scaramouche

Some weeks ago I went to the Putney Theatre company production of Anne Boleyn. Not a great fan of Howard Brenton, I went primarily to support our friend and regular balletgoer Bill Boyd, as Bill has given some very good performances in a number of interesting and very well produced shows over the last five years or so. This one was no exception. The ambition of the play could not be greater; it was to show how in little more than a life time we went from being a Catholic country under the sway of the Pope, to an Anglican Protestant one under James the first; a wonderfully camp funny but chilling performance by Kirk Patterson. The main focus being Boleyn’s five-year seduction of Henry V111. The power plays of the court between Boleyn and Cromwell and Wolsey. With Mathew Flexman’s engaging warm and sympathetic Henry being absent most of the time allowing his enforcers Cromwell and Wolsey to do the dirty work. The eventual fall from Grace and life of Boleyn, ironically having only produced one of the greatest Monarchs in our history, unfortunately not male. The whole large cast acted with fine conviction. Of the leading roles Michael Rossi was a steely Cromwell, a man with a vision yet fully aware of the tensions inherent in Henry’s court where the wrong move could lead swiftly to the axe man’s block. Bill Boyd’s Cardinal Wolsey was an equally rich performance. One of the most powerful men in England at the beginning of the play confident and commanding. He ends almost in shambles desperate and confused, outmanoeuvred by the plotting of Boleyn and Cromwell and of course his date with the executioner’s block. Boyd can convey sadness and confusion with his halting delivery very movingly. Pivotal to the success of the play is of course the actor who plays the long and demanding role of Boleyn. As written by Brenton she is a miracle of fine womanhood .has an abundance of charm and wit, intellectual rigour, a droll dry humour, very brave and fearless in her action. Confident yet thoughtful and humane. Plus the sex appeal to drive Henry wild and change the course of English history. Kate Kenyon delivers on all counts. A lovely haunting performance. Look forward to her next one. I will paste below the plot line (courtesy of wikepedia) to give an example of the scope of Brenton’s play. He manages to get all this history in, yet made it a fast paced, constantly engaging entertainment. The ghost of Anne Boleyn arrives, carrying a blood-stained bag containing her severed head and a copy of Tyndale's Bible, and addresses the audience. The action moves to 1603, where James I arrives in London for his English coronation and finds a chest containing Anne Boleyn's coronation dress. Searching the chest's secret compartments, he finds Anne's copies of the Tyndale Bible and The Obedience of a Christian Man. He and his lover George Villiers go to search the palace for Anne's ghost. The action shifts to Anne Boleyn at the English court, where Henry VIII meets her, falls in love with her and acquiesces to her demands to postpone their first sex until she can be his wife. Henry begins the divorce proceedings against Catherine of Aragon, with both Cardinal Wolsey and Wolsey's advisor manoeuvring for position. Anne goes secretly to meet with William Tyndale and he gives her a copy of the forbidden text The Obedience of a Christian Man. She entrusts this to her ladies in waiting, but two of Wolsey's servants seize it from the ladies and take it to Wolsey, who is delighted to use it to discredit Anne with the king. Anne goes to Cromwell for advice and finds that he, like her, is a secret Protestant. Anne then takes Cromwell's advice and pre-empts Wolsey's action – in so doing she not only gets the book back but brings about Wolsey's fall. She also partially convinces Henry to accept the book's argument that the head of the church in England is not the pope but the king himself. The action then moves forward to winter 1532 in Calais, at a conference with Francis I of France, where Anne and Henry make love for the first time, with the divorce from Catherine and their marriage imminent. The action returns to James's reign, where he attempts to calm the Reformation that Anne's actions and Henry's divorce had unleashed, by holding the Hampton Court Conference between the Puritan and Anglican wings of the Church of England. The Puritan faction is led by John Reynolds and the Anglican one by Lancelot Andrews, both of them moderates. However, extremists on both sides such as Henry Barrow cause the debate to drag on for over five hours, only ending when James angrily quashes any thoughts of making the Church of England presbyterian rather than episcopal - his struggles with presbyterianism in the Church of Scotland have led him to believe it threatens the king's position as Supreme Head of the Church of England and supreme secular ruler by divine right. He then meets with Reynolds and Andrews privately for further discussions, which end in a compromise agreement to produce an Authorised Version of the Bible with an Anglican slant but based on the Puritan-favoured Tyndale translation. The action shifts back to Anne and the birth of the future Elizabeth I of England. She then goes to Tyndale with an offer from Cromwell of a place on the Privy Council for the better advancement of the Protestant cause, but he refuses it and tells her that he opposes Henry's divorce and does not recognise her as Henry's true wife. Some time later Anne miscarries a male child, which bruises but does not destroy her relationship with Henry, still hopeful for a son. However, Henry then takes Anne's lady in waiting Jane Seymour as a mistress and his relationship with Anne is finally wrecked when she is imprisoned by Cromwell. Anne is then kept from communicating with Henry in the lead-up to her execution, in a pre-emptive strike by Cromwell to avoid her telling Henry of Cromwell's embezzlement of funds from dissolved monasteries. The play then ends in 1603, where Anne's ghost talks with James about the Protestant Reformation she unleashed and then addresses the audience before departing.

