Review: 'Paradise'

By Alex Gordon.

Before reading my review, listen to our exclusive preview of the production.

Paradise is a play with potential. It did not seem to me however, ready to be presented to a paying student audience. It is a one-man show written and directed by Christian Smith and performed by Howard Thompson. It presents us with a sad, frustrated, sardonic individual named Ricky who tells us about aspects of his life and why he feels it has gone wrong. Ricky narrates his story with a cutting, often dark sense of humour and moments of existential pondering.

It is performed on a completely bare stage, save for one chair in the centre where Ricky sits broodingly, as the audience enter. This starkness, jarring at first, pulled our focus immediately onto Ricky and made sure it stayed there; no distractions of set, lighting or sound, just one man and what he has to say.

Smith’s writing showed promise in places. Ricky’s speech alternates between personal anecdotes and bitter asides to the audience, interspersed with moments of comical, often bleak insight into the student condition (Ricky reveals he is at York University), and some witty manipulation of language.

However, the play simply doesn’t have enough content to stand up on its own. Many of the jokes seemed recycled – he talks repeatedly about how awful the North of England is, a reference that grows tiresome after a while – or not strong enough to provoke great laughter from the audience; Ricky’s rantings about the apparent racism of Dolmio adverts and the pointlessness of condoms felt more like an attempt at stand-up rather than giving us any great insight into his character.

This, combined with its incredibly short length of 27 minutes meant that I neither sympathised with Ricky as a person nor understood just why, in the end, he was so depressed. The play just didn’t seem to have a coherent development or any clear resolution, which left me dissatisfied as an audience member.

Howard Thompson gave a commendable performance as Ricky. He displayed dynamism and vigour, exploiting his vocal capabilities to good effect in Ricky’s more incensed passages.  This contrasted nicely with a great pensiveness during his more self-reflective moments. Thompson’s performance though, could only be so good due to the material.

I felt the play either needed to be twice its length, or teamed with a series of similar monologues from different characters on the subjects that this one covers, such as the student experience, or how we all, as people, share a loneliness and insecurity which we never admit to. Themes which Smith seemed to be able to tap into, but never seemed to go further than just skimming the surface.

Paradise would have been perfect material as a work-in-progress piece for an Open Drama Night on a Monday evening. I do not feel though that, in its current form, the Drama Society should be putting it on and be expecting audiences, students or otherwise, to pay to come and see it. It does not represent value for money.

You can hear Alex’s full audio review today at 2 inYorWorld.

The Blurb: Episode 1

The Blurb is URY’s new book review show that plans to explore the world of literature and leave no page unturned. Each week we’ll be bringing you reviews of books both old and new as well as discussing the most pressing problems in the literary world. We’ll also be taking a look at rising campus talent as we team up with The Looking Glass Anthology to showcase the work of student authors.

This week Elisabeth Shuker reviews Miranda Hart’s hilarious new novel, Is It Just Me? and Rachel Bond takes us on a journey through the exciting world of Fan Fiction. Our panel also discusses the impact of blogging on literature and its reviewers in reaction to Peter Stothard’s article for the Guardian.

Tune in at 3 this Sunday to join in our love of literature!

If you want  to get involved you can find 'The Blurb' on facebook here!

YorWorld: 28th October 2012

Coming up on this weeks YorWorld we review this weeks Dramasoc one man show 'Paradise'.

Also take a look at t the York Shakepeare Project’s latest production ‘Othello’, as they continue to work their way through Shakespeare’s cannon.

And we preview next weeks Dramasoc production ‘The Comedians’.

Make sure you tune in this this Sunday at 2!

And at 2:30 Paddy Evans will be chatting to Doreen Masey; British social scientist and geographer, working among others on topics typical of Marxist geography about her role in the artist Patrick Keiler's film Robinson in Ruins.

And don't forget to stay listening for 'The Blurb' at 3. See our above post for more details!

Review: 'Othello'

by Hannah Whyman,

Before reading my written review listen to URY's preview of the production.

Mark France's production of othello was an absolute joy to watch. A talented cast and minimalistic staging set in a claustrophic corner of the Theatre Royal made it an evening well spent.

