Arts
No ordinary fairy-tale
Review of Der gestiefelte Kater presented by the University of Essex
German Drama Group at the Lakeside Theatre.
By Claudia Nehmzow, Department of Language and Linguistics
After four successful years, some of us are now already
waiting for it – the yearly German Drama Group’s performance. This year,
directed by Emma Hopper, the audience were treated to a performance which,
despite the title, was no ordinary fairy-tale, but a sophisticated play
with several layers.
It started off with a small on-stage English-speaking audience
presenting us with a revealing mirror-image of us as spectators, unveiling
our demanding and cynical attitude towards plays and fairy-tales. As is
said in the end, sometimes we have to forget all knowledge, and 'become
children again'. This fresh and childlike enjoyment was one approach to
the main action, a colourful presentation of the story of a peasant’s son,
wonderfully portrayed by Matthew Wright, and his worldly-wise cat,
impressively performed by Lucy Cunningham.
The cat informs the peasant boy that he will be king, and succeeds by
employing wit and insight into human nature and weakness. The king, played
with majestic dignity by Wolfgang Fauser, together with his daughter,
played by Jane Schäferhoff, is used by the play's author, Ludwig Tieck,
for another layer of interpretation, in criticising how nobility
romanticised nature without any insight into the plight of ordinary
country folk.
The German Drama Group has to be congratulated for their entertaining
performance and high language standard. I look forward to more German or
other foreign language productions.
A confident performance
Review of What the Butler Saw, a Centre For Theatre Studies MA
Contemporary Theatre Production at the Lakeside Theatre.
By Lucy Traube
Samantha Read's production of Joe Orton's, What The Butler
Saw, oozed with the results of hard work.
The young cast coped admirably with all the, kinky capers and erotic
excitement Orton so eloquently wrote in his absurd and hilarious play. A
credit to Read, the cast showed great control and confidence in their
performances, handling the comedy well. Although at times the momentum
seemed stilted, on the whole the first night nerves seemed to be buried in
the bottles of whiskey. Aaron Leary and Robin Watkins, playing Dr and Mrs
Prentice, both central to the action warmed into their roles as the play
progressed, successfully managing the difficult task of playing characters
beyond their years.
Dr Rance sparked an interesting interpretation by Mark Matthews.
Matthews' uncomfortable stage presence and intense glare initially seemed
a sign of nerves but as his character became increasingly mad and
manipulative, this uneasiness seemed to portray Dr Rance's existence
perfectly. Accident or intention, either way it seemed to work!
The set, designed and made by Read with a keen eye for detail, was a
very elaborate doctors surgery complete with a selection of ornate hanging
pictures and a whiskey bottle (or three…). Not forgetting the zebra print
doctor's couch. The revealing of this outrageous couch sparked an instant
giggle, one of the many laughs of the night.
A generous audience filled the Lakeside Theatre, a nice mix of students
and a splattering of blue rinses that kept anticipating the punch lines,
obviously familiar with the play.
Also in the printed March edition of Wyvern:
