THE SPHINX
13
Marigold
Justice...
Acetate Steps
Dame Judi Dench reminds why she’s a national treasure
Our Country’s Good... Lantern Theatre, Liverpool
Looking back at the legacy of the most romantic medium
Citizen Kane screening at FACT cinema Adam Scovell
Bel Ami Film review Dani Telford Oh Bel Ami, thou art a feeble beast. In a somewhat lacklustre feat, debut directors Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod endeavour to recreate De Maupassant's definitive tale of Parisian adultery, manipulation and corruption. Instead we are left with a handful of irritable morose facial expressions and a preposterous expanse of overwrought music. Indeed all ironic wit and political spin are irrevocably lost in screenplay. Robert Pattinson steps into the shoes of Georges Duroy, an insatiable
lothario whom we are ‘supposed’ to adore eagerly; a sumptuous treat to adhere to the antihero status we read on paper. As we delve deep into the life and times of an impoverished soldier, fresh from the cavalry in Algeria and Hungry to make his fortune in belle époque, Paris, where we learn that the city is “filthy with money, even the whores are rich.” A comrade from the battlefield, Charles Forestier played by Philip Glennister, cordially invites Duroy into his world, finding him a post at the prestigious newspaper La Vie Francaise, thenceforth opening the doors to a whirlwind of power, sex and money. With no discernible talent, Georges rapidly realises that the most important people in Paris are not the men but their wives. “Every seduction, every conquest, every broken heart, will bring him closer to the ultimate prize,” or so we are told.
Oedipussy - Theatre Review Ian D Hall L.S. Media Rating ***** Cast: Aitor Basauri, Stephen Kreiss, Petra Massey, Toby Park. You can sit there all night thinking of the best way to describe Spymonkey’s Oedipussy, scratch your head and explain what you’ve seen in words that are both fitting to the company and the creators behind one of the great adaptations of Greek theatre. What it all boils down too, is that the team behind Spymonkey are pure and utter comic geniuses! Petra Massey, Toby Park, Aitor Basauri and Stephen Kreiss are the four incredible clowns that follow in the tradition of Monty Python, Morecombe and Wise etc. and surpass them with consummate and frightening ease. If there is time for a theatre company to step beyond the velvet curtain that separates audience from performer and become truly stellar then Spymonkey’s are at the absolute peak of their creativity whilst keeping that all important toga clinging on the ground.
For anyone that hasn’t managed to catch the genuine affection for total insanity and the adept way that they control the action by just keeping one toe the right side of absurdity, Oedipussy is an excellent place to start. The four performers made their way onto the stage dressed conservatively and spoke to the audience as if this was the most normal thing to do. Sitting down,
Cast Aitor Basauri, Stephen Kreiss, Petra Massey, Toby Park
sombre, serious but with a wonderful glint in each eye, the actors made their way through a scathing review from a well-known Scottish newspaper arts critic who shall remain nameless. By doing so the team expressed their thoughts and that it “was a much needed kick up the backside” to them, from point they continued to do what they do better than anybody currently touring can do and take the micky perfectly and with absolute artistic abandon.
He exercises his charms on Forestier’s wife, Madeleine, or as the audience knows her, Uma Thurman, who he later marries but not before sharing quilt covers with her two friends, the ever youthful Clothilde, played by Christina Ricci and the older, more vulnerable Madame Rousset, Kristin Scott Thomas. The hint of ambition and moral vacuum
Cast R. Pattinson, U. Thurman, C. Ricci
behind the eyes of our handsome rogue, is absent within the film. And so, the excitement of such a tale escapes the spectator entirely. There are also serious themes afoot concerning back-room dealing in politics and media, which are never attended to by Donnellan and Ormerod, who merely rush through the material with little time for thought in this curiously tame
It is impossible to know what the ancient Greeks made of their playwrights, it’s doubtful that a wellknown Scottish newspaper took the time and expense to send someone to review Sophocles and tell him that it was a bit glum. However, to the audiences who have packed out theatres across the country, it’s doubtful that they ever imagined it to be performed like this. In the superb writing of Carl Grose of Kneehigh Theatre and the company this was a play that played the fool and rose like a champion. The internal monologues of each player wove through the play with an enjoyable nod to each of the actor’s lives outside of the company. Stephen Kriess thoughts of turning 50 whilst the play was on tour in Lancaster was both a nod to the serious and worthy of outstanding applause in itself. Other theatrical companies try this kind of self-deprecating awareness but it never quite never seems to fit and often grinds against the nature of what they are trying to achieve, Morecombe and Wise and the Monty Python team managed it because they understood that to do it is to play on sympathies that may not exist between the performer and the
adaptation. Of course, the exception to this, being that of costume and set design. One cannot deny the incredible allure of aesthetics which paraded itself so boldly against the backdrop of what was really, a dark and miserable film. Whilst this picture avowals a cast full of, boundless talent, and a potential storyline that would excite the senses, let alone grasp and take advantage of the most recent success of period drama, such as Downton Abbey and Upstairs Downstairs, the film lacks essence. Even the finely chiselled features of a certain Robert Pattinson could not salvage the dreadful scenes that flickered before one’s eyes. Midway through the film, Madeleine utters to Georges that she “had no conception of the depths of his emptiness.” I left the picture house with the very same thought about this rotten recreation.
audience. As with Monty Python and the much loved Eric and Ernie, the bond between the four actors on stage and the audience is such that even seeing Toby Park handing out business cards to people on the front row was endearing and brought huge smiles along with a bucket load of sympathy. Petra Massey also deserves special mention, not only as the only woman on stage but for all the physical effort she endears for the company. It is no wonder that Petra is highly regarded within theatre circles but also this is a
Few films in the history of cinema can claim to have made the astronomical, critical journey that Orson Welles’ debut picture Citizen Kane did. Controversy has surrounded Welles since he first came to prominence in radio by scaring half of America by convincing them Martians were invading in his take on H.G Well’s War of the Worlds. Citizen Kane further adds to his controversial C.V. but with his desire for experimentation, as well supposedly basing his story on a real life tycoon who did everything he could to stop the film from being shown, Welles still managed to create quite possibly the greatest film ever made. The film follows the exploits of newspaper tycoon Charles Foster Kane and also a journalist out to discover the meaning behind his last words, “Rosebud.”
Citizen Kane Showing: 08/04/12 Time: 15:00 Tickets: £8.50 Book @ Fact.co.uk
woman who should be considered as one of the finest female comedic stage actors of our time. Impeccable timing and with the ability to bounce of her tremendous fellow clowns with grace, poise and the cheekiest grin this side of ancient Greece. No doubt Joyce Mulligan would have disapproved. In that regard Spymonkey’s Oedipussy is a sure fire hit and with no shadow of doubt one of the most enjoyable and laugh out loud evenings to make its way onto a stage in Liverpool. Ian D. Hall