Blood and Ice (Mary Shelley and Frankenstein)

A play about the creator of Frankenstein would seem an excellent way to spend an evening here in deepest darkest Larkhall... For three nights only Rondo Theatre Company Productions’ ‘Blood and Ice’ by Liz Lochhead directed by Lisa Thrower explores the tumultuous and tragic life of Mary Shelley and the extraordinary people who influenced her.
The core of the story is the infamous summer of 1816, the ‘Year without a Summer’ when eighteen-year-old Mary Shelley nee Godwin (Bex Key), her lover the poet Percy Bysshe Shelly (Tim Hounsome), and her step-sister Clare Clairmont (Lucy Brownhill) were joined by Lord Byron (Matt Nation) at the Shelleys home on shores of Lake Geneva Switzerland. As a means of entertaining themselves during the largely dreary weather, Byron issued a legendary challenge to see who could write the most terrifying ghost story. Mary’s answer was Frankenstein, published anonymously in 1818. While the play looks back at this particular summer we are invited to watch events where Mary is haunted by her own creation, racked by guilt at events and scandals that surrounded her romance with Shelley, and the many tragedies that followed. Through flashbacks and dream-like soliloquies Mary takes us to a time when she was passionate and idealistic in stark contrast to a present where she is near broken, grief-stricken and completely demoralised.
Lochhead’s play revised numerous times since its first production in 1982 had me googling some fascinating facts and historic figures as soon as I got back to the DeafboyOne cave! What’s more, these are people who seem to have epitomised the conflict between intellectual fervour gone mad and the skewing of social norms for the period. These were the original New Romantics, the New Enlightment figures of their time. These cerebral explorers lived their lives of sex, drugs and passionate philosophical discussion. "It was a world where men played around, women got pregnant and everyone died..." 

This Gothic production does not disappoint. The play follows the story of the foursome to the death of both Byron and Shelley, and beyond to Mary's struggle in understanding why she wrote the horrifying Frankenstein. The play is a rollercoaster of events and emotions, and what is perhaps most impressive is that Bex Key, on stage during the entire two hour run of the show, manages to sustain an incredible amount of energy and focus throughout. While the other characters run in and out of scenes, Mary is the show's emotional core, and anchors the action as well as driving its progression.
Tim Hounsomes' portrayal of Shelley is part comic part pathos yet thrilling. From the moment Shelley comes on stage (wrapped in a table cloth, much to Mary's chagrin), his presence demands the attention of the audience. His good-natured camaraderie and easygoing attitude toward each of the calamities that confront the party of four over the course of the evening make it easy to see why the younger Mary would have been willing elope with a married man whose wife and children were back in England.
The jaded, cynical Lord Byron played by Matt Nation spends much of his time lecturing the others,  his oratorical debates, his outrageousness exemplified by his Richard 111rd type stoop and his delight in having a code of rules to flout like spittle in the face of innocence, you would almost believe Marys' Frankenstein was inspired by this monster of the intellect... Byron himself.
The fourth member of the group is Mary's half-sister Claire, played by Lucy Brownhill. Claire is the dippy self seeker in this group; she alternates as Mary's confidant and as Byron's plaything,  Lucy is able to lift Claire's petulant naïveté into something more pointed and focussed.
Finally, the cast is filled out by Alexia Jones, who plays Elise the young maid employed by the Shelley's in their travels. Alexia spends very little time on stage, but manages to make the most of the appearances - and it's remarkable to see the transformation undergone by the initially timid Elise, who in the end makes the point that Mary's high-minded ideals are deeply rooted in both hypocrisy and class divides.
A word of mention too for the Rondo Crew. Excellent 'period piece' hair by Charlotte Howard, simple and effective attention to detail by Peter Boddy, ASM by Angela Boddy, Sound by Paul Olding, excellent period costume by Christine Fryers and last but by no means least Lisa Thrower - excellent Director whose theatre programme notes include a request which I will repeat here...
"During the run of Blood and Ice we are collecting for the Prader-Willi Syndrome Association.
This is something particularly close to the heart of the Director of this production whose niece was born with PWS last summer."  Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS) is a genetic abnormality causing physical and learning disabilities throughout life. Individuals with PWS are challenged by almost constant feelings of hunger, together with immature physical and emotional development. It could be said that those with PWS live in an untreatable near permanent state of hunger. Their website is
www.pwsa.co.uk Registered Charity 284583

Blood and Ice
By Liz Lochhead
28th – 31st March 2012
8:00pm
The Rondo
St Saviours Road
Larkhall, Bath BA1 6RT

Regards DeafboyOne

Murder we wrote...

