Sam Troughton as Romeo and Mariah Gale as Juliet

Love’s young dream never felt more thrilling or poignant as in Rupert Goold’s energetic and engaging new production of Romeo and Juliet.

The exhilarating opening scene plunges the audience straight into a beautifully choreographed sword-fight between the Capulet’s and Montague’s. Flashes of fire erupt angrily among the chaos, adding to the menacing atmosphere as the two warring families battle hammer and tong.

The RSC are pulling out all the stops for audiences by featuring man of the moment Goold from their pool of talented directors this season, fresh from his accolade as Best Director of award-winning musical Enron last year. His vision for this play is just as innovative, giving Shakespeare’s age-old love story an intense immediacy for today’s facebook generation.

Mariah Gale’s gum-chewing, Converse-wearing Juliet is the perfect match for Sam Troughton’s duffel coated Romeo, both expressing their emotions with utmost conviction and perfectly capturing the fragility and finality of young love. Set apart from the rest of the cast through their modern day garb, their clothes emphasise lovers lost in their own world, detached from the rest of society. Jonjo O’Neill’s flamboyant Mercutio appears hell bent on stealing every scene he is in, with his lusty depiction of Romeo’s ominous friend, while the spirited Noma Dumezweni as Juliet’s Nurse ensures a constant stream of laughter throughout.

The influence of Baz Lurhman’s kaleidoscopic screen adaptation of 1998 is evident and no bad thing for a director who made Shakespeare cool again for youths. Unlike the film however, the energy wanes as sugar-levels fall in the second half, with the play losing momentum as the tragedy unfolds. But there is no denying the sparkle of Goold’s impact as director, and some passionate performances from the ensemble cast, making this a worthy must-see.

In repertory at the RSC’s Courtyard Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon until 27 August, 2010. Box office: 0844 800 1110

Riz Ahmed as Omar and Kayvan Novak as Wak

Through Riz Ahmed’s character, the would-be terrorist Omar, director Chris Morris has skilfully encapsulated the Government’s ‘Prevent’ conundrum. Omar is at once naïve and intelligent, foul-mouthed and gentle, pitiless but tender. In short, he is human, very human. But how to ‘reach out’ to young men like him and prevent losing them to a violent and misguided cause?

Morris’ portrayal of five friends and wannabe jihadists from up North is by turns thought provoking, insightful, heartbreaking and laugh-out-loud funny. While it may be easy to categorise the other characters– the loon Barry, the weirdo Faisal, the handsome but ‘thick as fudge’ Waj and the excitable Hassan – ringleader Omar stands out. His character breaks the media stereotype of a one dimensional, cold-blooded martyr. A loving husband and father, he is sure of his goals, but his mixed-up ideals and confused morality are clear from the beginning.

The deadpan humour and sharp wit throughout the film only serves to highlight the complexity of the situation. Morris’ astute observations of the young men and state incompetence when dealing with terrorism are artfully woven throughout the film. From the marksman who mistakenly shoots down an innocent man, to the fake extraordinary rendition of Omar’s innocent brother who becomes unjustly implicated in extremist activity, this is satire at its best.

The film’s culmination at the London marathon has some gripping, heart-stopping moments, but the most poignant scenes are when the credits roll. Accompanied by a fittingly mournful piano score, the music is an ode to the futility of the lives lost and will inspire a sad smile at the thought of Waj’s ‘rubber dinghy rapids’ (the adrenaline filled rollercoaster ride he imagines the afterlife to be).

With the five year anniversary of 07/07 fast approaching, Four Lions is a timely and worthy contribution to the discourse on home-grown extremism and a must-see for an original perspective on a sensitive subject.

Greg Hicks as King Lear (Photos by Manuel Harlan)

Is blood really thicker than water? Upon watching ‘King Lear’, Shakespeare forces his audience to ponder the proverb which provokes such a searching question. Islam places the utmost importance on the concept of family, and this drama plumbs the depths of familial relationships.

David Farr’s production is skilfully imagined and deftly executed, offering a valuable comprehension to one of Shakespeare’s more difficult and complex plays. As one of the Bard’s most brutal and unforgiving tragedies, ‘King Lear’ explores the folly of old age and the ruthless ambition of the young, leading to a fatal clash of generations. The story of a King’s fall from grace at the hands of his children sees the fragility of the human condition effectively replicated on stage under Farr’s capable direction.

