Thoughts and Critiques

A blog about theater and the arts

Cups of Tea and History: Pacific Overtures at the Menier Chocolate Factory

by Lisa on posted in

What is history but a sum of the fragments of our personal experience? John Weidman and Stephen Sondheim’s unusual musical Pacific Overtures uses a series of dramatic fragments to tell the story of the westernization of Japan, from the arrival of Commodore Perry’s warships in 1853 to the present day.

The exquisite production I saw in London this week is a joint production of the Menier Chocolate Factory, a small but mighty London theater company, and the Umeda Arts Theater in Japan. This one-act version, presented in Tokyo and Osaka (in Japanese) in early 2023, is now playing in an intimate and elegant setting at the Chocolate Factory.

Continue

Tom Stoppard’s Rock ‘n’ Roll

by Lisa on posted in

Rock ‘n’ Roll, typically of Tom Stoppard’s plays, is a bit—or a lot—overstuffed. He maintains that at its heart, it’s a love story, but the audience might be forgiven for not realizing that until the last half hour or so.

A story of cultural and political revolution from 1968’s Prague Spring to the end of Soviet occupation in 1980, it includes digressions (or are they fundamental points?) about fragments of Sappho, the mind/body problem, the difference between dissent and moral exhibitionism, Syd Barrett (who may or may not be the great god Pan), and, of course, the significance of rock ‘n’ roll.

Much as I looked forward to the current production at the Hampstead Theatre, I didn’t find it hitting me as hard as it did when I first saw it 15 years ago. I’m surprised to find that it feels more dated than it did in 2008.

Continue

Six: The Musical

by Lisa on posted in

Six is a quick romp of a show–barely 80 minutes—in which the six wives of Henry VIII appear as pop stars engaged in a competition to determine who suffered the most from their marriage to the famous king. Each gets a big number to prove her point, with the others providing backing vocals, right up to the female empowerment ending that rejects the whole idea of a competition between them. So what if Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn were mortal enemies. They acknowledge that they were both bad ass women who gave Henry a hard time.

(In a canny move, the queens ensure that we keep our phones in our pockets by promising that we can take photos and videos of their final number.)

Continue

O, Wonder! John Singer Sargent’s Portraits at the MFA

by Lisa on posted in

O, wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,
That has such people in’t.

The Tempest V.i

I thought of Miranda’s exclamation while visiting the “Fashioned by Sargent” exhibit now on display at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston (transferring soon to the Tate Britain). What a world, to have such paintings in it!

Mrs. Fiske Warren (Gretchen Osgood) and Her Daughter Rachel

But, as in this portrait of Mrs. Fiske Warren and her daughter, it’s not usually the people I find compelling. I’m not so much interested in the character of the mother and daughter here as I am in losing myself in the liquefaction of those fabrics. Old masters might have painted the face and hands of a subject while assigning the details of clothing to their assistants, but Sargent’s true gift lies in those beautiful surfaces, how he brings the clothing itself to life.

Continue

✕