Written by: Andrew Crane (@AndrewRCrane)
Etcetera Theatre,
London
***
The ‘Pay Nothing, Play Anything’ festival at the Etcetera
Theatre offers a fantastic opportunity for small and/or upcoming companies to
experiment, to show something new and original, to showcase some incredible
talent. Latissimus Productions
don’t quite manage to take advantage of this with their double bill of short
Chekhov plays, but they do manage to provide a neat little production, which
should provide a few chuckles.
First on the bill is On
the Harmful Effects of Tobacco, where Nyukin (Marcio Mello), a geeky Clark
Kent sort, nervously discusses with the audience his relationship with his wife
and daughter under the pretence of giving a lecture, the subject of which being
the play’s title. Mello handled the part well, although occasionally the
nervousness he portrayed resulted in what felt like him rushing through the
piece. The climactically violent fight he had with his jacket was suitably
entertaining, capably straddling the line between comedy and tragedy as he
broke down.
The other piece of the evening, The Bear, showed the grieving widow Popova (Lisa Stuart) as she tries to settle
(or not) her late husband's debts with Mello’s second character for the evening,
Smirnov. The highlight of this piece, and indeed the evening, was Jodyanne
Richardson’s performance of Luka, Popova’s maid. Richardson’s Vodka-guzzling,
flustered, and loveably doddery physicality was a delight to watch, and her out
of time singing in the opening was comically brilliant.
Stuart and Mello competently played on an underlying sexual
tension, although in comparison to Richardson, their movements felt very
rehearsed and didn’t allow for a good flow; Mello’s pacing to portray his anger
as an example. The piece just
didn't have any strong direction, for a play that is supposedly an exploration
of human nature it was quite two-dimensional.
This was an enjoyable enough duo of performances; they just
lacked any originality. For a festival that invites the new and exciting, a
simple performance of Chekov’s scripts was a bit of a let down, and lacked any
real relevance.
This
production was part of the PNPA festival which runs throughout January.
For more information: http://www.etceteratheatre.com/index.php?id=2&wod=01/23/2013
@EtceteraTheatre
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