#Jay Saighal

[oughttobeclowns]

News: The Great British Bake Off Musical Prepares to Transfer to the Noël Coward Theatre

News: The Great British Bake Off Musical Prepares to Transfer to the Noël Coward Theatre

Mark Goucher Productions have announced that The Great British Bake Off Musical will transfer to the West End opening at the Noël Coward Theatre for a limited twelve-week run from 25 February to 13 May 2023. Created in association with Creative Director and Executive Producer Richard McKerrow and the producers of the TV phenomenon, Love Productions, this musical comedy has perfectly reimagined…

[recentnews18-blog]

New Post has been published on https://shovelnews.com/theatre-review-guards-at-the-taj-is-an-arresting-brutally-funny-production/

Theatre review: Guards at the Taj is an arresting, brutally funny production

GUARDS AT THE TAJ

Singapore Repertory Theatre

KC Arts Centre – Home of SRT, Friday (Nov 16)

SINGAPORE – Rajiv Joseph’s two-hander dark comedy set in the Mughal Empire begins with the seductive premise: What does it mean if nothing so beautiful as the Taj Mahal will ever be built again?

Guards At The Taj, inspired by the violent myths surrounding India’s most famous monument, revolves around two guards who stand sentinel outside the architectural marvel before it is unveiled. They fight the urge to look at it before emperor Shah Jahan sets eyes on it for the first time.

Directed by Jo Kukathas, this arresting, brutally funny production by the Singapore Repertory Theatre (SRT) brings a human scale to the grandeur of the Taj Mahal, which took 20,000 men about two decades to complete.

The award-winning play, which premiered in New York in 2015, explores the price of beauty, duty and friendship through the eyes of two imperial guards, who start by engaging in a series of comical, philosophical musings.

Babur (Jay Saighal) has a playful imagination. He dreams of an “aeroplat” that will take him to the stars. Meanwhile, Humayun (Ghafir Akbar) is more pragmatic. He loves birds, but would rather carve them from wood than think about what it means to be able to fly.

After the Taj Mahal is unveiled, the longtime friends are saddled with a horrible task, one they must complete if they don’t want to be hanged to death and have their eyes pecked out by crows. They discharge their duties but do not escape unscathed. Babur’s babblings get increasingly dangerous and Humayun is put in a tough spot.

The chemistry between the two men is palpable. Saighal does a good job at conveying his character’s naivete, while Ghafir, who arguably has the harder role, pulls off some of the funniest lines.

BOOK IT

GUARDS AT THE TAJ

WHERE: KC Arts Centre – Home of SRT, Robertson Walk, 20 Merbau Road

WHEN: Till Dec 1, 8pm (Mondays to Saturdays); also 3pm on Saturdays; the show on Nov 23 will include sign language

ADMISSION: From $35 to $60, from Sistic (call 6348-5555 or go to sistic.com.sg)

INFO: bit.ly/2AZD1ir

The story is set in the 17th century but has no shortage of modern parallels: we are reminded, perhaps, of the Nazis’ unconditional obedience to the Fuhrer; and of bureaucrats who do what they are told so they can get by.

A play about beauty would not be complete without a beautiful set, here given a minimalist touch by Petrina Dawn Tan with twinkling stars and hues that change to reflect the time of day. Brian Gothong Tan’s multi-media projections are also impressive, ranging from 3D projections conveying the dizzying grandeur of the Taj Mahal, to a dramatic sequence of Mughal icons.

Guards At The Taj cleverly subverts conventional notions of power. It is no accident that Babur and Humayun, who offer a worm’s eye view of the Taj Mahal, are the namesakes of the first two emperors of the Mughal Empire.

We can make out the individual bricks in the walls of the monument, a fitting backdrop to Humayun’s remark that “if people see Taj Mahal and suddenly think that this wonderful, unbelievable thing was created by 20,000 ordinary men, then they begin to wonder about changing their lives. And if enough people do that, then the edge might come for the centre. And the centre could be cast away”.

While Guards At The Taj is a well-executed piece of work, there were moments where the the transitions between humour and pathos could have been more fluid, and other instances where the actors could have given the emotions more time to sink in. But that might well have been the point: it is hard for the guards themselves to grasp the extent of their actions.

The script, too, could have dug deeper into other themes underlying the Taj Mahal, such as political succession and migrant labour. And its reliance on the shock factor does not augur well for its longevity. To its credit, however, SRT’s production has downplayed the gore.

