Tuesday 26 February 2013

The Real Thing Review

Cast

Gerald Kyd - Henry
Sarah Ball - Charlotte
Marianne Oldham - Annie
Simon Scardifield - Max
Adam O'Brian - Billy
Georgina Leonidas - Debbie
Sandy Bachelor - Brodie

I went to see 'The Real Thing' at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds on the 24th May 2012, and I went to the 1.30pm performance.

Overview

Henry is a brilliant playwright. With his wife Charlotte in the starring role, his new play examines the complexity of love and infidelity.
      Henry's reality and fiction blur when passions ignite and his own marriage becomes entwined with that of Charlotte's co-star Max and his wife Annie. As Henry struggles to write a new work, the players in this game of deceit and lust are all searching. But can any of them find The Real Thing?

Act One of 'The Real Thing' is very fast paced, very funny with a few dramatic elements thrown in. The dramatic elements take place within the  opening scene between Max and Charlotte; as he accuses Charlotte of having an affair and he is proven right. But the opening scene is in fact a scene from Henry's new play 'House of Cards'.
      The second scene is a mix of both comical and dramatic elements. The comedy elements take place between Annie and Henry; as she asks him for "A quick one on the carpet", even though Henry is married to Charlotte and this takes place in Henry and Charlotte's home. Another comedy element occurs when the discussion takes place about Charlotte's and Henry's daughter, Debbie.
     My favourite scene from Act One was when Henry describes how difficult it is to write about love, as he's more used to writing comedy. So, instead he helps Annie to rehearse her upcoming play, which is in Glasgow. I also really enjoyed how Act One finished; as it ended with the Prelude from Bach's Cello Suite No. 1 BWV 1007.

In Act Two I really enjoyed watching the cricket bat scene; as Annie thought Henry was going a bit mad. But, Henry used the cricket bat to describe the difference between good and bad writing. Another scene that I enjoyed watching was when Henry was helping Annie to rehearse Brodie's play. Also, during this scene I enjoyed listening to Gerald's Scottish accent, as he was impersonating Brodie.
    I found two scenes hard to watch; the first scene was between Henry and his daughter Debbie, as it brought back loads of memories. The second scene was when Henry found out about Billy.
   Later in the second act we find out that both Henry and Billy think the same about Brodie's play, which is that he can't write. Also, when you come to meet Brodie in the final scenes, he isn't the nicest of people to meet.

I really enjoyed my first visit to the West Yorkshire Playhouse, as everyone made me feel very welcome. The whole day was an enjoyable experience and I'm hoping to go back to the Playhouse again in the future.

My New Venture: The Flute

At the beginning of January I decided that I wanted to have another go at learning how to play the flute.
         So I went out to purchase my very first flute, but not without trying out a few first. In the end I settled on the Trevor James x10 concert flute and I'm so happy that I did, as its the ideal student flute. Also, if your interested in doing your music grades on the flute I've been told that it will take you up to grade 5 with ease.
        So, now that I have purchased my flute; the next thing on the list was books. I ended up buying three different flute books and these are 'A New Tune A Day for flute' by Ned Bennett, 'Learn As You Play' by Peter Wastall, and 'Practice Books for the Flute: Books 1-5' by Trevor Wye. At the moment I'm currently using 'A New Tune a Day', as its the most easiest to follow.