Theatre & Performance – Page 11 of 12

28Jan

By Jake Kitley-GibbonsNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Theatre & Performance

Leaping off the stage: How Ballet and Opera are taking risks to capture a new audience

With the success of shows such as Strictly Come Dancing, and dance classes becoming more popular as a work out style, what can be done to make ballet more accessible to an audience that isn’t stuffy? Sadler’s Wells teamed with English National Ballet seems to have come up with the genius answer. New ballets! Instead of dusting off The Nutcracker, Swan Lake or The Carmen, instead commissions are coming thick and fast for shows that can captivate a modern audience. Matthew Bourne’s Edward Scissorhands, based on the Burton movie for example has already set the stage alight, with sold out shows for its six week Christmas run. That is not to say that The Nutcracker or family favourite Swan Lake are no longer seen, instead they are reimagined into Grease like car shops, gay fantasias or comedies...

24Nov

By Jordan ThorneNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Theatre & Performance

Dial “M” for Melodrama

It felt somewhat ironic to be reviewing Tom Stoppard’s “The Real Inspector Hound,” at Royal Holloway for it is a comedy that focuses upon, and mocks two upper-class, guffawing critics of whom actually end up participating within the show they are reviewing. Luckily and thankfully, I remained within the audience for its entirety. Irony aside, the play was shown in Jane Holloway Hall from 29th until the 31st October and was very well-received by its audience, who could be heard laughing and sniggering throughout the production. The show was good fun: it was light-hearted entertainment that used the genre of murder mystery within its parodied borders. The show acknowledged itself as a play with metatheatrical elements: it constituted a play within a play. This tool, with the potential to c...

2Nov

By Lis CarltonNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Music, Theatre & Performance

“Boots on the Ground!” – The RHUL Symphony Orchestra, The Student Body, and Rebecca Miller

The Royal Holloway Symphony Orchestra kicked off the new term in September with a concert that filled the Windsor Auditorium beyond its own doors. People squeezed into every last head space, perspiring in the heat, to get a glimpse of the Orchestra in its first event of the year, under the baton of RHUL’s new Fellow in Music Performance; BBC Proms 2014 accredited conductor, Rebecca Miller. With an audience pushing maximum capacity and an orchestra to match, swelling with fresh enthusiasm and pushing its own size limits, the year’s musical calendar began with a show of great skill that we are accustomed to seeing year-in-year out; only with a difference! Skill and success aside, it is unheard of to see Royal Holloway’s largest auditorium and concert hall filled out for a musical event. It h...

29Oct

By Laura DenhamNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Theatre & Performance

An update from your on-campus shows!

The Real Inspector Hound Inspector Hound has been rehearsing hard for the last two weeks, getting every gasp and melodramatic cry on point. The show is now blocked and the polishing is well into its last stages. Our crew is currently preparing for our quiz and launch nights, and as we enter the final couple of weeks, it's looking like a spiffing good show! Be sure you come to see the play-within-a-play, murder mystery and satirical joy that is The Real Inspector Hound when our doors open on the 29th of October. Oh it's a lovely warIt feels like we've barely started rehearsing yet, the cast is sounding beautiful and looking great already! With the centenary marking a poignant reminder of why this production is so important; it's magnificent to see it come to life. Everything i...

28Sep

By Michelangelo FanoNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Lifestyle, Music, Theatre & Performance, Visual Arts

Cheap Day in London

Yes, Egham is a little further out than the average London University. You probably felt vaguely cheated when you realised that the “short trip into central London!” turned out not to include the time needed to trudge to the station, barge your way through Waterloo, and submerge yourself on the underground. So here’s a list of fantastically cheap things to try on a London day out! The perfect jumping off point for an article on cheap London, in my opinion, is food. Here’s my eclectic yet cheap list of places to satisfy your student cravings, which all have the added benefit of being in quite interesting parts of London – My first pick, for example, being The Golden Dragon, on China Town’s Gerrard Street. Great authentic food, plenty of Dim Sum, with the added benefit of being staffed b...