Shakespeare explores the weighty issues of evolving generations, sibling rivalry, next of kin and the mutual responsibility between parents and their children, to devastating effect. The failure of two fathers to recognise the true nature of their offspring leads to lessons learnt in the most vicious fashion. Greg Hicks’s rakish and foolhardy Lear, and Geoffrey Freshwater’s pity inducing Earl of Gloucester, both convincingly portray heartbreaking despair as the beleaguered fathers.

Katy Stephens as Regan and a tortured Gloucester played by Geoffrey Freshwater

When the aging yet self-indulgent King Lear decides to distribute his land between his three daughters, Goneril, Regan and his youngest Cordelia, he uses the opportunity as an exercise in vanity. This backfires, however, when his two eldest preen his ego, waxing lyrical about their insurmountable love for him, but his favourite, Cordelia expresses due reverence to her father, offering no further flattery. Flying into a rage, Lear disowns and disinherits his youngest and gives her away in marriage to the King of France without dowry. His bruised ego mistakes her plain words for bad character and his two elder daughters’ saccharine compliments as a reflection of their true devotion. He is unable to distinguish between the superficial and the honestly simple. Dividing his land between Goneril and Regan and their respective husbands, Lear soon learns that he is not in their best interests when he is heartlessly turned out of their homes during a storm.

As Lear’s royal pomp and status slowly disintegrate, so does his short sightedness as the true nature of his eldest daughters dawn on him. It is only when he is in the grips of madness, driven insane by their mistreatment, that he realises the extent of his mistake having denounced Cordelia.

Tunji Kasim as Edmund

Similarly, when Gloucester’s illicit son Edmund, played by a fittingly knavish Tunji Kasim, accuses his legitimate son Edgar of plans to usurp their father, the Earl rashly believes him and calls for his legitimate heir’s death. Edmund’s intentions to gain his half brother’s inheritance do not occur to him. Both Gloucester and Lear’s metaphorical blindness unwittingly aid and abet their ill-intentioned children to take advantage of them in the most disturbing ways, while their true kin are cast away. In the most relentless scene in the play, Gloucester’s eyes are gouged out, a bitter irony for the father who only later gains true insight into Edgar’s innocence, who later approaches and looks after him in the guise of Mad Tom. Left to wander the heath, the blind and bloodied father stumbles across Lear, where together they lament the treachery at the hands of their own blood.

Such scenes are discomfiting to witness, even on stage, because Shakespeare imparts a sense of taboo among his audience through highlighting the gross abuse of the elderly by their own family. It brings to mind the very contrast of the Quran’s passage concerning the treatment of parents, “And your Lord has commanded that you shall not serve (any) but Him, and goodness to your parents. If either or both of them reach old age with you, say not to them (so much as) “Ugh” nor chide them, and speak to them a generous word.” (17:23). The verse heightens the horror unfolding before us, as the two aged men, a pitiable sight, compare their sorry lot.

Lear and Gloucester lament their lot

Jon Bausor presents a sparse and sprawling industrial set that at once serves as a kingdom in flux with collapsing walls and flickering lights. Later it acts as the wilds of the heath where Lear eventually seeks solace and suffers the height of his madness. However, it is mainly up to the audience to conjure the jagged cliffs and blustery hilltops from their own imagination- but this small ask is made manageable by the commendable acting from the RSC’s strong ensemble cast. Kelly Hunter and Katy Stephens are chillingly feminine as the wicked step sisters, while Samantha Young’s Cordelia radiates the warmth and vulnerability of a prodigal daughter.

Shakespeare draws his audience into the bosom of both families and makes them privy to the chaos that unfolds within his characters. Although a semblance of order is restored by the end, the intangible pain caused by the death of a loved one is palpable as we witness Lear’s fleeting reunion with Cordelia.

‘King Lear’ has much wisdom to offer its audience, and although real life may not always be so dramatic, its emotional evocations are never far from being close to home.

King Lear runs in repertory at the RSC’s Courtyard Theatre in Startford-upon-Avon until 26 August 2010, £10-£45 (0844 800 1110, www.rsc.org.uk)

As featured in May’s edition of ‘emel‘ magazine

Djalili with Richard Schiff

In the midst of such uncertain times in the Middle East, what better way to break the proverbial bread with your neighbours than to make a film about a Jew raised as a Muslim. David Baddiel’s acerbic comedy is set in London’s East End, a generational melting pot of Huguenots, Irish, Jews and now Muslims. Subtly drawing on the co-existence of these faiths through a wittily outrageous, yet essentially warm hearted story, his characterisations show Muslims in a refreshingly ‘normal’ light.

