'Company' at the Gielgud Theatre

'Company' by Stephen Sondheim has opened in the West End with a brand new production and some gender-swapped roles. I've never seen a fully staged production - costumes, scenery, lights - of 'Company' before but have seen an afternoon version as part of the 'Sondheim at 80' season in 2010 that starred Adrian Lester, Sophie Thompson and Haydn Gwynn, all in civvies. That was a 'traditional' version with Adrian Lester as Bobby considering marriage and commitment whereas this new version has Rosalie Craig as Bobbie and, you know what? I think it works better with a female lead.

It's a play very much of it's time - 1970 - on Bobbie's 35 birthday and all her friends are married but not necessarily happily. I can see how it would've been a breath of fresh air in 1970, challenging the traditional form of the musical with it's series of one act scenes with some narrative and a song all around the theme of marriage. Today, though, it seems a bit dated and that's where changing the gender of the lead player worked for me. Not only is there the question of settling down into a relationship (let's use that word rather than marriage) but there's also the biological clock ticking away. And, because it's updated, we also have a gay couple who are getting married (or possibly not).

I couldn't make up my mind about whether I liked the staging or not where most of the scenes took place in big neon light boxes that rolled on and off the stage effortlessly - I can't quite decide if they enhanced the production, detracted from it or were simply annoying. You have that nice big stage so use it, don't confine people in a claustrophobic box. Something that did annoy me was Rosalie Craig's red dress. Please people, give her a costume change? That red dress just really irritated me.

Rosalie Craig played Bobbie who was on stage for virtually the whole time, with friends played my Patti Lupone and Mel Giedroyc. I've seen Rosalie and Patti on stage before but this was the first time I'd seen Mel and I was quite impressed with her acting and (as you'd expect) her comic timing. It's odd to think that, as Chris mentioned, after the Sondheim nerds and theatre queens have seen the production, Mel's will be the biggest name on the bill but she's not very visible in the second half at all. I'm pleased we saw her.

The big draw for many people will be Patti Lupone, a Broadway legend who I saw in Sondheim's 'Gypsy' a decade ago. I saw her again five years ago in a short series of song and chat shows at Leicester Square Theatre. I liked her world-weary performance as the friend who's seen it all and then some, and her big song was 'Ladies Who Lunch' which was great fun.

I enjoyed the production and I'm pleased I saw it. It did rather make me want to see new productions of other Sondheim shows like 'Sunday in the Park'  and I'm sure that'll come back one day. In the meantime, enjoy 'Company'.

PS: I also liked the blue balloons that were all over the public areas of the theatre to mimic the poster for the show. Well done Gielgud!

'The Threepenny Opera' at the National Theatre

A new production of 'The Threepenny Opera' has opened at the National Theatre and I was lucky enough to see it in preview and again last week. Yes, I've already seen it twice and it's only been playing for a few weeks. Does that give you a clue?

This is a new version of the Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill play translated by Simon Stephens and brought up to date  and stars Rory Kinnear as Macheath, aka Mack the Knife. It also proudly boasts that it 'contains filthy language and immoral behaviour'. Ooo-er, I did hope so!

The show opens with the Balladeer introducing us to Mack the Knife who has returned to London in time for the King's jubilee (and we see some of his handiwork, liberally slaughtering the populace), introduce us to Mr Peachum and his troupe of beggars and miscreants and learn that his daughter has gone missing. O dear, where can Polly be now that Mack is back? He's only married her to get his leg over but when his gang also want her she sings 'Pirate Jenny' to show how foolish they'd be if they went down that route!

We meet Mrs Peachum coming home in the early hours after a night on the town (she seems to have 'an understanding' with Mr Peachum) in her Otto Dix red dress, Jenny the drug addict and prostitute who loves the dashing Captain Macheath, and, later the chief of police. A more disgraceful bag of ne-er-do-wells it would be hard to find. And it gets worse because Peachum has given his gang of beggars a cause and something to believe in and he could bring down the establishment... seems rather current given the referendum.

This version of the play is fast moving and quick-witted and it's certainly found its feet. It almost felt like these actors were their characters, there's a belief in there somewhere that was most impressive. Dashing around the stage, up and down the ladders and platforms, every now engaging the audience as if we're part of the crowd on the street watching the shenanigans, all of it kept the pace going, moving swiftly through the scenes.

I loved the set made largely of plywood and brown paper (they must have a huge roll of brown paper backstage to replace the number of panels people crashed through), starting off sparse and gradually becoming thick with panels as the actors brought more 'walls' on stage and later when a huge set emerged from below and whoosh! we have a complex stage to reflect the back streets of the East End. The staging and the lighting all worked, moving from simple to complex and back, actors moving the set around the stage as needed for the next scene. Well done to Rufus Norris and Vicki Mortimer for that.

