The Week UK 17.08.2019

32 ARTS

THE WEEK 17 August 2019

Drama

Stars reflect the overall quality of reviews and our own independent assessment (5 stars=don’t miss;1star=don’t bother)

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ARC BRENNER; GAELLE BERI

The Shark is BrokenThis

“anarchic” behind-the-scenes

look at the making ofJaws–

and the feuding between its

leading actors–is“razor-sharp”

and hugely entertaining, says

Ann Treneman in The Times.

The play’s co-writer, Ian Shaw,

plays his own father, the

English actor Robert Shaw;

the other characters are Richard

Dreyfuss and Roy Scheider. It’s

essentially “three unhappy men

in aboat, in the Atlantic Ocean,

waiting forafake shark to be

fixed”. Do they needabigger

boat? “Actually,Ithink they

are going to needabigger theatre

–and soon.”Assembly George

Square Studios, until 25 August.

Baby Reindeer by Richard GaddThe Scottish actor and

comedian is no stranger to reliving trauma on stage, says Rebecca

Nicholson in The Observer: he won acclaim fora2016 show in

which he talked about being sexually assaulted. InBaby Reindeer,

hisdebut play, Gadd draws on his experience of being stalked by

awoman he met inabar. It is an “intense and harrowing hour,

physical and frightening”.Summerhall, until 25 August.

RootsThe latest production from the acclaimed 1927 theatre

company fuses animation, live performance and live music to

createa“delightfully diverse, playfully macabre and wryly comic”

take on the rich, but neglected, heritage of folk stories, says

Mark Brown in The Daily

Telegraph. Writer and director

Suzanne Andrade and animator

Paul Barritt bringa“brilliantly

bold, vaudevillian style” to their

work. It’sa“marvellous show”.

Church Hill Theatre, until

25 August (then touring; visit

19-27.co.uk).

How Not to DrownCo-written

by the Kosovan former child

refugee Dritan Kastrati and

playwright Nicola McCartney,

this tale of one boy’s journey

from the war-torn Balkans to

England–and his subsequent

shocking experience at the hands

of the British “care” system–is

brilliantly staged and “thrillingly

well told”, says Joyce Macmillan in The Scotsman. Kastrati’s

central performance, playing himself, is “at times almost

unbearably moving”.Traverse Theatre, until 25 August.

The Secret RiverThis multi-award-winning production from

Sydney Theatre Company, adapted fromanovel, is about the

clash between the Darug people of what is now Western Sydney

and 19th century colonial settlers. Everything flows magnificently,

says Dominic Cavendish in The Daily Telegraph. “Minimal

theatrical suggestion evokes maximal horror.” The piece is

“unforgettable and frankly unmissable”.The show has finished

its Edinburgh run; it’s at the National Theatre, London SE1 from

22 August to7September.

The best of Edinburgh theatre

Roots at Church Hill Theatre: “marvellous”

Musical: Evita ★★★★

Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, London NW1 (0333-400 3562). Until 21 September Running time: 2hrs 10mins

“Forget everything you know

about Evita: this one properly

rocks,” said Rosemary Waugh

in Time Out. It’s hard to

revitaliseapiece that has been

pleasing global audiences for

decades, but this “fast, furious

and fun” revival from director

Jamie Lloyd has pulled it off.

There are no romanticised

images of sun-soaked Argentina.

No “filler numbers” clogging

the score. No portraying Eva

Perón asa“simpering, blonde

starlet”. Instead, Lloyd’s

production “wipes the gloss”

off Andrew Lloyd Webber and

Tim Rice’s 1978 musical–the

last of their collaborations–and creates “a pumping, sped-up

Evita,edged with dirt, rust and grime”.

You can tell it’s going to be different from the start, said Sarah

Crompton on What’s On Stage, as Samantha Pauly’s Eva starts

to crawl up steps to her own funeral. With “raven” hair, and

dressed simply inawhite slip and sneakers, she looks like no

Evita before her. Soutra Gilmour’s design is radical too: huge

distressed-steel letters spell out the name Evita at the top of

agreat staircase, but there’s no scenery as such. Instead, the

main effects come from the configuration of the chorus (brilliantly

choreographed by Fabian Aloise, who “moves them around the

stage in raw, punchy routines”), plus quick changes of clothes

anda“leitmotif of balloons that burst in the hands of the

holder when they are shot,

disappointed or dismissed”.

These and other more

straightforwardly spectacular

ideas–“unleashing thunderclap

bursts of streamers” at the

audience–keep the evening

buzzing with energy, said

Dominic Cavendish in The Daily

Telegraph. Pauly and the other

principals “shine”. Trent

Saunders makes foranicely

sardonic Che. And inamoment

of rare stillness, Frances Mayli

McCann “walks off with our

hearts” as Juan Perón’s jilted

mistress crooningAnother

Suitcase in Another Hall.At

the end, Pauly “dons blonde wig, white dress, strikesastatuesque

pose, becomes the legend”. This isa“revelatory” show which

confirms that Lloyd Webber’s works are steadily re-gaining

“kudos” and currency”.

Pauly shines in an Evita “edged with dirt, rust and grime”

The week’s other opening

RinaldoGlyndebourne (01273-815000). Until 24 August

This is theGlyndebournedebut of th ehigh-profileyoungPolish

counter-tenorJakubJóze fOrlinski.His“clarit yofprojectionis

remarkable andhephraseswith musicality”, buthe“didn’t

move me with thebeauty of his voice”, and his acting is “a trifle

arch.Abig talent, but yes, more work needed” (Daily Telegraph).