The Madwoman of Chaillot
Mon, 10 Dec 2007, 07:59 amGordon the Optom1 post in thread
The Madwoman of Chaillot
Mon, 10 Dec 2007, 07:59 amIt is the late 1920s and a street accordionist is playing to the customers outside Café Francis, a typical Left Bank café owned by Countess Aurelia (Magda Szubanski) and run by Irma (Melinda Butel) and barman (Bert LaBonte). They overhear the local crime Baron (Kerry Walker) discussing with a stranger, known as the Prospector (Julie Forsyth), a new money making scheme. The Prospector suspects massive oil deposits under the city of Paris just waiting to be harvested and the centre of the oil field is immediately below Aurelia’s café.
The second act is situated in Aurelia’s subterranean bat cave home. Plans are being drawn up to overcome the looming threat of inner city oil wells, and so it is the locals versus the powerful Baron. Is the Mad Woman as mad as she seems? Will her scheme and Ragpicker’s (Mitchell Butel) brilliant case for the prosecution work to save the poor people of Paris?
The opening set (Stephen Curtis) of the café and the bustling street is jaw dropping. There are the general public, the police sergeant (Alex Menglet), the Clouseau-like gendarme (Greg Stone), flower girl (Melissa Chambers) and the talented street juggler and mime artist (Sam Hryckow). The first act is reminiscent of the BBC’s ‘Hello, hello’ but here we have a beautifully written translation, filled with humour and excitement. The cast has about twelve members but each one doubles or trebles up so that we see around three dozen VERY different characters. Different sex, makeup, costumes, body language, accents it is very difficult to spot which actor is performing so good are the transformations. The last act has around 6 costume changes every 3 minutes, life behind the scenes must have been a nightmare – but it worked magnificently.
The lighting, scenery and visual and auditory effects are brilliant, with a great deal of care being given to the costumes and the minor props to re-enforce the period and location.
Magda, who was flippant in the first half, developed a character extremely like the old favourite Dame Margaret Rutherford as she appeared in the film series ‘Murder at the …’, I suspect this was based upon ‘…the Gallop’. Her rich expressions and plotting mind were fantastic. However, was she actually the maddest woman? Perhaps her good friends Mademoiselle Gabrielle (Julie Forsyth, again) and Madame Constance (Sue Ingleton) who call for tea, can be classed as even more insane.
An outstanding show, very cleverly conceived by the director Simon Phillips. If you get the chance to see it, grab it with both hands.
It is the late 1920s and a street accordionist is playing to the customers outside Café Francis, a typical Left Bank café owned by Countess Aurelia (Magda Szubanski) and run by Irma (Melinda Butel) and barman (Bert LaBonte). They overhear the local crime Baron (Kerry Walker) discussing with a stranger, known as the Prospector (Julie Forsyth), a new money making scheme. The Prospector suspects massive oil deposits under the city of Paris just waiting to be harvested and the centre of the oil field is immediately below Aurelia’s café.
The second act is situated in Aurelia’s subterranean bat cave home. Plans are being drawn up to overcome the looming threat of inner city oil wells, and so it is the locals versus the powerful Baron. Is the Mad Woman as mad as she seems? Will her scheme and Ragpicker’s (Mitchell Butel) brilliant case for the prosecution work to save the poor people of Paris?
The opening set (Stephen Curtis) of the café and the bustling street is jaw dropping. There are the general public, the police sergeant (Alex Menglet), the Clouseau-like gendarme (Greg Stone), flower girl (Melissa Chambers) and the talented street juggler and mime artist (Sam Hryckow). The first act is reminiscent of the BBC’s ‘Hello, hello’ but here we have a beautifully written translation, filled with humour and excitement. The cast has about twelve members but each one doubles or trebles up so that we see around three dozen VERY different characters. Different sex, makeup, costumes, body language, accents it is very difficult to spot which actor is performing so good are the transformations. The last act has around 6 costume changes every 3 minutes, life behind the scenes must have been a nightmare – but it worked magnificently.
The lighting, scenery and visual and auditory effects are brilliant, with a great deal of care being given to the costumes and the minor props to re-enforce the period and location.
Magda, who was flippant in the first half, developed a character extremely like the old favourite Dame Margaret Rutherford as she appeared in the film series ‘Murder at the …’, I suspect this was based upon ‘…the Gallop’. Her rich expressions and plotting mind were fantastic. However, was she actually the maddest woman? Perhaps her good friends Mademoiselle Gabrielle (Julie Forsyth, again) and Madame Constance (Sue Ingleton) who call for tea, can be classed as even more insane.
An outstanding show, very cleverly conceived by the director Simon Phillips. If you get the chance to see it, grab it with both hands.