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Jeff Grant looks back on his best of 2018 Two thousand and eighteen delivered
another fine crop of performances across the Midlands on both the
amateur and professional stages. In true reality TV judging style, I have to say
it is hard to separate them, so varied were they in their tone,
complexity, style and ambition. Theatre is of course a social experience and at
times that experience can be marred by so many things. So the works I
have chosen are ones where for the duration of the performance I was
transported completely into the world on stage and no amount of
coughing, sweet paper rustling or conversation from the chairs in the
row behind could shake my concentration. So from the amateur stage the play that had me
hanging on to every word was Norman James Crisp's Dangerous
Obsession, produced and performed by the Nonentities at the
RoseTheatre in Kidderminster. In my review back in February I was struck at how this psychological thriller was not as revered or celebrated as plays such as Dial M for Murder or Sleuth. There had been a film version called Darkness Falls in 1999 with a revised plot that prompted the author to remove his name from the production.
Stuart Wishart as John, Andy Bingham as Mark and Amy Cooper as Sally in Dangerous Obsession The play is a superbly written thriller that
weaves a complex tale of shifting power amongst three people, who all
reveal the stories of their overlapping relationships as the play
progresses. Centre to this was three outstanding performances. Stuart
Wishart played the odd yet ruthlessly intelligent John Barrett, a man
who holds a wife and husband of Mark and Sally Driscoll hostage in their
garden conservatory. The couple was played by Amy Cooper and Andy
Bingham and all three performances were first class. With no ensemble cast to hide amongst the
balanced direction of Jan Eglintons came well to the fore in bringing
the tension to its very adult conclusion. The whole play stayed with me
for several days after and I still maintain Dangerous Obsession is truly
an overlooked classic On the professional stage my choice is perhaps a
biased one but is a musical and that was Saturday Night Fever
at the Hippodrome back in September. I had read several reviews of the
UK tour which were not favourable as they seemed to expect the film
version replicated on the stage. However for me this Bill Kenwright production succeeded in making the transition to stage perfectly by making it what it should be and that is a stage version. My first box to tick with any musical is the audio quality and in this multi-layered production the music and audio production was first class.
Kate Parr as Stephanie and Richard Winsor as Tony in Saturday Night Fever. Pictures: Pamela Raith Photography. This was headed by musical director Rich Morris
and well under the control of sound designer Dan Samson. Again whilst
other opinions had complained at the inclusion of look and sound alike
Bee Gees who were part of the band, the clever set made sure they never
interfered with the stage action and sonically the team delivered a
faithful representation of all of the now famous songs. Choreographer Bill Deamer may have added a more
formal approach to the dancing which featured Richard Winsor as Tony
Manero and it was not expected to replicate the sweaty atmosphere of the
original New York Disco scene. But with the score now passing into
eighties folklore it was something of a time machine performance to hear
and those original songs played live again and wallow in the nostalgia
of the those famous dance moves. So 12 months of great theatre and it’s been a
privilege to see so many great productions and I look forward to 2019.
Let’s hope it’s a happy, peaceful and creative one, both on and off the
stage. |
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