Rose Theatre Archives - Page 2 of 2

5Mar

By Alice RoseNo Comments

London

Persuasion – Rose Theatre

A fresh perspective on Jane Austen’s adaptation, Persuasion with WAP, Frank Ocean and a foam party. This production follows Anne and her desperate sisters on their conquest for love but as their 30s approach, they worry about compatibility and finding a match that will ensure a long and easy life. However, as with classical romance there is always one who suffers in the quest for true connection, Anne (Sasha Frost) and her desperate love for Captain Wentworth (Fred Fergus) are knocked together like conkers as they try to rekindle a love they once had. We are very much in an age of reflection and in result, seeing the return of a lot of classical texts. It’s refreshing more so to be seeing new interpretations and a wittier perspective on the structures we enforced upon ourselves. It spea...

The Seven Pomegranate Seeds – Rose Theatre

Fifteen years after it was commissioned and performed as a staged reading, Colin Teevan’s contemporary amalgamation of mythical stories receives a stunning production at the Rose Theatre in Kingston. Directed and designed by Melly Still, the text brings to life the legends of female characters from Euripedes’ plays, namely Persephone, Hypsipyle, Medea, Alcestis, Phaedra, Creusa and Demeter, and situates them in the present-day UK. Each story touches upon different themes – rage, fear, vanity, obsession and more – and are tied together with a larger thread of motherhood, grief and loss. The show is backed by formidable performances by Niamh Cusack and Shannon Hayes who rely on rhythmic vocal delivery and effortless movement quality to bring out the best in Teevan’s text. Hayes’ embodimen...

Educating Rita – Rose Theatre, Kingston

Willy Russell’s Educating Rita is a story about a girl from Liverpool who enrols in an open university course with a nihilistic and hedonistic tutor. Rita (Jessica Johnson) who came from a restrictive learning background wants to learn critical thinking and to change herself and her life through learning. She tries to find common ground and a genuine connection with her tutor as she emulates his identity of a Scholar and intellectual. She tries to find purpose, an appreciation for life and to change her culture, lifestyle and identity to something greater. Rita moves her apartment, changes her company to university students, changes her job and identity to lead a more enriching and authentic life. While encouraging her tutor (Stephen Tompkinson) to find a love for life through pursuing his...