting that rain should welcome my return to the city centre today. Fortunately the production I had gone to see, The Global Playground, presented by Theatre-Rites as part of this year's Manchester International Festival, was indoors, in a large room converted especially for the purpose, inside The Great Northern Warehouse.
Live theatre may be back, but not as we know it Jim. There are still far too many unoccupied seats, having to leave them free to comply with social distancing; there is still the compulsory mask-wearing throughout, and of course, we all have to do the 'Track And Trace' thing too, just in case...! And as great as is it (and it truly is) to be back watching live theatre again, these things dampen the experience and lessen the atmosphere, whether we care to admit it or not.
Live theatre may be back, but not as we know it Jim. There are still far too many unoccupied seats, having to leave them free to comply with social distancing; there is still the compulsory mask-wearing throughout, and of course, we all have to do the 'Track And Trace' thing too, just in case...! And as great as is it (and it truly is) to be back watching live theatre again, these things dampen the experience and lessen the atmosphere, whether we care to admit it or not.
The stage was set. A black box space... but in the round. A large black circular stage had been carefully erected in the centre of this vast room, and the only set were an array of film studio lights: softbox lanterns, keys and fillers, umbrella reflectors etc. A drum kit and the techie's box were high up on one side of the room whilst two large cinema-style screens dominted the back walls of two of the other sides of the room. I really liked this - it created interest and the way the story was going to be told was impossible to guess from just this. A blank canvas so to speak. The one thing which I did find uncomfortable was that we were seated on rather rickety wooden benches with no back support, which, for a whole 75 minutes was just about doable before my poor back started to ache.
The production itself, directed by Sue Buckmaster, was a rather odd and disjointed affair. Suitable, we are told, for age 8 years and upwards, and having a few of that age group present in the audience this morning,I was able to watch them and notice that there was precious little in there to sustain their interests completely. In fact I really could not decide what "genre" this production wanted to fit into.. since it tried to fit into 'filming workshop', 'dance show', 'Muscial', 'comedy', 'contemporary theatre', 'multi-media presentation', but sadly fell short on all counts.
The premise of the production is actually quite a good one, and one which, if taken to it's logical conclusion, would and could have been extremely funny and slapstick, and had us all rolling in the aisles. A young film-maker has been asked to make a dance film and some of his friends come along to his studio to dance for him whilst he films it: however, his camera, which is totally anthropomorphised and is given a voice and mind of her own, has other ideas, she has mischief in mind. Sadly, whatever comedy there was, was very low key and too seldom to have any lasting impact, and the only time when the children really came alive was when an 'Avenue Q' style puppet called Terry came from America to sing a 'Sesame Street' style song for us. This was actually the most successful moment in the whole show I felt.
The central character of Sean (Sean Garrett), a hapless anti-hero who tries to film the dances with varying degrees of success, was a very personable and easy-to-watch performer. Obviously very talented and had a lovely rapport with the audience. The live music was supplied by Merlin Jones - although I didn't understand why sometimes it was pre-recorded, sometimes live and sometimes an odd mix of the two. Jones however proved to be a hugely proficient percussionist and his presence on the stage as a cast member was a nice idea. The dancers were Annie Edwards, Kennedy Junior Muntanga, Charmene Pang, Jahmarley Bachelor, and an onscreen video appearance from Thulani Chauke.
It took a long while - too long - to get into its stride this morning, and it was only really during and after the appearance of puppet Terry that the audience were more lively and joined in with laughter and clapping the dance rhythms. Many of the sequences were overlong, adding little or nothing to the storyline, and a good balance between story, artistry and comedy, sadly was not found.
It took a long while - too long - to get into its stride this morning, and it was only really during and after the appearance of puppet Terry that the audience were more lively and joined in with laughter and clapping the dance rhythms. Many of the sequences were overlong, adding little or nothing to the storyline, and a good balance between story, artistry and comedy, sadly was not found.
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 3.7.21
No comments:
Post a Comment