The Week - UK (2021-07-17)

30 ARTS

THE WEEK 17 July 2021

Drama &Podcasts

Theatre: three summer treats

It’s“hardtoimagine”amore

“enthralling”andentertaining

pieceofoutdoorsummertheatre

forchildrenthanPitlochry

FestivalTheatre’snewstagingof

TheWindintheWillows,said

MarkBrowninTheNational.

Theeventboastsa“fresh,witty

andlively”adaptationofthe

KennethGrahameclassicbythe

writerMarkPowell,a“superb”

cast,arousingmusicalscore–

andabeautifulsettinginthe

theatre’sriversidegrounds.A

firmenvironmentalmessageand

topicalthemesunderpinthis

“jolly”production,saidMark

FisherinTheGuardian.When

AliciaMcKenzie’sMolesays

she’sbeenhibernating,AliWatt’sRattynotes,“We’veallbeen

insidealot.”Afterourownenforcedhibernation,thisWindin

theWillows“becomesashowaboutrebirthandrenewal”–and

athoroughlyenjoyableone,too(until 12 September).

ScottishOpera’sstagingofLabohèmein thecar parkof its

Glasgowproductionstudioswasanartisticbeaconin the

darknessoflastyear’slockdowns,saidRowenaSmith inthesame

paper.Itssuccessorisanequallyimpressive(and farmorelavish)

newstagingof Verdi’sFalstaffbySir DavidMcVicar,which

moves indoors atthe EdinburghInternational Festivalnext month.

Inrecentyears,Falstaffhasoftenbeenplayedas a“sitcom,a

giddy reel ofsight-gagsandslapstick”, saidAlexandraCoghlanin

TheSpectator.What yougetwithMcVicar’s“grown-up” staging

islessraucousbutnoless

joyous:the“warmthofslow-

spreadingoperaticsunshinethat

seepsintoyourbones”andlifts

thespirits.Thesingingistop-

notchacrosstheboard.And

RolandWood’sincomparable

Falstaff–“opulentlysungfrom

starttofinish,thuggerypierced

withsuddenflashesofcharm”–

is“magisterial”(Glasgowuntil

17 July;thenEdinburghfrom

8-14August).

Thesummerseasonof

Shakespeare’sGlobeisnot

exactlyfiringonallcylinders,

saidDominicMaxwellinThe

Times.ItsRomeo&Juliet

(until 1 7October)isaleaden,didacticaffairthatcomesover

“likeanover-eagerEnglishteacherouttoprovethatShakespeare

is‘relevant’tomodernyouth”.Baldlyeducationalstatements

(aboutcrime,povert y,teenagedepression,thepatriarchyandthe

damagingimpactof theclosure ofyouthclubs)burnawayinred

surtitles onagiantscreen, upstagingthedrama they are supposed

toilluminate.Alas,theactorsare also madetoreadthemout.

“Suicideistheleading cause ofdeathamong allpeople under

35,”intonesCapuletwhenRomeo andJulietdie.Talk about

“abuzzkill”. There’szerosparkbetweenthe leads;and“despite

somerealtalentinthecast”,most characters barelyregister.

When,at the end, the Princetellsus “Gohence,tohavemoretalk

ofthesesadthings,” itis“asif he’s tellingustogoin todiscussion

groups togetherbeforeweare allow edto head home”.

PitlochryFestivalTheatre’sTheWindintheWillows:“superb”

©D

OUGLAS MCBRIDE

Spotify’sterrificHuman

Resourcespodcastexplores

the formative role ofslavery

in shapingvariousaspectsof

Britishlife–from our buildings

and culturalinstitutionsto what

we eatanddrink,saidMiranda

Sawyer inThe Observer.In

recent weeksthe series has

lookedat subjects including

Robert Peel,theoriginsofthe

GreeneKingbrewery,and

howLiverpool is “grappling

withits slave-trading past”. The

presenterist he journalistand

author MoyaLothian-McLean,

whogrew up in Herefordshire,

the daughterof awhiteBritish

motherand ablack Caribbeanfather. She’san “engaging”

presenter, withaknack forconducting nuancedandilluminating

interviewsthat make us reconsider ourassumptions. Any

teenagersfrus trated by the waythey’re taught historyatschool

“should tryHumanResourcesfor another approach”.

Much has beenwritten andsaidabout the US pop starBritney

Spears, and the“extraordinarylegal conservatorship” that has

controlled herlife since 2008.Even so,agripping new podcast

on thesubjectiswell worthalisten,said PatriciaNicol in The

SundayTimes. The “sharp-witted” eight-part BBC documentary

Pieces ofBritneyshot to thetopofthe download chartswhen

it wasreleased at thestart of the month. Writerand presenter

PandoraSyke sbegins the“riveting, troubling” tale in 2008,then

windsbacktochartSpears’s rise

to fame from“hardscrabble

Louisianachildhoodtobeing

the popprincess ofpost-Aids,

post-ClintonAmerica,toa

humiliated, silencedwoman

fundingherown sequestration”.

Sykes “makes acompelling

moralcase”forthestory’s

importance. Myonlycaveat: the

dramatisedvignettes ofscenes

from Spears’s life are“toe-

curling”,with theactors

“sounding likeinterlopersfrom

aTennessee Williams play”.

The USbluespioneer Harry

Pace madea“hug econtribution

to U Sculture –thenseemingly vanished”, said Fiona Sturges in

the FT.Anoutstanding newpodcast fromWNYC,the maker sof

the acclaimed2019 seriesDolly Parton’s America,asks how and

whyithappened.Ahundredyears ago Pace,ayoung African-

American businessman, startedBlack Swan, agroundbreaking

record label featuring only blackartists,and with Ethel Waters’s

DownHomeBluestransformed Americanmusic. Butwithi ntwo

years, white rivalshad squeezedhim outofbusiness. Pacesoldup,

left t he musicindustry andretrainedasalawyer. Likethe Parton

series,TheVanishing of HarryPace“documentsoneperson’s

risewhile tellingabroaderstory about society andculture”. This

five-part series “is rich in detail and immaculatelyproduced and

researched.The narrative rarelyendsup whereyou thinkitwill

and providesamasterclass in storytelling.”

Podcasts... slavery, Britney and the blues

Pieces of Britney:a“riveting, troubling” tale