Play review: Amors soldater

I'm going to write this review in danish, since it is a danish play, settled in Copenhagen.

Hvad der startede som en uskyldig chat endte ud i et mord. Et kærlighedsbudskab blev til en terrortrussel. En gruppe som egentlig havde en masse godt på hjertet gik så langt at de rev hjertet af jakken.

Jeg var inde og se forestillingen ”Amors Soldater” d. 25. november. Den to timer lange forestilling åbnede op for utroligt mange tunge og vigtige emner, og gav publikum noget at tænke over, efter de forlod kælderen, og det er netop hvad amatør teater gør ved folk, når det er bedst.

Skrevet af: Michelle Olsen Fyrstenberg and Peter Mejndor

Instruktør: Peter Mejndor

Skuespillere: Simon Raundahl Lembcke, Margrete Henrichsen, Jonas Jørgensen, Michelle Olsen Fyrstenberg, Anders Simmelklær, Laura Hegaard, Rasmus Knutzen Nielsen, Emma Silja Sångren and Amalie Pontoppidan Witt

Resumé:

Tristans kæreste har slået op med ham og forladt hans lejlighed, og Tristan sidder fast i sit kedelige liv. I et mislykket forsøg på at begå selvmord åbenbarer en hvid due sig for ham, som taler til ham. Han får idéen til at lave en revolution imod samfundet pga dets mangel på næstekærlighed og tolerance. Han starter ud med at lave videodagbøger, og kommer derfor til at chatte med den unge Maya, og hun opfordrer ham til at køre projektet videre. Inden længe har Tristan samlet en gruppe på 6 meget specielle mennesker i sin lejlighed. Gruppen, ”Amors Soldater”, forsøger sig stille og roligt med flere videodagbøger, og sid-ned-demonstrationer – men bliver gjort til grin. Gruppens frustration munder ud i at Maya tager over, og gruppen idealer fuldstændig forsvinder i søgen på at blive taget seriøst og få magt, og dette går helt galt hen imod slutningen.

Karakterer:

Arbejdet med karaktererne i stykket er noget af det mest gennemførte jeg længe har set indenfor amatør-teater. Alle 7 karakterer har deres helt egne historier, som karakteren bygger op omkring med alt fra reaktioner til almindelige små vaner hver karakter har dannet sig. Ligegyldigt hvilken karakter man kiggede på fandt man ud af mere og mere om deres personlighed. Desværre blev nogle karakterer en anelse for karikerede, men generelt set var der en fantastisk dybde i hver eneste person. En karakter som især gav en helt anden drejning til stykket var den pensionerede klovn Erling, som var det helt store humoristiske indslag, og man kunne ikke andet end at holde af ham.

Sceneri/scenografi:

Basement var et perfekt lokale for forestillingen. De rå betonvægge gav virkelig indtryk af at man befandt sig i en ungdomslejlighed som del af et eller andet betonbyggeri. Samtidig blev der gjort godt brug af gangbro, og gulvet foran baren blev også taget i brug, på trods af at det var ved siden af publikum, og vi måtte sidde og vende hovedet for at følge med. Dette gjorde at det var meget simpelt at følge med i hvor skuespillerne befandt sig, og sceneskiftene var nemme at lave, da skuespillerne bare skulle gå fra et sted til et andet. Derudover gjorde scenografien også at man følte sig som en del af den lille debatterende gruppe. Skuespillerne gik ikke ekstremt højt op i at have front mod publikum hele tiden, hvilket også gjorde det mere realistisk. Der var også gjort brug af en projekter på den ene sidevæg som viste små klips lavet af hver enkelt karakter som en slags videodagbog. Det hjalp til at få endnu mere indblik i hvem personerne var, og hvad deres tanker var om hele projektet. Det fungerede super godt, men desværre var der så dårlig lyd på at det ofte var svært at forstå hvad der blev sagt. Eneste kritik til sceneriet/scenografien var en slow-motion scene i andet akt som desværre ikke fungerede helt optimalt.

Kostumer:

Meget simple, og skabt udfra hvordan hver enkelt karakter var. Det var en fin detalje at gruppen fik jakker med et lille rødt hjerte på som deres ”logo”, som senere blev revet af da idealerne forsvandt fra gruppen.

