Henry V, Propeller at YAT

It was amazing to walk into Yvonne Arnaud Theatre last evening to find it packed with people. Such is the draw of Propeller Theatre who are performing Henry V this week at YAT and will continue on with their tour well into 2012. Propeller is an all-male Shakespeare company that presents a very modern approach to the plays, mixing in modern music, imaginative sets and a very physical presence. Their artistic director, Edward Hall, denies any dumbing down, rather he makes the plays relevant to today with all their complexity, challenging the audience with each performance.

The stage is set

As we made our way to our seats, we noticed a couple of 'squaddies' at the edge of the theatre crowd dressed in camo trousers and vests - not the usual attire for YAT audiences. We squeezed into our seats and looked at the programme, noticing that there were 29 parts to be played, including three parts for women, by a cast of 14 men. The stage was set with various pieces of scaffolding, some wooden crates and a flagpole flying the English flag. The auditorium was packed and the doors were closed, but no lights went down. Suddenly the doors were flung open and a troop of soldiers marched in down the stairs to the stage singing as they marched. It certainly grabbed everyone's attention and we remained spellbound to the interval. - with just a dig in the ribs when Henry appeals to his troops to dive

'Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;
Or close the wall up with our English dead.  -  -  -
-  -  -  The game's afoot:
Follow your spirit, and upon this charge
Cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!'

Spoken from atop the scaffold and very rousing.

A capacity audience listen to the cast singing

 We went out into the foyer at the interval and discussed the action so far over an ice-cream, when suddenly the actors marched through from the auditorium, singing. They sang several songs, then explained they were raising money for charity, so please give generously while they sang some more, then marched back into the auditorium as the bell went for us to return to our seats for part 2. The charity they are supporting this year is Lifeworks; it is concerned with children with learning difficulties, giving them new opportunities as well as giving families support with respite care.

Part 2 was just as good as the first half and we were treated to ferocious battle scenes, a princess in the bath,  as well as the emotional speech of Henry on the eve of the Battle of Agincourt, 25 October 1415 (St Crispin's Day):

The 'soldiers' march back to the auditorium

 ' - - -  And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember'd;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
- - -'
At last the final couplet was uttered, the lights went down and a great cheer and applause broke out all over the theatre. What a wonderful response to this stirring production.


Propeller
Yvonne Arnaud Theatre
Lifeworks
About the feast of Crispin Crispian

3 Days in May

The three days of the title are in May 1940 when Mr Churchill, the new prime minister of UK, is balancing on a knife edge with some of the war cabinet wanting to negotiate a surrender  via Mussolini  and others claiming it would be better to fight to the death rather than succumb to the horrors of becoming a vassal state to Fascist Germany. With France on the brink of capitulating, what is left of the allied armies are holed up at Dunkirk, with Belgium on the brink of being overrun; and a garrison of British led soldiers is fighting off the Germans at Calais. It seems a hopeless situation, but  Churchill will never surrender, and persuades the ailing Chamberlain to vote against the proposal to surrender thus triggering the Dunkirk evacuation that saved thousands of fighting men to face another day. A pivotal point of WWII, we see how the wily Churchill wins the day that leads to the allies winning the war.
Warren Clarke makes a wonderful Winston Churchill and is well supported by Jeremy Clyde as Lord Halifax, Robert Demeger as Neville Chamberlain and with James Alper as Jock Colville, Churchill's Private Secretary and our narrator. Other members of the cast are Timothy Knightley as Paul Reynaud, the French premier, Michael Sheldon as Clement Attlee, Dicken Ashworth as Arthur Greenwood and Paul Ridley as General Dill.

Ben Brown's 3 Days on May moves to the Trafalgar Studios for a run in the West End from Monday 31st October – Saturday 3rd March 2012. Directed by Alan Strachan, it is a Bill Kenwright Production.

Two theatre visits in  less than a week and both to Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford. It's not been great over the last year or so, with just a few good productions, but now two in a row, which is good for everyone.
The first performance we saw was on Saturday - Woman in White, by Wilkie Collins. A tour de force of almost three hours, but well done. With a clever set that took us around the country, we watched the worrying events unfold, ending in relief and tragedy. At the interval we went out to stretch our legs and in search of refreshments - but - oh no! - there was nothing to be had on the sweet side - no ice cream or choccies, and we had not taken any dessert with dinner in anticipation of something at 'half-time'!

Before curtain-up for A Little Night Music at YAT




Wednesday evening we made our way down to YAT again for the Guildford-based theatre company PH Productions' A Little Night Music (music and lyrics, Stephen Sondheim and book, Hugh Wheeler).
As the lights went down and the audience went quiet, footsteps came down the side aisle - a latecomer? No, a lone cellist walked onto the stage and sat on a dimly lit chair and started playing. The curtain rose  revealing panels and sheer curtains about two thirds back from the front of the stage, behind which the 18 piece orchestra began playing the overture and our cellist quietly disappeared off stage. We were then treated to a fast paced opening song from the liebeslieders and soon the story unfolded, punctuated with many Steven Sondheim songs. It was great fun and everyone enjoyed the performance judging by the prolonged applause. And I should mention that this was an amateur production, although many of the cast are either students of drama, or have had some previous experience. And, yes, they had even managed to get in some ice cream for the interval!


Yvonne Arnaud Theatre
PH Productions