West-London born Iranian comedian Omid Djalili plays Mahmud, an avid Tottenham Hotspur fan and loving family man who is not the most devoted Muslim but holds Islam close to his heart. Stumbling across adoption papers when clearing out his recently-deceased mother’s house, and with further not-so-subtle sleuthing, he discovers his birth parents are Jewish. To add to his woes he is forced to keep up ‘observant Muslim’ appearances for his son’s future father-in-law, a ‘radical’ cleric, who will only agree to give his stepdaughter away in marriage to the most pious of families.

Photos courtesy of Revolver

The father-of-two finds an unlikely friend and ally in Lenny, a stoic Jewish American black cabbie (only in London), played by West Wing’s Richard Schiff, who helps initiate him into Jewish culture and practises. So ensues a battle of loyalties, inner turmoil and a bid for the hearts and minds of Mahmud’s family upon his revelation.

Prepare yourself for some bitingly offensive gags and some hilarious scenes. We witness our beleaguered hero testing the waters of his new identity by gauging his Muslim colleagues’ attitudes towards Jews and a stand-up performance at a bar mitzvah with a particular joke that is definitely below the belt.

Rarely has there been a comedy so ripe for a good airing given the fraught relations between many Muslims and Jews here in the UK, inextricably linked to Mu-Jew tensions abroad. Admirably ambitious in a small way, if this film does anything to aid interfaith relations by celebrating similarities and respecting differences, then there is hope for the Middle East peace process yet.

As featured on YMAG online

The Story of the Little Beggar (Photos by Keith Pattison)

The magic and power of storytelling lives on. Like Queen Shahrazad who bewitched King Shahrayar, night after night with her magical tales, the Royal Shakespeare Company’s much anticipated production of Arabian Nights combines all the elements of an epic story that captivates its audience.

Adapted and directed by Dominic Cooke, artistic director of London’s Royal Court which recently swept the board at the prestigious Evening Standard Theatre Awards, the play features an ensemble cast of 18 actors, puppetry, song and dance to retell ancient stories of the East. Cooke originally staged the play at London’s Young Vic in 1998 and its success led to a UK tour and shows in New York; however he feels the play holds a particularly important resonance for audiences today. “It’s really interesting coming back to Arabian Nights now because the last time we did it was in 2000. Post-9/11 the West’s relationship to Islam and Islamic culture and history has changed beyond belief. Engaging with a text concerning the world of early Arab society at this point in history is a very different feeling to 10 years ago; it’s more political,” he says, explaining why he decided to revive the play 10 years after it was first staged.

Director Dominic Cooke

“Today, there’s a whole generation of kids who when they hear the word ‘Baghdad’ think of war. Many don’t know that whilst in Europe we were still really primitive, there was a very sophisticated, very pluralistic civilisation operating in that part of the world where these stories have come from,” he observes. “I was really interested in going back to that idea, because it does mean something different. There’s a line in Es-Sindibad (one of the tales in the play) ‘I return to Baghdad, City of Peace’ which is significant in a time where a whole generation of children associate a lot of the Middle East with conflict.”

One Thousand and One Nights, as it is originally known, is a collection of folk tales from the Middle East and Asia between the 9th and 15th centuries. Cooke adds, “These stories are derived from the streets, they’re not official, and so the issues in them are universal, such as ‘how do you live when you don’t have very much?’” There is no one original author of the collection of stories, but they were first compiled during the 14th century and different versions continued to be rewritten and recorded thereafter. The popularity of the epic text, which contains myths and legends spanning countries from India and Iran to Egypt, and genres from satire and comedy to romance and philosophy, soon spread to Europe. It was dubbed ‘Arabian Nights’ in the 18th century following an English translation from the original Arabic.

The tales are held together by the frame story of the Persian ruler Shahrayar, driven mad by his first wife’s infidelity. Branding all women unfaithful, he decides to take a new bride every night and execute her in the morning, until he marries the resourceful Shahrazad, who survives each night by enchanting him with her tales which span the globe, and wins his love in the process.

