THREE SISTERS
Sat, 9 July 2011, 05:17 pmPHILLIP MACKENZIE2 posts in thread
THREE SISTERS
Sat, 9 July 2011, 05:17 pmI have long held the view, as actor, director and audience, that first-night performances tend to go over the top; on the second night, fuelled by hangovers from the previous night’s celebrations, the show heads for the pits, but the third night stabilises the roller-coaster and can provide a foundation for development throughout the rest of the season. I have therefore advocated (fruitlessly) the abolition of first and second nights and, as audience, have tried to avoid them. On this occasion, however, circumstances contrived to press me to attend what resembled a second night (Thursday 7 July) of GRADS’ season of Chekhov’s great Three Sisters, at The Dolphin under the direction of Raymond Omodei. I was encouraged to set aside my reservations by the knowledge that there had been some preview showings the previous week.
In the first five minutes, however, I had to call my optimism into question. A disappointingly high percentage of the opening dialogue was lost to me (Row F, centre) indicating that most of the actors had failed to come to terms with the ‘pitch’ of the theatre. As the play progressed, their ability to make themselves heard improved, although not consistently across the cast. It was up to the senior members of the company (Martyn Churcher, Ursula Johnson, Christopher Wortham and, in the rare opportunities offered to his Ferapont, Gordon Johnson) to demonstrate to their juniors that it is possible, even desirable, to be heard and to act at the same time. Ursula Johnson also made it clear that the destestable Natasha should be heard at all times.
Even when audibility was not a problem, some actors were hard put to convince me that they were in conversation, rather than getting the lines out in the right order.
Things improved after interval and, indeed, I felt rewarded for staying the distance – the closing moments of Act Four will remain with me for some time. The Sisters shucked off the low-level intensity of yore, to truly and utterly move me and I suspect most of the modest Thursday-night audience finished up close to, or beyond, tears.
It would be tedious and pretentious of me to give a blow-by-blow assessment of individual actors’ performances – appropriate casting across a cast of this size is a problem that community theatre companies constantly face; I had difficulties with the lighting design and I recognise the difficulty, on the Dolphin stage, of creating a set as envisaged by Chekhov, in which action proceeds simultaneously in two spaces.
Mr Omodei’s program note tells us that the text used in this production is his adaptation and he expresses his hope that he has not abused the original. I have a working familiarity with most standard translations of the play and conclude that the changes are either seamlessly incorporated in the original, or are of small consequence. Mr Omodei has in my view achieved his goal.
While the performance I witnessed stumbled in the early acts, by the final curtain it had obliterated many of my early misgivings and I expect most of the short comings will be largely overcome as the season progresses.
PHILLIP MACKENZIESat, 9 July 2011, 05:17 pm
I have long held the view, as actor, director and audience, that first-night performances tend to go over the top; on the second night, fuelled by hangovers from the previous night’s celebrations, the show heads for the pits, but the third night stabilises the roller-coaster and can provide a foundation for development throughout the rest of the season. I have therefore advocated (fruitlessly) the abolition of first and second nights and, as audience, have tried to avoid them. On this occasion, however, circumstances contrived to press me to attend what resembled a second night (Thursday 7 July) of GRADS’ season of Chekhov’s great Three Sisters, at The Dolphin under the direction of Raymond Omodei. I was encouraged to set aside my reservations by the knowledge that there had been some preview showings the previous week.
In the first five minutes, however, I had to call my optimism into question. A disappointingly high percentage of the opening dialogue was lost to me (Row F, centre) indicating that most of the actors had failed to come to terms with the ‘pitch’ of the theatre. As the play progressed, their ability to make themselves heard improved, although not consistently across the cast. It was up to the senior members of the company (Martyn Churcher, Ursula Johnson, Christopher Wortham and, in the rare opportunities offered to his Ferapont, Gordon Johnson) to demonstrate to their juniors that it is possible, even desirable, to be heard and to act at the same time. Ursula Johnson also made it clear that the destestable Natasha should be heard at all times.
Even when audibility was not a problem, some actors were hard put to convince me that they were in conversation, rather than getting the lines out in the right order.
Things improved after interval and, indeed, I felt rewarded for staying the distance – the closing moments of Act Four will remain with me for some time. The Sisters shucked off the low-level intensity of yore, to truly and utterly move me and I suspect most of the modest Thursday-night audience finished up close to, or beyond, tears.
It would be tedious and pretentious of me to give a blow-by-blow assessment of individual actors’ performances – appropriate casting across a cast of this size is a problem that community theatre companies constantly face; I had difficulties with the lighting design and I recognise the difficulty, on the Dolphin stage, of creating a set as envisaged by Chekhov, in which action proceeds simultaneously in two spaces.
Mr Omodei’s program note tells us that the text used in this production is his adaptation and he expresses his hope that he has not abused the original. I have a working familiarity with most standard translations of the play and conclude that the changes are either seamlessly incorporated in the original, or are of small consequence. Mr Omodei has in my view achieved his goal.
While the performance I witnessed stumbled in the early acts, by the final curtain it had obliterated many of my early misgivings and I expect most of the short comings will be largely overcome as the season progresses.