#ustinov studio

[my-theatrical-opinions]

In a Garden - Howard Korder

The current season at the Ustinov Studio is focusing on Contemporary American Drama, with all three of the shows being British premiers, making this season very exciting. However, with these plays being very new, the season is a bit of a gamble as it is unclear how the British audience will react to these new American plays. In the case of “In A Garden”, this risk may not have been worthwhile.

A play written by Howard Korder, the story looks at the relationship between American Architect Andrew Hackett and the Minister of Culture, Othman, of a fictional Middle-Eastern country. The fifteen year journey that the two men go on serves as an exploration of the relationship between America and the Middle East before and then after 9/11. The message is well understood especially with the repetitive clashes of philosophy and power between the two men as Othman refuses to give “his architect” the information of what he had been called upon to design, with the tension rising with each meeting between the two men until it is revealed that Hackett had been called in all the way from America to build a glorified gazebo. If the story so far sounds not very interesting, then the overall tone of the first half of the play has been accurately represented. This somewhat boring and repetitive first act is almost a test to the audience's conviction to watch this play, and it has to be said that they are rewarded once the second act begins, as the preconceptions built in the first act are shattered in an equally emotional and spectacular way.

The set is a beautiful room in the Ministry of Culture in the fictional country adorned with golden ornaments and a large photo of the President of the country in which the play is set. The overall feeling of the large room gives a sense of who really had the power in the whole world of the play. Because the play is only set in the one room, the set becomes the whole world for the audience, which when paired with the repetitive arguments and discussions between the two characters makes the audience truly feel the 15 years that the play. The several scene changes added to the slow pace of the play, with each scene change leaving the stage in darkness while a woman in a shroud moved tea pots and cups on and off the stage, in a small way, even though the changes were so small that it was hardly noticeable, and just made the play even longer and harder to stay engaged with.

Overall, the play was enjoyable in the second act, so any audience members who go to see this play should just sit tight in the first act as they will be rewarded in the second act.     

[my-theatrical-opinions]

Your Last Breath - Curious Directive

I saw this play a few weeks ago, and just thought I'd give you an overview of my thoughts on it.

This is an interesting piece that serves as a good introduction to people who haven’t seen much or any physical theatre before.  

Spanning over 150 years, the story unfolds in the Norwegian mountains beloved by the Sami, where the cold conditions have both killed and saved people, and follows the stories of four people, a Victorian cartographer who was sent out to chart the mountains, Frieja who goes out to Norway to spread the ashes of her deceased father, Anna who is trapped under the ice for 40 minutes, and a man pioneering a new, life-saving technique discovered because of Anna’s accident.

The piece is visually striking as the completely white set is a stark reminder of the landscape that binds all the story lines together, and gives for a stunning contrast against the performers and the coloured wool used to represent the lines and shapes as plotted by the cartographer.  

I would highly recommend this piece of beautiful and clever theatre.

[jmarsterson-blog-blog]

Review 4: Howard Korder's 'In A Garden'

After the immense greatness that was Red Light Winter, the Ustinov Studio’s spring season had a lot to live up to with their next play: In a Garden by Howard Korder.  The play focuses on two characters, Othman (who is the Minister of Culture in a fictional Middle Eastern country and is played by Hassani Shapi) and Andrew Hackett ( an architect, who is played by Keir Charles – who was also in Red Light Winter), and their meetings throughout the years between 1989 and 2004. In these meetings, they discuss a project that Othman has hired Hackett for, to build a garden reminiscent of his father’s garden in which he had spent a lot of his childhood.

As mentioned previously, Othman is the Minister of Culture of a fictional Middle Eastern country, loosely based on Iraq. The set itself gave off this feel perfectly. The sandy coloured tiles which covered the set, the gold furniture, the number of ornate and exotic ornaments that stood around the stage, and, to top it all off, a huge portrait of a moustache clad, uniform wearing man -  whom had an uncanny resemblance to the late Saddam Hussein. Despite the beauty of the surroundings, there was always a feeling of a monolithic, un-aging dictator looming over it all, always watching; which was great.

Hassani Shapi and Keir Charles both were played their parts impeccably. Charles’ Hackett really gave the feeling of an aspiring, yet discontent, architect, constantly overshadowed by his peers; whose ideas are being constantly rejected by Shapi’s Othman. Shapi’s character is wonderfully likeable, confident and passionate, yet throughout the play there is a real feeling of distrust towards him, as if something in this wonderfully perfect-appearing setting is very, very wrong. The dynamic between the two actors was superb, and gave real life to the play.

Before seeing the play, I had heard mixed reactions about it. Some insisted that it was tedious and not worth it, others said that it was enjoyable and rewarding. In a Garden is one of those plays that reward you for sticking with it; the ending was fantastic. The thing about this play is, you most definitely have to stick with it, and you have to be constantly paying attention and constantly engaged. If your mind wanders off, you start daydreaming, thinking about what you are going to eat when you get home or thinking about all those things you have to do tomorrow, you’re going to ‘lose’ the play. Fast. But for those who stick to it, listen to what these characters are saying and engage in the story; you’ll be rewarded with a sincerely satisfying piece of theatre.

In a Garden is a great piece of contemporary theatre, go watch it.