How Abu Hassan Broke Wind

Cooke referred to the eighteen-volume English translation held at the British Library as his source for the original tale. The range of stories, from thriller and slapstick to an epic quest are what initially drew him to Arabian Nights, but he cites the storytelling element as the main inspiration for the adaptation. “When I first began researching One Thousand and One Nights I was amazed by its variety and complexity. A lot of its content was adult, so I knew I had to find stories that worked for kids but what really appealed to me was the idea that storytelling or the imagination can save your life, because Shahrazad famously tells stories to save her life,” he explains animatedly. “For me it’s a metaphor for the power of creativity and the power of the imagination to change and heal everyone who comes into contact with it, which is what I believe about the theatre,” he reveals. He recalls how his early experiences as a teenager reading books, going to the theatre and watching films shaped the way he viewed the world and fed his imagination. “I believe the arts can change your perception of the world and for me they have. The core idea of storytelling to heal a person in Arabian Nights is what really appealed to me.”

Ayesha Dharker as Shahrazad

The play’s multi ethnic cast, headed by Indian actress Ayesha Dharker as Queen Shahrazad and British actor Silas Carson as her volatile King reflects the steps being taken towards theatre to be more representative of today’s multi-cultural society. Cooke acknowledges more needs to be done to draw the interest of people from non-traditional Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) backgrounds into playwrighting, the reason why the Royal Court has been running an initiative specifically for BME writers and a separate one for writers from Muslim communities. “We do a lot of work to encourage people to write plays who wouldn’t have considered it. We get 3,000 unsolicited scripts a year at the Royal Court but what we weren’t getting were many plays from BME writers and specifically from Muslim writers, so we’ve got a scheme for them,” he explains. “It’s because we want to get those stories and voices on our stage. Often people whose voices are excluded from the mainstream have the most interesting things to say and the most urgent need to be heard.” Indeed, it was a participant of this very  scheme, Alia Bano, who won for the Royal Court one of its four awards at the Standards Theatre Awards for Most Promising Playwright of 2009.

The narrative device employed in the epic is one that has been frequently adopted throughout literature and the oral tradition. The story within a story has been used far and wide, from Homer’s Odyssey in the 8th century BC to Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights in 19th century Victorian England. Cooke acknowledges the far reaching influence of the text. “The story of Arabian Nights informed a lot of Western literature and there’s also the journey the other way. It’s wonderful – it’s like Russian Dolls; there’s seven generation of stories within one another.” However, the depth and breadth of the collection of tales meant there would be obvious limitations when it came to adapting it. Cooke had to keep in mind a family friendly audience when selecting the stories, “there was so much to choose from that I wanted to do an adult version, but got distracted!”

Silas Carson as King Shahryar

The play, which is split into two acts, contains six tales including the story of Ali Baba and Es-Sindibad the sailor (both of which were added in much later versions of the text in Europe), and the Woman Who Wouldn’t Eat. Cooke was able to revise his previous adaptation to a grander scale for the RSC production and was keen to make it as authentic as possible, keeping the shape of the original written versions. “I went back to the original stories in more detail and did further research about what medieval Arabic society might have been like, and it informed what we did. My favourite tale is the Envious Sisters- it’s a piece about growing up and evolving as a human being into an adult, and learning from the struggles in life. It’s very redemptive.” He also cites the morals of each tale and the exploration of the human condition as its broad appeal: “For me, what’s wonderful about these stories is that they deal with universal situations and they are spiritual in that they are talking about higher values in life and what is important. These key values are the same among all the major religions.”

Chetna Pandya as Dinarzad with Ayesha Dharker

Cooke explains that references to the influence of Islam in this production are depicted very subtly. “I don’t think I’m qualified to search out Islamic influences and render them in the play because I don’t know enough about it – you can read, but it’s different to having a deeper understanding of the faith,” he admits. “What I have tried to do is be true to the culture and society which of course was very Islamic. The level of sophistication in law in those cultures, for example, was remarkable; everything was very measured.”

When asked what audiences can expect from the play Cooke replies, “A really entertaining, visual, funny and warm evening.” He hopes the universal values of Arabian Nights are what will draw a wide audience to his production. “It does have depth to it because it’s about how human beings get themselves into and out of the most terrible situations. If you take Shahrayar and Shahrazad’s story as a metaphor you’ve got someone who was completely destroyed and transformed into a monster, and is then healed back to life. So, there’s something profound about the possibility that humans can develop for the better, which I believe in.”

Courtyard Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon until 30 January 2010, £14-£42 (0844 800 1110, www.rsc.org.uk) 

As featured in January’s edition of ‘emel’ magazine

Dominic Cooke (RSC/Ellie Kurttz)

The story came about this week when the Evening Standard reported how regular burlesque nights held at popular music venues such as Koko and Roundhouse may be under threat if they do not acquire the appropriate licence, Striptease or art? The question for burlesque taste police.

