LONDON THEATRE
Comics to play at the Palace
| Ricky Gervais |
Two
of television’s hottest comic properties, The Office’s Ricky Gervais and Black
Books’ Dylan Moran, are to have short runs at the Palace theatre in May and
June.Moran both writes and plays bookshop owner Bernard Black in Channel 4’s
cult classic Black Books, which has recently come to an end, although there
are rumours abound that it might translate to the stage. His stand up show,
Monster II, blends the most bizarre fantasy with acerbic observation as Moran
brings his jaded view of life to a live audience. Moran will be at the Palace
between May 17 and 23.In recent years Ricky Gervais has won almost every major
comedy award running, including BAFTAs and Golden Globes, but stopping short
of Best In Show at Crufts. His sitcom The Office, which he both wrote with
Stephen Merchant and starred in, revolutionised sitcoms, creating a new genre
of cringe comedy. In his own words, his stand up show Politics will feature
Gervais “doing my usual brand of brilliant, irreverent yet observational
comedy, covering such universal subjects as meeting Jack Nicholson, driving
around in limos and not putting my hand in my pocket once.” Politics will be
at the Palace between May 31 and June 6.Later in the summer the stand up shows
will be followed by trigger happy psychological illusionist Derren Brown,
before Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s new musical The Woman in White opens in
September
Opening This Week…Alison Roddy on ENO's The Silver Tassie
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A rarity – a modern opera that is a hit with the public and the critics! Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Olivier Award winning The Silver Tassie is based on a Sean O’Casey play set in Dublin and the trenches of the First World War. It describes the personal tragedy of Harry Heegan, whose journey takes him from football hero to wheelchair-confined war veteran. Revived by English National Opera following its premiere at the Coliseum two years ago, Dublin-born opera singer Alison Roddie plays Jessie Taite, Harry’s girlfriend. “This is the first role I have ever sung that is Irish! When I first heard the opera done by ENO at the Coliseum it made me terribly homesick. I had known the Sean O’Casey play on which it is based and had seen it performed at Dublin’s Abbey Theatre. So I was curious to see how it would work as an opera. The play is not one of O’Casey’s best known although it has touches of Juno and some of his other more famous plays in it. But I found this opera incredibly moving. In Act 1 there is a real atmosphere of Dublin. I’ve lived in England since 1995 but this brought me straight back home. “If you look into the orchestra pit at any time in this opera you will see the most amazing mix of instruments. He uses percussion such as xylophones so imaginatively. He also uses true Irish folk music. In Act 1 Jake sings a ballad and this is so evocative of Irish homes where there is always music coming into the house. There might be people fighting upstairs, sandwiches on the table in the kitchen but there is often someone singing. This is such a domestic scene from the Dublin tenements. Musically the change is striking as it goes from four women singing in chamber-music intimacy to a whole male chorus in the war act which is so moving.“ The opera ends strangely – this ending is not in the original play. There is a line 'We who come through the fire unharmed' that in the wake of September 11 is very powerful. It is this timelessness that gives the opera its appeal. Lots of famous operas are written in times we don’t recognise. Turnage deals with subjects which are so relevant to modern audiences. It is about real people, who today might be going to war in Afghanistan, it is not about remote figures like kings and queens.“ I think Turnage picked O’Casey’s play because of the war in Act 2. It means he can bring in a male chorus which in its impact reminds me of the Prisoners’ Chorus from Beethoven’s Fidelio. It is that powerful. When you think of opera you think of theatre on a big scale - great drama, great music, great visuals. The Silver Tassie has got everything from the epic to the domestic. As far as contemporary opera goes I really believe this will be one of the classics that people will be talking about for years to come.” Performances of The Silver Tassie are June 28, July 1, 3 at 7.30, July 6 at 6.30. (The July 3 performance is sign language interpreted).