bruntwood prize Archives - UPSTAGED MANCHESTER

My Favourite Productions of 2015

December 23, 2015kristobel

My Favourite Productions of 2015

It has been an exciting year for Upstaged Manchester and I feel blessed and nostalgic as I remember the productions that have lifted my heart, helped me to question and generally captivated me this year. Here is a list of my theatrical highlights for 2015.

Yen at The Royal Exchange

I couldn’t shake this 2013 Bruntwood Prize Winner by Anna Jordan for quite a while – it left my mind doing somersaults. Jordan’s phenomenal writing and her vivid characters combined with Ned Bennett’s clever direction and Georgia Lowe’s sparse set design gave an unforgettable fusion of total brilliance.

Nirbhaya at The Contact Theatre

This brave, real and haunting piece of work, exploring the effect of the brutal attack that Jyoti Singh endured on board a bus in Delhi on December 16th 2012, stopped me in my tracks and left me speechless. A perfect example of the role that theatre has in spreading an important message and how art can bring about change.

Shooting With Light at The Lowry

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This is by far the best production I have ever seen in the Lowry Studio – slick choreography and an atmospheric soundscape. Idol Motion will certainly be a theatre company that I will be looking out for in 2016.

The Rolling Stone at The Royal Exchange

The Rolling Stone had me captivated – on the edge of my seat throughout. With outstanding performances from all, Chris Urch’s Bruntwood Prize Winner about the persecution of gay men in Uganda stays with you for a long time. I am so pleased that it is being performed at Orange Tree Theatre in January and February of 2016.

Boeing Boeing at Oldham Coliseum

I had never seen a farce done well – until I saw this version of Boeing Boeing directed by Robin Herford. An energetic production with an outstanding cast – their timing and delivery was impeccable. It really lifted my heart to see the performance propelled along by gasps, laughter and impromptu applause from the audience.

Beautiful Thing at The Lowry

The combination of Jonathan Harvey’s brilliant writing and Nikolai Foster’s intelligent direction managed to bring out every nuance in the script – I found myself noticing elements that I hadn’t fully appreciated in previous interpretations. This production felt like a celebration and a salute to how far rights for gay, lesbian and transgender people have come over the last 20 years, and a recognition that we still have a fair way to go.

Kafka’s Monkey at HOME

What an accomplished performer Kathryn Hunter is – such a rich tone and incredible physicality. Masterfully directed by Walter Meierjohann, I feel blessed to have witnessed a performance like this – this show certainly put Manchester’s new arts space HOME on the map.

Golem at HOME

A true theatrical spectacle and a perfect amalgam of animation, live performance, music and claymation. Golem was like nothing that I had ever seen before – sharp interaction between the performers, Paul Barritt’s eye-popping animation and Lillian Henley’s brilliant silent movie-esque score.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time at The Lowry

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a tremendous piece of theatre – a perfect collaboration with outstanding performances throughout. Gripping and heartfelt – the perfect example of the power that theatre has to change the way that we view the world.

Wicked at The Lowry

Emily Tierney as Glinda & Ashleigh Gray as Elphaba. ©Matt Crockett

Well, I’m a big fan of Wicked and despite having seen the production before it just gets better and better for me every time. With magnificent music and lyrics, Wicked is a theatrical feast for your eyes, ears and hearts.

Merry Christmas to each and every one of you – thank you for all of your support this year.

Wishing you all the best in 2016.

-Kristy Stott

REVIEW – The Rolling Stone (Royal Exchange)

April 25, 2015kristobel

Fiston Barek as Dembe & Faith Omole as Wummie © Jonathan Keenan

Date: 24 april 2015

Upstaged rating:

The Rolling Stone written by Chris Urch was a Bruntwood Prize Winner in 2013 – now it runs in rep alongside Anna Karenina at Manchester’s Royal Exchange. Set in Uganda, where it is illegal to have a homosexual relationship, it tells the story of Dembe who has fallen in love with Irish doctor, Sam. The play centres around the true story of Ugandan newspaper, The Rolling Stone which used its front page to out gay men by publishing their names, addresses and photographs. This publicised witch-hunt incited violence against these men, their families and anybody who supported them.

