Troilus And Cressida
|
William Shakespeare. Performed by The Marlowe Youth Company
|
society/company: Marlowe Theatre
|
performance date: 07 Mar 2020
|
venue: Marlowe Theatre Studio, The Friars, Canterbury, Kent CT1 2AS
|
|
|
![]() Configured in-the-round with audience on all four sides with big panels featuring Grecian figures and shapes dominating two of them (design by Rachael A Smith), the Studio felt pretty atmospheric – and tense, because we are, after all, in the middle of the Trojan wars. A relentless drum tattoo and the whole cast on stage looking variously anxious, puzzled, fired up at the beginning is a good idea to convey that tension but arguably it was sustained for too long. After several minutes the audience was getting restive. There are some fine performances in this show. Dan Ghigeanu stands out as Paris – direct, sure of himself and all over Helen (Matilda Scott – good) who has been famously whisked off to Troy, thereby causing a war. Chigeanu’s strong delivery works very well. Lewis Dempsey – with expressive face and sensitive naturalistic delivery – gives an impressive account of Troilus and Darcy Priston is fun as the perceptive, fearless Thersites, one of Shakespeare’s most engaging fools. Roy Clarke is an excellent Achilles. He gets the fierce loyalty combined with not being over-bright perfectly. There is a problem, however, with staging a youth company in the round. It takes a great deal of experience to engage an audience fully and audibly when you can face only a quarter of them at a time. Some lines in this show were lost because they simply couldn’t be heard from all sides of the auditorium – and this applied especially to the female voices because they’re higher pitched. And that, unfortunately, meant that the story telling wasn’t as strong as it might have been. Director Paul Ainsworth and his team of keen young actors have clearly worked very hard on this interesting production and it does them all credit. Quite a journey with a play which is by no means an obvious or easy choice. |
![]() |
|
First published by Sardines: http://www.sardinesmagazine.co.uk/reviews/review.php?REVIEW-Marlowe%20Theatre%20(professional)-Troilus%20And%20Cressida&reviewsID=3891 |