Move over Dahrlink...
Come into my world for a second would you...?
Its a sultry grey summers day in June 1926... the 8th of June to be exact... Newspaper headlines tell me Thomas Edison has just died in his sleep, Al Capones been convicted by a Jury... and I receive tickets for 'Summertime Surprise' starring Miss Daisy Duncan and Funny Freddy Finlay with The Duncan Dancers, Magic Bruce Meeres, The Flying Turnbulls, Carol Brunt and her Performing Puppies, the Andy Nobes Orchestra and Miss Violet Radcliffe... at the 1805 Club Theatre Royal Bath... to commence no later than 7.30pm prompt that evening...

So with top hat and tails I saunter off down ye olde London Road for a gander of events which  includes evening supper, couple of glasses of red and a damn good chin wag with friends... Its all going to be a jolly good 'do' I surmise... When I arrive everyone is dressed up in latest 1920s fashion garb... fabulous... there were feather boas, girls in pearls and flapper dresses... and the latest sensation... one Daisy Duncan... the new "starlet" so her agent tells me... looked absolutely divine flashing her sparkling smile and fluttering those twinkling eyes...
Her Agent being none other than Archie Mulloy Junior... a loud American intent on making money out of the new invention 'Talkies'... Daisy remaining absolutely fabulous in every conceivable way of course... Little did I know the events that were about to unfold...

It was a Murder Mystery evening you see... the suspects were as follows... Daisy Duncan- Starlet... Archie Mulloy Jr - Agent... Charles De Montford - Investor... Lady Lydia Ponsonby - Fiance of Charles... Cyril Prenderghast - Agent... and Violet Radcliffe - Star... Each character came amongst us... communicated their musings and we found it amusing... it was good to share... The Menu: Pork and cider stew with an apple mash and seasonal vegetables followed by profiteroles under a warm dark chocolate sauce... I must say... we were salivating...

The plot unfolded before our very eyes.... Watching carefully I saw clues dropping like flies throughout the evening... We could question the suspects as much as we wished... but were advised not to believe anything communicated... At the end of the evening we were asked in turn, by table, to give our reasons for why the MURDER (that we were witness to!) had taken place, how and by whom... it was absolutely bloomin marvellous! Hear Hear... So looking forward to the next Interactive Murder Evening...
                                   THE SEVERAL UNUSUAL SUSPECTS OF THE NIGHT...

                           DAISY DUNCAN a loveable narcissicist who demands your attention...

                                CYRIL PRENDERGHAST the ebullient Gatecrasher...

CAPTIVE AUDIENCE MEMBERS STEVE AND MARJORIE...

     VIOLET RADCLIFFE an uninvited star in her own right with a distinctive singing voice...

                  LADY LYDIA PONSONBY dripping with jewels the impatient fiance...

                      CHARLES DE MONTFORD wheeler dealer investor extraordinaire...

 
ARCHIE MULLOY JR loud brash American dragging the world into 20th Century with his talkies...

CONCLUSION...
Set in the 1920s, the plot revolved around the theatrical lives of actors, dancers, singers and their agents. Murder had never been such fun... Fancy dress was optional but welcomed and could be as simple as a feather in the hair for the ladies or a bow-tie for the gents… Keep your eyes peeled for the next Interactive Murder Evening at 1805 Rooms Theatre Royal Bath. Simply homicidal!

Do come again... Murder has never been so much fun...move over dahrlink...

Regards DeafboyOne

Venue Magazine: FLARE PATH

Venue Magazine: FLARE PATH: You should have been there to experience that emotionally charged night. Flare Path had all the ingredients - the tense wartime setting, t...

Venue Magazine: FLARE PATH

Venue Magazine: FLARE PATH: You should have been there to experience that emotionally charged night. Flare Path had all the ingredients - the tense wartime setting, t...