Andre detaljer:

Stykket var generelt meget gennemført. Så snart man ankom til teatret gik nogle af skuespillerne allerede rundt og var i karakter. Det var sjovt at prøve at udpege hvem de var og hvorfor de handlede som de gjorde allerede inden forestillingen startede. Derudover var der hængt små sedler op skrevet af de forskellige karakterer rundt omkring ude på fx toiletterne, så man fik endnu mere indblik i karaktererne.

Moralen med stykket:

Den morale jeg fandt vigtigst var hvor galt processen i at skabe en revolution kan gå. Det er set mange gange i historien før, men det er interessant at vi her bliver revet med ind i alle tankerne og samtalerne om revolutionen. Man bliver hurtigt draget med til at tænke at de har ret i at terror er rigtigt, indtil man indser at de forførende ord selvfølgelig er helt forkerte. At se hvordan gruppen går i opløsning mellem de som vil gå hele vejen, og de som synes det er blevet for meget, se hvilke metoder der bliver brugt når det går rigtigt galt, og se hvordan man mister idealerne når man er så fokuseret på selve kampen frem for hvad der ligger bag den.

Gåsehud:

Jeg fik bestemt gåsehud flere gange i stykket – især under de store revolutionære taler som bl.a. Maya kom med. Derudover kunne man ikke få andet end gåsehud når det rigtigt gik op for en hvor galt det begyndte at gå for gruppen, fordi man egentlig holdt med dem til at starte med, men pludselig så dem som helt fremmede personer til slut.

Endelige anmeldelse:

Det er en helt unik og fantastisk amatørforestilling som jeg absolut vil anbefale at man tager ind og ser. Den gode blanding af både humor og alvor er perfekt til at ramme os lige i hjertet og få os til at tænke over tilværelsen. Godt gået!

Skynd jer, for den har sidste forestilling på lørdag, d. 1. december 2012.

Theater concert review: Cirkus Fantastica

Yesterday (13th of September 2012) I went to Folketeateret in Copenhagen to see "Cirkus Fantastica" a theater concert with music by the danish composer Sebastian.

Written by: Sara Grabow (daughter of Sebastian) and Rolf Heim

Director: Rolf Heim

Music arranged by: Tomas Wisti Raae

Scenography: Sisse Jørgensen

Actors: Tammi Øst, Sara Grabow, Katja Tomasevic Olsen, Ole Thestrup, Peter Belli, Kristján Ingimarsson, Ivan Tomasevic

Musicians: Tomas Wisti Raae, Dan Hvidtfeldt, Anna Brøndsted, Anders Holst

Resumé:

This is a show about what happens to circus performers when they're not in the arena during the winter season. The show is an interesting combination of theater, circus, and a concert. This gives us a funny mixture where everyone's used as both actors, singers, musicians and entertainers. Some of the themes in the show is loneliness, missing, pressure, drinking etc.

Since the show is a theater concert, there is no completely clear story line.

Characters:

The actors have been working carefully with their characters, and the many details made it easy to understand every single character's background in another way than words can tell through the songs.

Often, all the characters were on stage at the same time, so sometimes it got a bit confusing to focus on every single person. Although, it helped that every character shared some of the same problems - the loneliness and the feeling of being stuck.

It was some really good actors and singers, and they worked with some really deep and big emotions. Unfortunately, the actors lost me a little every time a song ended. The transition between the songs seemed generally a bit purposeless, and that made the story turn into separated parts instead of one whole story.

Scenery:

The scenery was great. It was very simple, and with very few props. The backdrop was a screen which viewed different natural backgrounds such as cloud or water. It was a good effect, without stealing the whole picture. On the stage was three naked trees placed to symbolize the winter season.

The most important part of the scenery was six rectangular boxes. They were a little higher than a person, and with room for max three persons stuck into the box. One of the sides of the boxes were taken off, so we could look into the boxes. Each box represented each of the character's room. They were decorated so they fit each one of them. Every time something happened inside one of the boxes, there were lights in the box, and the rest of the scene was darkened. It helped giving a very intimate and focused view of every single character.

The boxes were very easy to to move around, so they were used a lot in different creative ways. The only other props used were a wide swing bed, and a long strip of fabric, both used by an acrobat in the show. There were also a big red piece of fabric which made it look like the circus tent. Overall, wonderful and simple scenery, which helped the audience focus on what was important.