It was great fun to see Rory Kinnear take on the role of Captain Macheath, milking it for all it's worth and he can really sing. Rory has a great list of Shakespeare under his belt (and I saw him try comedy  in 'Last of the Hausmans') so he can act but it was great to see how versatile he can be. It was also good to see Haydn Gwynne as Celia Peachum careering round the stage in her tight red frock giving as good as she gets and Nick Holder does good sinister as Peachum. Meet him in a dark alley? I don't think so! Rosalie Craig was very good as young Polly who brought a nice sense of menace to 'Pirate Jenny'. George Ikediashi (aka Le Gateau Chocolat) set the scene nicely when he opened with 'Mack the Knife' and Debbie Kurup was great fun as Macheath's lover (one of many, obviously) in her sing-off with Polly in the jail scene.

This show is great fun and deserves a sell-out run. It is dark and menacing, laugh-out loud at times, full of great songs and performances and a lovely set that really works. Well done people, I'll be back!

'As You Like It' at the National Theatre

'As You Like It' at the National Theatre only started in preview on Monday this week but we went to see it tonight so this was the third time they've done a full performance in front of an audience. Might I saw 'wow'?

Before-hand I was trying to think how I knew the story to the play - I've never seen it so must have read it at some point. It hasn't played at the National for 30 years so it's well overdue a showing. Shakespeare tells eternal stories and, with him, sometimes it's the writing or story-telling or clever plotting that really stands out and sometimes it's the whole lot. There's some wonderful writing in this play (such as the 'All the world's a stage…' speech) but there are also some lovely characters and that's partly the casting and production.

It's the tale of Rosalind (daughter of the deposed Duke) and Orlando (son of a knight loyal to the Duke), our young lovers who meet once and can't tell each other of the love bomb that dropped because they don't know how to. Then Orlando needs to flee since his older brother plots to kill him and Rosalind is banished by the usurper Duke and they both end up in the Forest of Arden. Except Rosalind is dressed as a man to help protect her and her friend Celia (the usurper Duke's daughter). Throughout the forest are various lovers and would-be lovers that appear and disappear on an ongoing basis as well as the deposed Duke and his followers. After much to-ing and fro-ing our young lovers get together and are married with three other sets of lovers (including Orlando's older brother who's seen the error of his ways and marries Celia). There's a lot going on in this tale, with love, usurpation, pretence and country v city life all being themes within the play.

So that's the story (sort of) but what about the production? When I walked into the theatre I hated it. Awful! The set is a bright office with a multi-coloured carpet, computer screens everywhere and actors already sitting at desks doing, I suppose, 'acting'. I'm getting bored with this current trend of actors being on stage being busy before the thing starts. But the set was awful. Clashing colours, loads of desks for the actors to manoeuvre round… an accident waiting to happen. On comes Orlando, our hero, dressed as an office cleaner. And then he opens his mouth and out comes this poetry - the setting is all wrong, it jars and maybe that's what it's meant to do but I didn't like it. Despite hating the set, the writing and acting kept me engaged.

When Rosalind and Orlando escaped separately and headed to Arden is when the magic happened. The ceiling of the office started to rise and pulled all the office furniture after it, using the tremendous height of the Olivier Theatre to pull the furniture up and up so it started to take the shape of the gnarled trees of the forest. The transformation was gob-smacking! And then there were actors in chairs up in the trees playing the parts of the wind, the birds and whatever background noises were needed. I was all 'wow!' about it. That was spectacular! But I didn't see what happened to the awful office carpet - where did that go?

There aren't any production photos available yet but it'll be a thrill to see them - especially a video of the transformation scene, that's what I'd like. There are all sorts of oddities in the production, like a herd of sheep invading the stage at one point which is half the cast on their hands and knees wearing big wooly jumpers. At first I was all 'whaaaat?' but then I loved them. I *want* a herd of sheep now, please. How inspired and playful and fitting for this play.

The writing is wonderful but it's the actors that bring it to life and I really liked Rosalind and Orlando played by Rosalie Craig and Joe Bannister - I thought they made a really charming couple. I know who wears the trousers in that house. Patsy Ferran was great fun as Celia, playing her very modern and knowing and by no means just anyone's sidekick. I last saw Patsy as 'Jim Hawkins' in 'Treasure Island' at the National last year. Of the minor characters I liked old Adam, played by Patrick Godfrey, as Orlando's loyal servant, who gave a very touching performance and Ken Nwosu as the shepherd in love with his shepherdess who spurns him. Ken's desperation to please, to love his shepherdess was almost lip-trembling in it's tenderness (someone to watch, I think).

The final word must go to Lizzie Clachan for her set design and the astonishing transformation from office to forest. I mean, wow! I sat with my mouth open, gawping at it in front of me. But Lizzie, what happened to the carpet? Where did it go?