A great opening night for Giselle.Osipova gave a moving performance and in the second act was as light on her feet as the wind that blew her round that sad forest glade. Acosta once again memorably etched Albrecht’s journey from carefree gallant to shattering and remorseful self-knowledge. Whitehead was hugely sympathetic as Hilarion, a decent man losing his life and love in the maelstrom of events he never fully comprehends. As was Chapman’s loving Berthe caught between her natural peasant’s deferral to the gentry and her dark awareness of the wiles. Kobatashi was an ice-cold master of ceremonies of these lost souls. The corps as in Swan Lake are the heart of this ballet and they were magnificent. In the first act with its happy optimistic sky bound peasant dances they soared joyfully. In the second act traversing the stage limping in arabesque like a flock of wounded birds they were unbelievably moving.

It was indeed lovely to see her. I hope the veto only applies to negative comments, as I can’t resist going a little further. It was a beautifully danced, immaculately acted and utterly compelling performance. I thought the whole company was on top form. A fine debut by Tierney Heap as a steely Myrtha.Elizabeth McGorian brilliant in her foreboding mime as a fretful Berthe. A delightful pas de six led by Elizabeth Harrod and Valentino Zuccetti.Among so many joys.

It would be nice if she got the general rehearsal,that would make a possible three, fingers crossed.

That’s a bit of an understatement Allison. Morera has finally been given her due, and her Giselle. Bloody marvelous casting, she will be magnificent. Hats off to Kevin-Lovely man. Am counting the days.

I think she’s been around the top of our list for a long time Tony. Even in tiny cameo roles such as Effie’s friend in La Sylphide, whom Madge reveals to be pregnant, her comic timing was brilliant, running the gamut from mischievous excitement to nervous embarrassment. A real scene-stealer. It was a total joy tonight, to see her centre stage, where she belongs. Especially so, as the other female lead was the peerless Laura Morera, who would top my list of truly great actor dancers any day.

I am amazed at the naivety of some of the above posts. Interval times reflect the time it takes to prepare performers costumes and scenery for an often-complex series of changes. It’s as simple as that. It always seems a small miracle to me that this is achieved so efficiently and effectively by a relatively small number of backstage staff.

Thanks for drawing attention to this gem of a production Bill; I loved every minute of it and at three hours long that’s pretty amazing. Cast were excellent and really focused and true in all their characters. So much so that I could I could emphasise and identify with each of them, god help me. A bit worrying that. You seem to be cornering the market in wistful older men living in dreams of past happiness, endowering them with a fine pathos and humour. :) :)

I am really appalled at the importation of guests this early in the new directorship. It shows a basic lack of faith in the company’s dancers, and must surely be bad for company morale. Laura Morera was shamefully neglected this season and would have been an ideal replacement.

New company joiner in the autumn season. The Royal Ballet has announced that after his sensational and highly controversial debut in Wayne McGregor’s Machina , Cpthreepeorova is to join the company at the rank of first soloist. In a press release the new debutant dancer announced he had been offered contracts at Fords of Dagenham and The Royal Ballet but it was a no brainer as Fords did not have the Macmillan Rep.He is currently in early discussions with Liam Scarlett over his proposed new ballet of the Hollywood classic Forbidden Planet.