The play was staged in the Studio part of the Theatre Royal meaning the fast pace of the script and the simmering tensions between the characters was greatly emphasised. At times, it was easy to forget one was a member of the audience and not, say, a spectator of the royal court. Although small, the cast used the space well and there was never a sense of clumsiness among them even when all members were onstage.

Iago was portrayed very well and he commanded the action brilliantly, playing on the slight injections of humour with precision. Roderigo contrasted wonderfully with Iago and they conveyed a clear sense of who was the powerless and powerful. Dermot Daly gave a brilliant performance as Othello both as the hero and the warrior and as the jealous, paranoid husband. It would have been great if, at the climatic moment of the play, Daly had injected just a touch more passion so that his emotions conveyed genuine tragedy but he never the less gave a worthy performance. Desdemona, played by the university's very own Katie Macintyre, was a similarly excellent performance. She had the audience silently pleading with her to realise Iago's sinister plot against her and Othello and on the verge of weeping in the final stages of her young life.

The other characters in the play only added to its success. The young Cassio contributed to the lighter moments of the play and pulled off his fighting scenes very well. Emilia gave a brilliant performance as Desdemona's companion and servant and despite her earlier disloyalty regarding the handkerchief, her final speech commanded respect from the audience. And it was interesting to see the Duke as a woman, which was a nice touch to a play of great misogyny.

A highly recommended performance.

And make sure you tune in to YorWorld this Sunday for our audio review of 'Othello' with Hannah and Tom Bonnington.

Review: 'Deathtrap'

Before reading our written review check out our exclusive preview of the production here!

Kate Bull reviews the Drama Barn’s first play of this academic year – Ira Levin’s Deathtrap.

‘Deathtrap’ set this year’s Drama Barn programme off to a flying start. With a talented cast, great set and a quick, pleasing pace given to the script, the play was a joy to watch.

Despite the cast’s humourous put downs of McGregor’s work in a ‘documentary’ filmed during the play’s rehearsal period (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knU10g6N45M&feature=plcp), his direction produced a crisp, clean production of Ira Levin’s classic.

The space was used well, and the farcical nature of the action augmented with greatly timed sound and lighting; a melodramatic thunder storm – complete with strobe lighting and rolling thunder – brought cackles from the audience.

Mungo Tatton-Brown did was he does best and produced a “devious and underhanded” Sidney Bruhl of immense pomposity, with booming phrases and grandiose gestures. Lily Cooper’s quiet, scurrying Myra contrasted well with this.

Louis Lunts portrayed the irritatingly enthusiastic Clifford Anderson believably, changing from bashful university student to confident playwright with ease.

The main male characters had great chemistry, not only between themselves, but with the audience. Their pauses, jokes and double entendres elicited great reactions from the densely packed audience.

The smaller parts – played by Roseanna Brear and Richard Spears – added comic relief to the action. Levin’s comedy is very dark, and the reprieve provided by Helga Ten Dorp and Porter Milgrim was welcomed.

The set - ornate, and somewhat oppressive – was filled with actors of great ability, who delivered Levin’s script with aplomb. A great production, thoroughly recommended.

And catch our full audio review today at 2 in YorWorld!

Preview: 'The New World Order'

A sneak peak at our most ambitious dramas to date!

YorWorld: 21 November 2012

Coming up on YorWorld this week we chat to artists, filmakers and actors as we look at the artistic spectrum of York.

John Wakefield interviews Zam Salim, writer and director of exciting new British comedy 'Up There' looking at life after death, about making his first feature film and his award winning short films.

Tom Edwards speaks to artist Robin Spalding and curator Penelope Hines, the people behind 'The Temple of the Occult' - the latest exciting exhibition at York University's own Norman Rae Gallery.  

We review Dramasoc's first offering of the term, Ira Levin's comedy thriller 'Deathtrap' which is running this weekend in the Dramabarn and also preview next weeks performance 'Paradise' by Christian Smith - a one man show.

Its not one to miss - this Sunday at 2 on URY!