Post by Lynda on Jan 20, 2009 8:59:04 GMT
Oliver!
Published Thursday 15 January 2009 at 11:25 by Lisa Martland
On the surface no expense has been spared in this much-anticipated staging of Lionel Bart’s Oliver!, a reinvention of Sam Mendes’ 1994 Palladium production. However, along the way one vital investment has been neglected, and that is in the dramatic and emotional depth of the piece.
Rowan Atkinson (Fagin) in Oliver! at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, London
Photo: Tristram Kenton
From the moment rows and rows of workhouse children approach the stage from all directions - even via the orchestra pit - to sing Food Glorious Food, there is no doubting the show’s high-class production values. Anthony Ward’s multi-level set design, so intrinsically linked to the flow of the story, is simply made for a space with the breadth and depth of Drury Lane. Whether creating the dingy underground hideout of Fagin, Dodger and gang or the atmospheric hustle and bustle of London streets, his contribution is a hit.
And yet the same compliments can not so easily be aimed at Rupert Goold - along with his co-director/choreographer Matthew Bourne - who bring the action on at such a pace that characters become sketches and the building up of relationships is sacrificed. Consequently, while individual performances impress, they can come across as just that, rather than part of a dramatic whole.
Winner of BBC1’s I’d Do Anything, Jodie Prenger proves herself deserving of the role of Nancy, and her passion during As Long As He Needs Me cannot be denied. But we see so little of an onstage relationship between Nancy and Burn Gorman’s brooding, edgy Bill Sikes, that the number fails to properly pull on the heartstrings. While genuinely amusing, Rowan Atkinson’s Fagin is more of an individual comic turn than a dramatic portrayal. On this occasion Harry Stott as Oliver was joined by Ross McCormack’s Artful Dodger. Both are charming, but again appear to work on one emotional level. Where is Oliver’s inner joy and elation, for example, as he takes in his brand new world for the Who Will Buy? sequence?
With such huge advance sales, this production is likely to be critic-proof to some extent. There is also no doubt that it will tick all the right boxes for many of those who have already booked their seats (admittedly, Bourne’s work with the ensemble in some of the big production numbers like Consider Yourself has huge energy). Whether it will have the same emotional effect that the show originally had on producer Cameron Mackintosh in 1960, is a different question altogether.
c. The Stage
Published Thursday 15 January 2009 at 11:25 by Lisa Martland
On the surface no expense has been spared in this much-anticipated staging of Lionel Bart’s Oliver!, a reinvention of Sam Mendes’ 1994 Palladium production. However, along the way one vital investment has been neglected, and that is in the dramatic and emotional depth of the piece.
Rowan Atkinson (Fagin) in Oliver! at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, London
Photo: Tristram Kenton
From the moment rows and rows of workhouse children approach the stage from all directions - even via the orchestra pit - to sing Food Glorious Food, there is no doubting the show’s high-class production values. Anthony Ward’s multi-level set design, so intrinsically linked to the flow of the story, is simply made for a space with the breadth and depth of Drury Lane. Whether creating the dingy underground hideout of Fagin, Dodger and gang or the atmospheric hustle and bustle of London streets, his contribution is a hit.
And yet the same compliments can not so easily be aimed at Rupert Goold - along with his co-director/choreographer Matthew Bourne - who bring the action on at such a pace that characters become sketches and the building up of relationships is sacrificed. Consequently, while individual performances impress, they can come across as just that, rather than part of a dramatic whole.
Winner of BBC1’s I’d Do Anything, Jodie Prenger proves herself deserving of the role of Nancy, and her passion during As Long As He Needs Me cannot be denied. But we see so little of an onstage relationship between Nancy and Burn Gorman’s brooding, edgy Bill Sikes, that the number fails to properly pull on the heartstrings. While genuinely amusing, Rowan Atkinson’s Fagin is more of an individual comic turn than a dramatic portrayal. On this occasion Harry Stott as Oliver was joined by Ross McCormack’s Artful Dodger. Both are charming, but again appear to work on one emotional level. Where is Oliver’s inner joy and elation, for example, as he takes in his brand new world for the Who Will Buy? sequence?
With such huge advance sales, this production is likely to be critic-proof to some extent. There is also no doubt that it will tick all the right boxes for many of those who have already booked their seats (admittedly, Bourne’s work with the ensemble in some of the big production numbers like Consider Yourself has huge energy). Whether it will have the same emotional effect that the show originally had on producer Cameron Mackintosh in 1960, is a different question altogether.
c. The Stage