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Latest items? Unedited? Fringe Report Uncut
Notes Across A Small Pond
Verdict: 3 new musical dramas
29 Oct - 15 Nov 03 Tues-Sun
Notes Across A Small Pond is three pieces of new musical theatre played by a cast of 8. The first two are from New York, each at 20 minutes - it's their British premiere. After an interval comes the third piece, the world premiere of a new piece of British writing.
Blood Drive. Whoever thought giving blood could be fun? When Nicola Hughes is on the recruiting posters, bursting out of a nurse's outfit that's more Soho that Chelsea & Westminster Hospital, it suddenly becomes a reason for potential donor Glen Wallace to leap out of bed (in the hope of leaping back in with Nurse Hughes). But hospital nurse Emma Bispham's seen it all before, and her world-weariness seems to have rubbed off onto the poster nurse herself. Can donor Wallace restore spirits, even though he's now a pint short of the red stuff?
The lively musical score, evenly distributed among the magnificent voices of the cast, includes Reason To Get Out Of Bed, Blood Like Burgundy Wine, and - highlight of the piece - the finale Change. It's a subtly-worded exploration of what we might become, if we dream, delivered in a fine piece of dramatic musical writing.
Credits: Blood Donor - Glen Wallace. Nasty Nurse - Emma Bispham. Poster Nurse - Nicola Hughes. Music by Joel Derfner. Words by Rachel Sheinkin.
The Happiness Of Fish. Poor Flora Flower (Wendy Mae Brown) is stuck in bed with two hunky men. Trouble is, they're not real - they're the spirits who haunt her insomnia. Flap (Cornelius Macarthy) and Flip (Rodger Dunklee) dance and sing delightfully, as identically dressed as Tweedle Dum & Dee, in bowlers and smart waistcoats, but they don't half give Flora a nasty night. MC Richard Hartley comperes her night of waking torment, assisted by sexy spectre Osnat Schmool in such a short red skirt that she might be found more conventionally in quite a different sort of dream. She's nasty to Flora too. In fact the only person who isn't nasty to Flora is her pet goldfish, providing the top song of the piece, The Happiness of Fish. It's sung delightfully by Wendy Mae Brown, assisted by her tormentors.
Other songs include Insomnia, Life With Flora, and the almost unbearably poignant Sadness ('Sadness is a figure / who lives inside my house').
Credits: Flora - Wendy Mae Brown. Flap - Cornelius Macarthy. Flip - Rodger Dunklee. Interviewer - Osnat Schmool. MC - Richard Hartley. Music by Mary Lloyd-Butler. Book & Lyrics by Mindi Dickstein.
Re: Love. Eight people - four men and four women - are seen passing through a year. Six are already or shortly paired off, two remain single. Will lonely Dani (Nicola Hughes) and Mathew (Richard Hartley) unite and find love together. Being a musical, the odds are stacked on this particular result. But what about the couple from Liverpool? Steve (Glen Wallace) looks unhappy, and Hayley (Emma Bispham) looks resolute. How will she face the world alone?
Re: Love is a capella, or to spell it out, without instrumental accompaniment. One of the joys of extended a capella is to hear the cast drift progressively out of tune, but this eight are far too smart for that (and probably carry concealed tuning forks). From start to end their pitch is perfect, their fabulous voices matching Osnat Schmool's fiendishly complex notation. Each of the cast dances with grace and elegance, and Ace McCarron's creative lighting design catches and defines each transient mood with élan.
The song segments include In A Moment, with its complex interweaving voices; the ultra-romantic 'Darling It's You' - a sensual highlight danced and sung by Osnat Schmool (in another very short skirt - perhaps she has a small wardrobe) and Cornelius Macarthy supported by the cast; Can You See Me?, with a heart-wrenching lead vocal from Emma Bispham. There's a magnificent piece of writing, the powerful There Is A Winter In Me ('there is a winter in me / and there's no longer any sun from you'). I Know I'm Hopelessly Surrounded By Your Heart follows; and the piece ends with Now You're Here In This Moment.
Credits: Sophie - Wendy Mae Brown. Patrick - Rodger Dunklee. Maria - Osnat Schmool. Jo - Cornelius Macarthy. Hayley - Emma Bispham. Steve - Glen Wallace. Dani - Nicola Hughes. Mathew - Richard Hartley. Music & Lyrics by Osnat Schmool.
Three excellent pieces of new writing, thoroughly enjoyable theatre, and cutting-edge. The fact they're taking place at all is due to a national asset that's about to plunge into the abyss. The Bridewell Theatre faces a rent rise from zero to £100k per year, due to a change in the Corporation of London's priorities.
Measured against, for example, the illegal invasion of Iraq, the loss of a theatre may lack the outward appearance of tragedy. But the Bridewell Theatre is no ordinary theatre. Put simply, it's the cradle of the British musical. Musicals are by far the most popular shows in the West End, and huge earners of foreign currency. But the writers start poor and unloved. The Bridewell Theatre scoops up impoverished waifs and strays from the top music and drama schools round the country, such as the Royal Academy of Music, nurtures their talent, and puts on what are often their first productions. The public has the thrill of seeing the magnificent work of these hugely exciting young artistes.
A Parliamentary Sub-Committee (fortunately not the one that killed Dr David Kelly) is mulling over the matter - yes, it's that important. You can read the Evidence submitted by The Bridewell Theatre here, on the Houses of Parliament website.
Currently, The Bridewell Theatre is facing drama's lavatory. A visit to the remarkable Notes Across A Small Pond shows why it would be a bad idea to pull the chain.
Company Credits: Director - Carol Metcalfe. Musical Director / Pianist - Dean Austin. Designer - Kate Bannister & Karl Swinyard. Choreographer - Sabina Netherclift. Lighting Designer - Ace McCarron. Sound Design - Tony Gayle. Casting - Omar F Okai. Producer - Tim Sawers. Production Manager - Tim Hardy. Stage Manager - Roshni Savjani. Technical Stage Manager - Tom Cousins. Assistant Lighting Designers - Sally Harrison & Abi Wadham. Wardrobe Mistress - Emily Rushton. Production Assistant - Alex McNamara. Company Administrator - Fleur Thomas.
END
John Park
reviewed
Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2012
www.fringereport.com
