Friday, March 29

Tag: Tristan Bates Theatre

The Sorrows of Satan – Online
REVIEWS

The Sorrows of Satan – Online

The Sorrows of Satan is a musical melodrama filmed in the ballroom in the sumptuous surroundings of a quintessential stately home in the South of England, which, follows a successful run at the Tristan Bates Theatre some time back, now returns digitally, directed by Adam Lenson. The team also behind The Fabulist Fox Sister at Southwark Play House, Luke Bateman and Michael Conley have reimagined the story of Faust in 1920’s London. Geoffrey Tempest played by Luke Bateman is a struggling penniless writer who chances upon a mysterious benefactor in the form of Prince Lucio Rimanez. A tense and provocative mix of comedy, thought provoking and humorous slapstick unravels. This performance is intriguing, sometimes dark and claustrophobic. The set and lighting gave it an authentic a...
Double Bill: The Masks of Aphra Behn and Oranges and Ink
REVIEWS

Double Bill: The Masks of Aphra Behn and Oranges and Ink

Claire Louise Amias’s pair of plays resurrect Aphra Behn from a place of relative obscurity into sharp relief as a chatty, warm, and witty raconteur. Directed by Pradeep Jey and Alex Pearson, they were originally presented at the Tristan Bates Theatre as part of the Women and War Festival and were streamed together as part of the Online Fringe Festival this spring. Behn is a complex and fascinating character from the Stuart era. Born in Kent, she worked as a spy in Antwerp, had a brief marriage to a Dutch merchant, and was the first female playwright to make a living from her work. Played by Amias, she is presented as a historical gossip, a pragmatic conversationalist, and a feminist ground-breaker. In The Masks of Aphra Behn, we hear a fraction of her life story, yet I wanted to ge...