But cracks in the foundation aside, this is an important play that will make audiences laugh, wince at human vanity, and rethink the hard truths they have been told.

tohwenli@sph.com.sg

Source: https://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/arts/theatre-review-guards-at-the-taj-is-an-arresting-brutally-funny-production

[londontheatre]

Stephen Boxer and Natalie Simpson in The Cardinal – Credit Mitzi de Margary

I’m pleased I wasn’t the only one in the audience that hadn’t had much if any, previous interaction with the works of James Shirley (1596-1666). As I never tire of saying when it comes to rarely performed works, there must be a reason why a play like this doesn’t have more productions. At least this one had its early life curtailed by country-wide politics as opposed to the show itself being panned. The Cardinal has gone down in history as one of the last ‘extant’ plays (some others presumably having been lost) to have been written and performed prior to the English Civil War of 1642 to 1651. At the start of this war, all theatres in England were closed down by order of Parliament.

Shirley’s relatively straightforward – less flowery and more direct – script makes it far more accessible to audiences then and now than something like Shakespeare’s plays. Not much is lost in terms of emotional impact, quite the opposite in this case – how pleasing to note that even in the reign of Charles I, less sometimes meant more. Naturally, not every element makes sense for someone seeing this show for the first time in 2017, and I suspect this was a play written for discerning audiences who understood the socio-political climate of the day. Some of the lines proved educational for me – I wasn’t aware of tarantism, for instance, before it was mentioned in this play.

Perhaps the original script does not call for it anyway, but it was surprising how little staging there was. There’s nothing aside from a raised platform and, in one scene, some sheets and pillows to denote a bedroom. Thus in this tale in which the dramatis personae included miscellaneous people of importance, there’s a King (Ashley Cook) supposedly without a throne, and a Cardinal (Stephen Boxer) supposedly without a prayer stall.

The sound design (Max Pappenheim) was quite extraordinary, making a small performance space seem much bigger than it really is, with voices echoing as they would in the King’s palace or the Cardinal’s church, but without them being unpleasantly ear-piercing. With the audience sat on three sides, the cast move about very well, ensuring that there is no significant disadvantage wherever someone’s vantage point of proceedings is.

In the title role, Boxer’s Cardinal is performed as one of those characters that one loves to hate, and in so doing became quite likeable for me, from the outside looking in. Unlike his nephew, Columbo (Jay Saighal), who takes an ‘I don’t care who you are, I shall speak my mind regardless’ approach, he has a calculating darkness, and would probably be an excellent ‘spin doctor’ for a political party today. It was certainly the most believable performance of the lot. Of the supporting roles, Natalie Simpson’s Duchess Rosaura takes on the full gamut of human emotion – she has to, given the rapid turn of events in Act Three. Valeria (Sophia Carr-Gomm) and Celinda (Rosie Wyatt) provide humorous asides and observations.

That this play from 1641 gives women such pivotal roles in the narrative goes down well in the twenty-first century. Granted, such characters would, at the time, have been played by male actors – one punchline, “I know not whether she be man or woman” (Act Four, Scene Two, line 93) doesn’t have any resonance at all in this particular production, what with men playing men and women playing women.

But, as with older plays, the audience is directly addressed a lot of the time and kept abreast of characters’ thoughts and feelings. Yes, it adheres strictly to dramatic conventions in tragedies that stretch back as far as Aristotle, so few marks for originality, but it doesn’t stop this being an absorbing and entertaining production.

Review by Chris Omaweng

The state of Navarre is in crisis. An unscrupulous Cardinal has the ear of the King and is hungry for power. The Duchess Rosaura longs to marry the Count D’Alvarez, but the Cardinal wants her for his brutish nephew. To tighten his grip on the Kingdom, the ruthless Cardinal will stop at nothing to secure the marriage. But in the Duchess it seems he has finally met his match…

Hailed as James Shirley’s tragic masterpiece, The Cardinal (1641) was one of the last plays staged in England before Oliver Cromwell’s ban on theatre. With remarkably lucid and fast-paced dialogue, it is the captivating story of a religious monster and his relentless pursuit of power.

Starring Stephen Boxer (King Lear, National Theatre) and Natalie Simpson (King Lear, Hamlet and Cymbeline, Royal Shakespeare Company), directed by Justin Audibert (Snow in Midsummer and The Jew of Malta, Royal Shakespeare Company) and produced by Troupe (After October, Flowering Cherry and The White Carnation, Finborough Theatre).

Creative Team Director – Justin Audibert Designer – Anna Reid Lighting Designer – Peter Harrison Sound Designer – Max Pappenheim Fight Direction – Bret Yount Movement Direction – Natasha Harrison

Cast Stephen Boxer, Sophia Carr-Gomm, Phil Cheadle, Ashley Cook, Marcus Griffiths, Patrick Osborne, Jay Saighal, Natalie Simpson, Timothy Speyer, Paul Westwood, Rosie Wyatt.

