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Various Shows are Looked at in The Arts Desk's Theatre Reviews
A fascinating report on artistic dissent in Malaysia is looked at in The Arts Desk's theatre reviews, and a double dose of Terence Rattigan and a production that passes its MOT with flying colours also features.
The covert crack down on artistic freedom and dissident voices in Malaysia is reported by Terry Friel for The Arts Desk in Kuala Lumpur feature. Despite the constant risk of arrest, the discussions and art exhibitions at the Annexe Gallery in the city's Art Deco Central Market criticise and ask questions and calls itself an arts centre that dares to speak out.
As part of The Arts Desk's MOT, The Globe, one of the most famous London theatres, played host to Howard Brenton's 'Anne Boleyn'. The story mixes history with fantasy, as various liberties are taken with the truth. The show is incredibly fun, although it does border on comedy theatre at times and even farce at one point.
The documentary 'The Rattigan Enigma' on BBC Four, was an absorbing survey of the playwright's life and work. The question of whether he is a middlebrow writer whose privileged upper-middle-class perspective alienates the average audience or instead is being deservedly lauded as a national theatre treasure was posed by the programme. Rattigan was both a social insider and an emotional outsider and he emerged as being a truly chameleonic figure.
Two more contrasting Rattigan plays that added to the debate were seen at the Chichester Festival Theatre. With an emphasis on characters subtly exposing their concealments and disappointments, 'The Deep Blue Sea' is classic Rattigan. 'Rattigan's Nijinsky' however, Nicholas Wright's companion piece, was pale in comparison. It incorporates an unproduced script wrote by Rattigan about the Ballets Russes dancer Nijinsky, into his own drama about why Rattigan then pulled the script with no explanation. The tone was quite alien to Rattigan's own and the theatrical gameplaying unfortunately outdid the characterisation.
The covert crack down on artistic freedom and dissident voices in Malaysia is reported by Terry Friel for The Arts Desk in Kuala Lumpur feature. Despite the constant risk of arrest, the discussions and art exhibitions at the Annexe Gallery in the city's Art Deco Central Market criticise and ask questions and calls itself an arts centre that dares to speak out.
As part of The Arts Desk's MOT, The Globe, one of the most famous London theatres, played host to Howard Brenton's 'Anne Boleyn'. The story mixes history with fantasy, as various liberties are taken with the truth. The show is incredibly fun, although it does border on comedy theatre at times and even farce at one point.
The documentary 'The Rattigan Enigma' on BBC Four, was an absorbing survey of the playwright's life and work. The question of whether he is a middlebrow writer whose privileged upper-middle-class perspective alienates the average audience or instead is being deservedly lauded as a national theatre treasure was posed by the programme. Rattigan was both a social insider and an emotional outsider and he emerged as being a truly chameleonic figure.
Two more contrasting Rattigan plays that added to the debate were seen at the Chichester Festival Theatre. With an emphasis on characters subtly exposing their concealments and disappointments, 'The Deep Blue Sea' is classic Rattigan. 'Rattigan's Nijinsky' however, Nicholas Wright's companion piece, was pale in comparison. It incorporates an unproduced script wrote by Rattigan about the Ballets Russes dancer Nijinsky, into his own drama about why Rattigan then pulled the script with no explanation. The tone was quite alien to Rattigan's own and the theatrical gameplaying unfortunately outdid the characterisation.
About the Author:
Steve Alexander is an arts writer and has a good knowledge of the best comedy theatre in the UK. For more reviews from the London theatres, visit theartsdesk.com.