The Drowned Man – Temple Studios, Paddington until 6th July 2014

 

Image taken from nationaltheatre.org.uk

So, have you seen it yet? Punchdrunk’s fantasy land is only going to be open to visitors for one more month, so I’d get your skates on if you want to experience what must be the most original theatrical experience on offer in London at the moment.

It’s actually been on for nearly a year – a massive word-of-mouth success, which allows visitors to roam around a four-storey set and stand amongst the action of a complex story set in a film studio and its surrounding area. All audience members are given sparse instructions – to wear their standard issue masks at all times, remain silent and to stray from their companions – a very basic outline of a plot is granted and then, bam. You’re thrown in.

It may sound surreal, but what amazed me most was how immersive it was to wander around this small world, anonymised by my mask. As the actors are bare-faced, there’s a clear line between the watchers and the watched, and the lack of conversation means that the crowd are always focussed enough to move away when the action threatens to cross their path. For three hours reality was gone, and it was even difficult to shake off the strange presence of the show in the glaring glow of the tube ride home.

The Drowned Man will be different for any visitor – each experience dependent on the serendipity of starting point, a willingness to run and follow a single character and the level of curiosity. I chose to follow one character and then another as it took my fancy, and whilst this left loose ends, there will be those for each and every viewer – there is simply too much simultaneous action for anyone to see the whole show. If you like your ends tied up neatly, then try to let it go, for it was in the conversation afterwards that the show lived on. My boyfriend and I had taken entirely different routes and seen completely different stories, enabling the discovery of the plot to continue in the pub on the way home.

It would be rude of me to give away the plot, partly to retain the suspense that is such an important part of the evening, but also because the plot isn’t the main thing about this show. It is, above all, an experience. One of my favourite bits was spending time wandering around the parts of the set that had no actors – reading a letter in a shabby caravan, examining the contents of an old fashioned toyshop and watching the image of a galloping horse cross a seemingly abandoned television set. The glory here is in the detail – the vast set is meticulous, and how on earth anyone has managed to orchestrate the show, (which runs twice in the three hours) with actors moving levels and rooms only to meet their companion for the next scene on arrival, often to begin a beautifully choreographed dance, is truly beyond me.

So head over there, embrace the madness and find your own story… Take your friends, but abandon them at the door, for finding your own way around this little world for an evening will leave you with a truly personal experience, and one that can continue afterwards… I might just go and book my return ticket to see what they can throw at me next time. Highly recommended.

The Drowned Man is on at Temple Studios (Paddington station) until July 6th 2014. Book tickets here.

Gatz – At the Noel Coward Theatre until July 15th 2012

Image taken from gatzlondon.com

An 8 hour production of The Great Gatsby that hasn’t cut a single word? For many this may sound like a less than appealing way to spend a Sunday. I beg you to reconsider.

There can be no denying that this production from New York’s Elevator Repair Service was a marathon, yet the show was infinitely more satisfying for its indulgence. The completely uncut rendition of  Gatsby, staged over an 8 hour period (mercifully including 1hr 45 mins of breaks, spreading the action over 4 acts) sets the action, word by word, in a drab office where bored workers pick up the novel and take up the characters one by one. Thus, Fitzgerald’s extraordinary prose is brought into sparkling life for the stage.

Anyone who has ever met me would tell you that I’m a  bit of a Gatsby geek. I have the first edition’s cover framed in a poster on my bedroom wall, and spent most of my university life writing dissertations on 1920s America. Having read the book at least 10 times, my hopes and expectations were high. I am delighted to say that this production didn’t disappoint.

The main joy is without doubt F. Scott Fitzgerald’s prose. It has a magical quality, and evokes atmosphere with an economy of words and an elegance that is simply exquisite. By using pared down sets and costumes, normal-looking actors and sparse props, this production has stripped the book down to its bare bones. By seeing it presented this way new aspects are highlighted – the humour has been commented on by many reviewers, but I was also hit by a greater atmopshere of drunkenness, and the music production was simple, yet knowing and highly effective. The first half was hilariously funny. The absurdities of the characters were mercilessly played upon, and the make-do style allowed for almost surreal elements as rain was represented by a hand held spray bottle, a sofa became in turns at a car, piano, lilo and deathbed. This led to a real ‘signature feel’, which astonished with its adequate simplcity and at other times lightened the mood via absurdity.

What also becomes apparent is what Fitzgerald didn’t include in his prose. Gatsby’s mansion is decribed in all its splendour, but by seeing the women in plain clothes I realised for the first time that the ‘roaring twenties’ style was not specifically described in the text at all. It has been an (understandable) assumption of illustrators and directors that the women would be flapperised and that Art Deco would be the design order of the day. Without these distractions on stage, we are allowed to see the more timeless nature of this narrative. The foreground that has always been dominated by bootleggers, champagne, extravagant cars and hydroplanes is allowed to fall back, with the real story – of dreams, reinvention and loyalty being given the space that it deserves.

What elements were described are given greater meaning by their physical rendition – Gatsby’s pink suit for the second half demostrates to us his new optimism, but also that this optimism is slightly out of step. He is glowing amongst the crowd, but from this one point we can see that his dreams are likely to provoke more derision than success.

The acts are also contrasting – the lighter, humorous tone of acts one and two blends into the third for a time as the pace of the narrative accelerates, giving way to the darkness of act four as the threads draw together and the fates of each character are decided. The amazing Scott Shepherd reads as Nick Carraway throughout, but closes the book and narrates by heart for this final section. The effect is immense – it must be nigh on impossible not to be completely sucked into this story or to marvel at its execution, right up to that wonderful closing passage, remiding us how we all, “beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”

I’ve only been out of the theatre for 19 hours, and am sure that there’s a lot yet to process about this production. In an unexpected twist, on opening up my Kindle back to where I left Gatsby at Chapter 3 yesterday morning, the book already seems enhanced. My favourite novel now evokes new music and laughter as I dive back into the world that has long been a reliable friend. I have never before seen a production or a film that has made such a vibrant pleasure even more alive. Gatz has managed it.

Gatz is playing, from 2.30pm-10.30pm on Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at the Noel Coward Theatre until July 15th 2012. Tickets are available from the National Theatre website.