18Aug

By Laura DenhamNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Film & TV, Theatre & Performance

Summer Arts in London

These were some of our top tips for things to do and see around London over the summer! Did you attend one of these, or know someone who did? We'd love to hear how they went, so please contribute an article to either Vincent or Lukas, the Arts Editors, and tell us about your experience! We'd love to know if our tip-offs were useful! The Drowned Man: A Hollywood Fable With award winning production company Punchdrunk, the NT brings you the epitome of immersive theatre experiences. Lose yourself, literally, in four floors of a transformed London postal warehouse in this production that shows you the underside of 1960s Los Angeles. Running until 6th July, this production gives you the complete freedom to explore some of theatres most exciting work. Running until July 6th From £25. Stude...

9Mar

By Laura DenhamNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Theatre & Performance

Lunar Nights

In order to mark the launch of the production, Lunar nights, Drama Society put on a fantastic Masquerade ball which was great fun from start to finish. You walked in to a beautiful Founders Dining Hall, where there was a bar (always good), snacks on the table, as well as bubbles in mini champagne bottles! Everyone looked amazing in the masks. Some opted to use there own whilst many decorated and wore the white masks you got allocated with your ticket, which was a great opportunity to be creative. The mask decorations ranged from pink sparkles to masks decorated with lots of eyes for a more dramatic effect. The music was also lovely with the Royal Holloway Jazz Quintet playing throughout the course of the evening, keeping everybody on their feet dancing. The raffle was also a great s...

7Mar

By Laura DenhamNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Theatre & Performance

Samuel Beckett takes to the London Stage

To have one stellar Samuel Beckett revival is always a treat, but to have two at the same time is cause for celebration. The Young Vic plays host to Beckett's iconic Happy Days, in which Juliet Stevenson is buried up to her waist in some sandy form of hell, whilst the Royal Court (followed by a brief stint at the Duchess) stages a trilogy of Beckett's one-women shorts. Beckett's writing for women has always been extraordinary, and these two productions do more than justice to his bringing poetry to ordinary people, and surreality to mundanity. Winnie, the protagonist of Happy Days, has been called the female Lear, and though the role must be as great a challenge to Juliet Stevenson as Shakespeare's King is currently to Simon Russell Beale, what makes Stevenson's performance particularly...

7Mar

By Laura DenhamNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Theatre & Performance

Theatre on a Budget

Across London there are many schemes available to students and young performers providing opportunities to experience theatre in a variety of ways. ‘Masterclass' is run by the Theatre Royal Haymarket and brings in many celebrated performers in the theatre industry to host inspiring talks and performance workshops. The scheme is free to anyone between the ages of 17-30 and those not qualifying for free admission can pay a small sum of £10 per class or £55 for the year. A few of the many past masters include: Jeremy Irons, Joanna Lumley, James McAvoy, Ewan McGregor, and Rufus Noris. ‘Theatrecraft' was set up by Masterclass to give people aged 16-25 a chance to gain experience in the non-performance side of theatre. There are workshops on offer to try every role available in the industry: ...

24Feb

By Laura DenhamNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Theatre & Performance

American Psycho: The Musical!

“There is no real me: only an entity, something illusory. Though I can hide my cold gaze, and you can shake my hand and feel flesh gripping yours and maybe you can even sense our lifestyles are probably comparable… I simply am not there.” If I'm honest, the main draw for me to go and see American Psycho: The Musical at the Almeida Theatre, was that Matt Smith was starring as Patrick Bateman, and also to spite my mother as she was unable to get any tickets. I've never read the book. I hadn't seen the film adaptation. I had no clue what to expect, except to try and get Matt Smith to smile at me in the audience. It was amazing. Everything was perfect to a tee. Every actor really took over their role, every dance move was eye catching and the use of original and 80's music was brought togethe...