Standard writers Liz Hoggard and Sam Leith have both come to the defence of burlesque dancers, supporting their opposition to Camden Council’s legislation. But surely the question here isn’t about ‘tarring’ burlesque with the same brush as the sleazy, disreputable image held by lap dancing, but comes down to what happens during the performance? Regardless of the nature of burlesque, which its dancers describe as satirical and theatrical, the shows involve routine stripping, with performers wearing little but a smile by the end of their act.

The concept and idea of burlesque may arguably be very different to that of performances by lap dancers working a pole, but as Leith mentions in his column, burlesque today has become far racier than it was back when it was practised in the 1940s and 1950s. And so if like strippers they end up on stage nude, why should venues holding burlesque performances refuse to hold the correct licence? It’s simply down to not wanting to be associated with such establishments and the social stigma attached to strippers and their clients.

But burlesque performers who disagree with Camden’s licensing laws should get off their moral high horse; many would argue that working a pole is as much an art form as burlesque dancing, and that strippers don’t deserve any less respect than their ‘high brow’ counterparts.

Aneurin Barnard as Melchio Gabor (Photo by Tristram Kenton courtesy of Cornershop PR)

Believe the hype; Spring Awakening is a youthful tonic for young and old, making no apologies for being angst ridden, volatile and touching all at the same time,  just like its teenage characters. The musical is deftly punctuated by catchy rock ditties and ballads to convey pivitol moments, the youths expressing through song what they daren’t utter in conversation, with power and humour.

For a play so steeped in controversy, it’s hard to believe one could come away so invigorated. This is in part due to the verve and energy of the cast, but also a skilled adaptation of Frank Wedekind’s orginal 1891 play which was initially banned in Germany and not performed in English for nealy a 100 years thereafter, due to its (then) shocked reception.

The themes of repression, sexual abuse, abortion and suicide were adapted by Duncan Sheik (music) and Steven Sater (Book & Lyrics) for Broadway, directed by Michael Mayer, and became an instant success back in 2006.  Now transferring to London’s West End as part of a world-wide tour, the musical, which has a mostly all British cast, with several of the leads making their professional debut, deserves plaudits for the impressive performances and relatability for a 21st century audience.

Spring Awakening is booking at the Novello Theatre until Saturday 31 October 2009.

Arresting: Goldie greets visitors to Maverik Showroom (Photos by Saadeya Shamsuddin)

A reaction to society’s ASBO nation created by the government or a great excuse to jump on the anti-establishment graffiti bandwagon? Perhaps a little bit of both, but judging by the price tags at Goldie’s latest exhibition at Maverik in Shoreditch, only the minted will be buying, be they the likes of former Stone Roses frontman Ian Brown or City slickers wanting to feel street because they’re anything but.

Click below to view slideshow

AK-47s, camouflage gear, Cuban cigars and keffiyehs (the ubiquitous Palestinian scarf) adorning defiant young women take up a good part of gallery space, while the rest is filled by a series of tongue-in-cheek ‘For Sale/To Let’ signs, framed paintings and objects all tinged with dark humour and flashes of vibrant colour.

There’s no doubting Goldie’s (real name Clifford Price) artistic talents, the impresario who began his career as a street artist in his teens has continually upped his game over the decades as musician, actor and most recently classical conductor. But the question remains, as a street artist, are you selling out when you put your work in a gallery with a four figure price tag or more? Does street art lose its edge and egalitarianism when removed from the chaos of the urban jungle and tamed within photo frames and the civilising surrounds of art galleries and auction houses?

Street art puritans may think so, but these are changing times. Since Banksy’s star has been in ascendance there’s been no stopping the bourgeoisie’s excitement and enticement of an art form that has been prevalent in this country for decades, albeit in a niche, underground fashion. Until now that is. And so such art will continue to exchange the hands of dealers and buyers, where in the past they were shunned, because what was once viewed as alternative has now arguably become mainstream.

That’s not to say street art has lost its cool, or its socio-political voice; it just depends on the creator. So why shouldn’t authentic street artists such as Goldie cash in? After all, he was holding graffiti exhibitions long before it was on the radar and the interior walls of the rich.

As any true entertainer will concur, he’s only giving his audience what they want.

The Kids Are All Riot, until April 26. Admission: Free. Maverik Showroom, 68-72 Redchurch Street, E2.

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