FLARE PATH

You should have been there to experience that emotionally charged night. Flare Path had all the ingredients - the tense wartime setting, the bombers flying overhead, the romantic love triangle, and the knowledge that it was actually penned in 1941, when the fate of Britain was as yet unknown. The individual R.A.F. Officers were the real unsung heroes: for every 100 personnel flying out, only 24 made it to the end of a tour. The Centenary celebrations of Rattigan this year have seen renewed interest in his plays. Flare Path deservedly having the highest profile due to the enormously successful revival in the West End version. Here at The Rondo in Larkhall Bath, Mike Taylor's production has been meticulously researched to ensure that everything was right for the period - you would have been there... transported back to the Falcon Hotel Lincolnshire, war torn England 1941.

It's a cloistered little world here in Larkhall and, wandering suavely in one evening, Matt Nation's aging matinée idol might as well have been from another planet. Certainly that's how Doris (Louise Wallace), a dotty barmaid married to a Polish count stationed on the base, receives him, clucking in delight at this celluloid vision made flesh. But when she shushes him so she can listen to a plane pass by, it's the first hint that Peter's plans to fly in and dazzle his ex-lover may encounter turbulence.

Of course it's partly wartime propaganda: Peter is the cosseted cad, his failings exposed by the R.A.F. 'lads'. But there's so much more to Rattigan than that, and Taylor's poignant production is alive to to the plays' bittersweet textures. What Doris and Teddy know and Patricia and Peter come to learn, is that for all life's myriad subtleties, sometimes there is no option but to exist only in black and white. It's a lesson Matt Nation's Peter finally learns in a moving flood of tears. And it's a way of life that Wallace's Doris lives to the full. From the way she expresses her hurt at a snide comment only via a look in her eyes as she exits, to the gravitas she injects into to the saccharine ending, there's an ocean of feeling behind her cheery façade.

Patricia Graham's inner conflict feels tangible as she tries to contain the emotional roller coaster welling up inside her. The killer 'app' of Teddys' phrase 'Moral fibre' finally spills over her into a bright lustre of love for a man she barely knew, and so Peters fate was sealed.
Elsewhere, I loved Paul Olding's Italianesque Polish pilot whose stumbling vocabulary tickled the rib cage with gusto. Taylor's production is very good, and mention should go to some fine supporting turns from Bobbie Tan, Andrew Fletcher, Michael Comba, Carenza Ellery and Steve Curtis.

The whole production team should be praised for their efforts in creating such an authentic platform from which Flare Path was launched. The attention to detail was subtle and eye catching from the stage management of Tony Wood, lighting and design operation of Tony White, the sound designs from Paul Olding, lighting and sound operation from Adrian and Ros Cottle, the Set by Northend Productions, Properties Bobbie Tan, production assistance from Sally Collins, Costumes by Chrissy Fryers to the hair by Charlotte Howard.

For me the evening beautifully captured both the sense of danger and its boozy, raucous aftermath. The performances were impeccable. Harriet Pocock looked suitably strained, tense and taut as the agonised Patricia. Matt Nation admirably conveys the sense of exclusion felt by the movie star caught up in wartime action. You could feel the tears welling up as he hesitatingly translates to the Countess (Louise Wallace) whose features light up as she learns how much she was loved by her missing-in-action husband. Rob Dawsons' performance is nothing short of serene despite the emotional turmoil surrounding him and the atmospherics generated in the one to one scenes of each of the participants was frankly electric. You should have been there...

DeafboyOne

FAB! Fringe Arts Bath

FAB! FRINGE ARTS BATH

Bath's Annual Fringe Visual Arts Festival for RNID's Workshop 
starts Friday 27th May 10am until Sunday 12th June 2011




Come and see the exhibition at RNID’s workshop (Royal National Institute for the Deaf)
created by Deaf adults whose work will be on display throughout the festival including weekends.

Based at the RNID Workshop
(at the bottom of the Wells Road next to Great Western Wine)
Bath BA2 3AP.









Ffi 01225 339860 sms 07753580397 or email bathworkshop@rnid.org.uk
or call in during weekdays 10am til 4pm Monday to Friday.  
The Exhibition commences 10am Friday 27th May including weekends 
until Sunday 12th June 2011