Costumes:
I was very thrilled with the costumes. It both gave me associations to Commedia Dell'arte's street theater, and was also a great mix of old-school classic circus costumes, and more modern colors etc. The costumes and the make up made the characters very caricatured, which again helped us to understand their stories. E.g. the acrobat had pig tails so symbolize her young age, and the ballerina was forced to wear very revealing clothes, although she tried to cover herself with a coat all the time.

Dramatugry:

Since it is a theater concert, there's no clear story line. Sometimes it got a little too absurd, and it was difficult to figure out what message they tried to send. But I personally liked the idea of showing the gloomy side of the life in circus, since it shows the audience things they've never realized until now about the performer's lives, plus it made it easy to get into some strong emotions among the performers. One thing I found annoying was; way too many quiet numbers. I'd love to see more than only two songs with some power in them.

The Music:

The music impressed me as well. They were spot on trying to find the joyful, but still sad sound of the circus music. The work with the songs from Sebastian's songs turned out so well, and everything fit into the show. Especially the lyrics.

Another thing I liked about the music was, that the musicians were a part of the show, as well as the actors were a part of the band. In one scene, the guitarist ran around as a circus horse. In another, the bearded lady and the ballerina played saw together.

All of the characters had at least one song about themselves. But when it was a song about the general life in circus, it was a member of the band who sang, while the acrobat performed etc. When all the singers sang at the same time, they still made the song into their own small story about themselves.

The Goosebumps:

The opening scene was amazing, and definitely gave me goosebumps. Every single performer sad in their own box, and it was a very good way to present each of them. While they sat in their boxes, they were singing a beautiful song called "Når lyset bryder frem" (When the light shines through). I immediately felt pity for all of them, because it was so clear what a struggle their lives were.

Final review:

I definitely recommend this show to you guys. Even though it is very absurd and dealing with some strong emotions, it's an amazing experience. All human needs some of the same basic things in life, and this play shows that. Besides, the music is great, and you can think the lyrics over and over because they're so well-written.

Go see it!

Musical review: Ghost

I went to see Ghost the musical at Picadilly Theatre in West End, London the 2nd of August, 2012.

The musical is based on Ghost the movie, written by Oscar-winning Bruce Joel Rubin.

Music & lyrics by Dave Stewart and Glen Ballard

Directed by Matthew Warchus

Resumé

Ghost the musical is a story about everlasting love. The young couple, Molly (Rebecca Trehearn) and Sam (Mark Evans) just moved to their new house in New York, but then Sam gets killed. We follow Sam as a ghost struggling with not being able to contact his girlfriend, or anyone else who's alive, since they can't hear him, and he can't touch them. Through the show Sam meets the psychic Oda Mae (Jenny Fitzpatrick) who can talk to him and hear him. Sam makes her try to convince Molly that their common friend, Carl, killed him and will kill her too. The whole show is about love and about believing in the impossible. The story itself is an iconic love story we know from the world of the movies, and you can't help but falling in love with the sweet couple and their amazing story.

The music

I didn't really enjoy the music. It was all pop-songs with empty piano tones mixed with odd electronic sounds. Even though it was some amazing singers, and very emotional lyrics, the music annoyed me through the whole play, and I can't remember one single melody from the whole musical. When I go see a musical, I want the music to be a layer underneath the acting which makes everything even more emotional and radical, but in this musical, it just seemed out of proportion, and ruined a bit of the experience for me.

There were a few places I enjoyed the music though. When Sam were on the train the music matched the atmosphere perfectly, since it had to be fast and confusing, plus it was a fight scene, so all the electronic sounds were perfect.

The song "With you" was beautiful as well. That scene really touch me, and I started to feel like I was a part of Molly's mind, and I started missing my real boyfriend as she sang it.

At last, the song called "I'm Outta Here", sung by Oda Mae, was probably the best song in the whole musical. It was a typical musical Broadway show-off number, with dancing and lots of belting in the song etc. But even though the song were good, and the show was amazing, it seemed like it didn't really  fit into the general sound of the whole musical, which was more pop songs and emotional ballads.