“The Lord wants us to be truly who we are”

Joanna Scotcher’s set is perfectly stark, a blue carpeted stage with a simple raised platform in the centre, provides the perfect foundations for Chris Urch’s sensitive, honest and thought provoking script. Richard Owen’s lighting design is tasteful and stylish throughout – opening the production with a soft blue light, as the cast of six sing in beautiful harmony, their voices flood the stage, ironically, it all feels calm and utopian.

Robert Gilbert as Sam and Fiston Barek as Dembe ©Jonathan Keenan — Robert Gilbert as Sam and Fiston Barek as Dembe
©Jonathan Keenan

The scenes between Dembe (Fiston Barek) and his lover, Sam (Robert Gilbert) feel natural and playful – when they are on stage together there is a great chemistry and it is these sections which generate laughter from the audience. Barek is superb in portraying Dembe’s coming of age, balancing youthful wit with bravery and sensitivity, in a society where he is fearful of his own identity. When Dembe’s brother Joe (Sule Rimi) is made pastor of the local parish, the circle of scrutiny moves uncomfortably closer to Dembe and his family. Ellen McDougall’s direction is masterfully reflective of the kind of society that the characters inhabit – the actors sit with the audience when they are not on stage, watching Dembe’s every move.

“God is a fallacy. It is us that judge one another”

The Rolling Stone is expertly cast with every member of the production giving an outstanding performance. Despite, her lack of voice, Ony Uhiara shines as the mute character Naome, who is overshadowed by her mother, Mama played by Donna Berlin. Faith Omole impresses as Wummie, Dembe’s twin sister, a victim of her society in her own right when she forfeits her education to aid her brother.

The Rolling Stone is a powerful production and highly compelling viewing. Chris Urch’s writing really draws its audience in, this is a real edge-of-your seat captivating drama, where we can engage with the characters, empathise with their predicaments and wish that we could influence their futures.

The Rolling Stone is running at The Royal Exchange in Manchester until the 1st May 2015.

-Kristy Stott

REVIEW – Yen (Royal Exchange)

February 21, 2015kristobel

Date: 19 february 2015

Upstaged rating:

Just as the submission window opens for The Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting 2015 – Manchester receives the world premiere of the 2013 winning entry written by Anna Jordan.

Yen is the tale of two neglected teenage brothers, Hench, 16 and Bobbie, 13. They live alone with their dog, Taliban who spends his days locked in their old bedroom because he once ‘bit someone on the estate’. Sometimes their alcoholic and diabetic mum descends on them, usually when she wants something, but they don’t get along with ‘minge-face Alan’ the man that she has shacked up with. The two brothers spend most of their days playing Call of Duty, watching pornography and drinking and smoking whatever they have managed to get their hands on. Hench (Alex Austin) dropped out of school and Bobbie (Jake Davies) has ADHD and quit his place at ‘The Unit’.

The two brothers have no ambition, no hope, they share a sofa bed and a t-shirt that they nicked from the charity shop. It is a well carved out, well layered story of lost childhood, love and violence – it is a commentary on the state of society.

But, it is not only this – Yen is vivid, it gets right under your skin, it is unsettling, but in a brilliant way. Anna Jordan’s writing is witty and terse, the dialogue is filthy but hilarious. It is amazing that a play which was based on a local news story about two neglected and abandoned brothers who commit a heinous crime, can produce such laughs from the audience, but it does.

All four members of the cast give remarkable performances during their debut appearances at the Royal Exchange Theatre. The two brothers Hench and Bobbie are loaded with testosterone, reminding us of caged monkeys as we take our seats in the studio, they climb the scaffolding and swing from ropes, making the most of Georgia Lowe‘s sparce but highly effective set design.

The energy between the two brothers is quite profound, tousling with each other constantly, Bobbie is loud mouthed and vulgar with a deep attachment to his hopeless mother (Sian Breckin) while Hench seems shy, suspicious and afraid of the outside world. When Jenny (Annes Elwy) barges into their flat venting concern for Taliban’s welfare, Hench is given a small glint of the world outside and a small window of hope and love.

By the end of the play my mind was doing somersaults, the characters were racing around in my head, they had stuck. Rather like Ned Bennett‘s clever cyclical direction, Hench and Bobby were trapped in a system and a way of life.

Anna Jordan’s Yen is phenomenal. It is no wonder that it won The Bruntwood Prize in 2013. Get a ticket while you still can.

Yen is running until the 7th March 2015 in The Studio at the Royal Exchange, Manchester

-Kristy Stott