Troupe presents The Cardinal by James Shirley 26TH APRIL – 27TH MAY 2017

Venue: Southwark Playhouse 77-85 Newington Causeway London SE1 6BD

Homepage

http://ift.tt/2oSFodp LondonTheatre1.com

[oughttobeclowns]

Review: The Great British Bake Off - The Musical, Everyman Theatre Cheltenham

Review: The Great British @bakeoffmusical, @Everymanchelt

A review of the sweetly enjoyable The Great British Bake Off – The Musical at the Everyman Theatre Cheltenham that avoids any mention of soggy bottoms “Where would a gin be without its tonic Why did the Krankies become iconic” Jake Brunger and Pippa Cleary have form with their commitment to theatre outside of London – their take on The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾ premiered at…

[recentnews18-blog]

New Post has been published on https://shovelnews.com/a-bloody-and-funny-play-about-two-guards-at-the-taj-mahal/

A bloody and funny play about two guards at the Taj Mahal

Two guards in 17th-century India stand sentinel outside the Taj Mahal hours before it is to be unveiled to the public. They are not allowed to look at the monument – at least not before the emperor, who had it built for his dead wife, sets eyes on it.

So begins Rajiv Joseph’s 2015 dark comedy, Guards At The Taj, which the Singapore Repertory Theatre is staging here for the first time.

The two-hander play, which explores the price of beauty, opens outside the walls of the monument. It draws inspiration from dark and violent myths surrounding the building of the Taj Mahal.

Thought to have involved 20,000 workers and taken about two decades to complete, the structure has been described as the world’s most famous monument to love – and, some might say, vanity.

“The reality of the Taj Mahal is also a bit dark because it’s a testament to Shah Jahan’s power,” says Malaysia-based Ghafir Akbar, 37, who plays one of the guards.

“When he built the Taj Mahal, there was a lot of money that was funnelled into it, taxes increased… What did it mean to the farmers, the guards, the regular folk? “

BOOK IT / GUARDS AT THE TAJ

WHERE: KC Arts Centre – Home of SRT, Robertson Walk, 20 Merbau Road

WHEN: Tomorrow till Dec 1, 8pm (Mondays to Saturdays); also 3pm on Saturdays; the show on Nov 23 will include sign language

ADMISSION: From $35 to $60, from Sistic (call 6348-5555 or go to sistic.com.sg)

INFO: bit.ly/2AZD1ir

American playwright Joseph was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2010. Guards At The Taj won the prestigious Obie Award for Best New American Play in 2016. The award recognises off-Broadway theatre in New York.

The play, which features a minimalist, modular set and 3D projections, will open at the KC Arts Centre tomorrow. It is directed by theatre stalwart Jo Kukathas, who starred in SRT’s production of Julius Caesar for Shakespeare in the Park this year.

Kukathas says on the SRT website that the guards live in a city state which has harsh punishments for every act of civil disobedience – “including the ultimate: death by elephant”.

“In such a society would (the guards) turn around? Or would they fear the consequences? What would a Singaporean do? A Malaysian? A Pakistani?”

The two guards, long-time friends Humayun and Babur, who find their friendship put to the test, are played by two actors who have known each other for only three weeks: Ghafir, who acted in SRT’s Julius Caesar and Disgraced (2016), and London-based Jay Saighal, 29, who appeared in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s 2015 production of The Merchant of Venice.

“We started off drinking early. We went out for some drinks after the first rehearsal,” says Saighal with a laugh. This is his Singapore debut.

Babur, an idealist, has a playful imagination, while Humayun is more comfortable accepting his lot.

“It’s interesting how they’ve cast us this way because he (Jay) thinks a lot. I don’t. I feel stupid sometimes when I’m with him,” says Ghafir.

Saighal, who was invited to audition for the show, chimes in: “Ghafir’s ability to embrace any situation is remarkable. You will never meet a less uninhibited actor.”

Ghafir says Guards At The Taj “moves rapidly from physical comedy to the dark consequence of our actions to the denial of it all”.

The dynamic between the duo, he adds, has some similarities with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in Tom Stoppard’s landmark play, the two tramps in Samuel Beckett’s Waiting For Godot – and even Phua Chu Kang and Phua Chu Beng, the contractor and architect brothers from the hit Singaporean sitcom.

He feels that the play will resonate with a contemporary audience and suggests parallels might be drawn with the recent scandals involving politicians in Malaysia.

Kukathas thinks it will resonate with audiences in Singapore.

“I think in Singapore, the question of civil obedience and disobedience is not an academic one, but a real everyday concern. Singapore is a rigidly stratified, paternalistic society ruled by a strong government,” she says.

Ghafir lets on that the two guards are told to do “something terrible that they can’t even comprehend… and they have to do it, otherwise they are s******.

“They are put in a difficult position… And that’s when the humour, the humanity come out. They have to deal with fear, grief, nervousness.”

Will the play be bloody? Saighal says: “It’s bloody funny is what it is.”

Source: https://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/arts/a-bloody-and-funny-play-about-two-guards-at-the-taj-mahal