Scenography

Ghost is a revolutionary musical, because they use so much technology and magic on stage. It's an amazing visual experience, and there's always something interesting in the scenography to watch, and many times through the show you wonder "How did they do that?!" The whole stage had screens on the walls, a big screen that could drop down in the middle of the stage, and in front of the stage. They used the screens very very often, and they made it very easy to suddenly be in the streets of New York, and then go into an office building, followed by a train station, with trains driving in the background.

Sometimes, they used the screens too much though. In some scenes where the ensemble was dancing, they were viewing a whole music video on the screen in the background with colors and dancers, which was very distracting. I would have loved to be able to focus on the actual ensemble instead of the movie running in the background. The screen dropping down in the front was also distracting since every time they had to roll it back up, a line slowly rised from the stage and all the way up till the screen was gone, which was distracting as well.

The lightening was very good. There were some amazing details, like always having a cold spot on the ghosts, and a warmer spot on the living people, so it really felt like they were in two different worlds.

Magic

As already said, they did some amazing magic tricks on stage which made you wonder how in the world they did it. Sam walked through a door, he moved his hand through a cup, people and stuff flew around in slow motion on the train, when someone died, you could see their soul walk sideways up to heaven etc. They made everything look so real, and I had to think everything through a couple of times before I realized how they actually did it. So as already said, it was an amazing visual experience.

The actors

The night I saw the show, both Molly and Oda Mae was played by understudies. But I really think they all did an amazing job. Rebecca's singing voice didn't suit the role of Molly that well, but she was a good singer, so it was alright. Especially Jenny Fitzpatrick did an incredible job as Oda Mae, and I can't imagine anyone else to play that role, since she was amazing!! Her attitude, her voice, her awkwardness and everything were just incredible. I'm very happy I got to see her play that role. Mark Evans is a very handsome man with an amazing voice, and he suited the role as Sam very well. I enjoyed his performance.

Dance

There weren't much dancing in the musical. When we followed Sam to the office, there were office-people dancing, and when we were in the streets of New York there were hip-hoppers dancing street dance. And of course the "I'm Outta Here" which was just a typical Broadway show.

As already stated, the screens distracted me so I didn't notice much of the choreographies. Besides the hip-hoppers outfits were looking very stupid with bright colors and way too exaggerated. No one would were these outfits in real life.

In the beginning of the show there were a ghost tapping at the hospital. It was very odd and out of context. It ruined the "Oh my god he just died"-moment, so I didn't get any chance to get all emotional about his death.

The goosebumps

Did I get the goosepumps? Oh yes I did. Some moments were dfinitely very engaging, and you felt like you were a part of their love story. Through the whole show I could hear girls crying all around me because they got so emotional about the tragic story. But as already said, many things distracted me through the whole show, so I didn't get the "whow"-feeling.

Final review

Amazing visual experience. Boring music. Good actors and singers. Amazing story and moral.

Go see ghost if you want to see magic happen on stage, and if you love cheesy lovestories. I wouldn't go see it again, since I didn't enjoy it that much, but it's worth seeing if you love the movie. I would recommend you to sit in the stalls, but not up in front, since there are too many things happening on the stage, and very sharp lightshow, so it's uncomfortable to sit in the front rows. On the other hand, if you sit upstairs, you can see the rolling tracks on the stage floor which makes the scenery move, but you do get a view on the whole stage, which makes the screens less confusing. I sat upstairs, and I enjoyed it, but I know from some friends that front row is uncomfortable.

Anne Louise Slott Thorborg

Presentation

My name is Anne, I'm 19 years old and I live in Copenhagen, Denmark. I study music and english at the moment, and besides I am very interested in musical theatre. I go watch musicals quite often, and I always have an opinion and comments to the show which I would like to share. Therefore I thought I would shate them with you. I've been watching musicals in both Copenhagen and London's West End.

In this blog I am going to feature different things like shows I've seen, songs, lyrics, actors or anything alike. Feel free to comment on everything - I do not mind to discuss my opinions, and listen to your opinions as well. You should also feel free to request me to do a post about anything you would like, as long as it's about theatre, or anything similiar.

My personal objective for this blog, is to collect all my knowledge and opinions in one place, so I can always go back and relive the experience or the thoughts I've had about something. It will also make it easier for me to compare composers, instructors etc. when I write down their names every time I review something on this blog.

I hope you will all enjoy, and be a part of my knowledge expasion process.