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Festival Diary 2009

 

April 16 - Bruce Hallett's retirement party

Volunteers from the past 34 years gathered at Cafe Ten to thank Bruce for his incredible commitment and loyalty to the Festival, from its inception to this year's event.

Founding chairman John Ellison, remarked that there would never have been a Festival had Bruce not agreed to take on responsibility for the technical side. It is a brave person (in the shape of John Waddell) who follows in his footsteps.

All of us at the Festival wish Bruce and Annette happy travels and a relaxing retirement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

February 25 – The Tempest

There is some question of whether William Shakespeare’s last surviving play is based on the 1609 shipwreck that brought the first settlers to Bermuda. There is no doubt however, that the Bermuda Festival’s production of The Tempest which opened at City Hall on February 25, takes place on this beautiful island of ours. What better way to celebrate Bermuda’s 400 year anniversary than to culminate the 2009 Bermuda Festival of the Performing Arts with a tale reputedly inspired by the events that began the habitation of these small isolated Atlantic islands?

     Following their acclaimed Festival 2005 production of The Unexpected Man, producer Richard Najuch and Bermudian director Joel Froomkin have delighted audiences once again with an original production filled with magic, fantasy and the exotic beauty of our island. Mr. Froomkin’s style is intensely visual and his respect for the material and Bermuda’s heritage result in a production that reflects what the shipwreck survivors might have seen as they dragged their weary selves upon the pink shores of this island. Mr. Froomkin worked with New York projection designer Kevin French and lighting designer Grant Yeager to create a spectacular array of scenes and textures to the production. Using two powerful projectors in tandem, the images of local flora and fauna add a cinematic feel to the production – adding dimension to the physically simplistic set. The projections are particularly effective in the opening act which cuts between scenes of the ship in the tempest and Prospero working his sorcery.

     During all four showings, a packed house savours the story of Prospero, the exiled duke who uses potent magic to bring his adversaries to his island hideaway and undo the injustices done to him.  Actor Anthony Stewart Head, as Propero, leads a cast of international actors who bring Shakespeare’s magical tale of romance and revenge to life. One of the most compelling performances comes from the monstrous Caliban (Carman Lacivita) who is slithering, acrobatic, and scary. Also notable are the hilarious performances of the duke’s jester Trinculo (Tom Beckett) and drunken butler Stephano (Brad Bellamy).

     The projected images, background sounds and elaborate costumes are unquestionably Bermudian by design. Prospero’s magic cloak is colourful and Gombey-like, Ariel dons feathers like those of a Bermuda Longtail and Caliban is scaly and green like the geckos that scamper and slither through the green Bermuda grass. The intricate detailing in the costumes of the three goddesses, Iris, Ceris, and Juno represent various elements on the island – the sandy shores, the floral bounty and the treasures of the deep. Even Bermuda tree frogs sing in the background making this truly, authentically, Bermudian.

     This production of The Tempest marries history with modern design. Mr. Froomkin weaves a professional cast with local actors, dancers and choreographic talents of Bermudian Conchita Ming. During this, Bermuda’s 400th Anniversary, audiences of Mr. Froomkin’s interpretation of The Tempest for are reminded once again that “We are such stuff as dreams are made of.” What a grand finale to the Bermuda Festival of the Performing Arts.  

 

February 13 - AGA-BOOM

Clowning Around What is Aga-Boom? Think Cirque du Soleil meets the Three Stooges... in clown costumes. Add in some balloons, confetti and rock music and you have some idea of what Aga-Boom is all about. The show is a mixture of circus, comedy, slapstick, audience participation and good old-fashioned goofing off.      Aga-Boom is the brain-child of Ukrainian Cirque du Soleil alum Dimitri Bogatirev and his wife Iryna Ivanytska. The couple appeared together in Cirque du Soleil’s internationally-acclaimed productions of Alegria and O – which is still showing at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Together, they are two-thirds of the cast of Aga-Boom. Dimitri is Aga, Iryna is Boom and their Russian-born partner, Val Slemzin is Dash.      Aga-Boom proves that funny is a universal language.  Except for some muttering and shrieks of delight, the clowns in Aga-Boom are silent throughout the show. But their message comes through loud and clear: it’s time to laugh and be silly. The name Aga-Boom is a play on the Russian word for paper, boomaga, and there is plenty of paper in this show. From the crinkled white paper backdrop to the toilet paper streamers – it’s one of a variety of tools these clowns use to get the crowd laughing. They also use fog, bubbles, confetti, inflatable balls and massive balloons. The set is simple keeping the audience focused on the colourfully-dressed characters. The props, too, are simple showing the little ones in the theatre that a little imagination can go a long way – an old bottle of Tide detergent and a funnel become a video camera, a mop becomes a horse and the mop head becomes a baby. Pretend play at its best.            Boom– the muddle-headed clown with a patch of white hair sticking straight up on her head – opens the show. We see her sweeping up litter from the stage when she comes across a very tempting sign that reads, “Do Not Touch”. She finds herself unable to resist the sign. All she wants to do it touch it and when she does buzzers are blaring, red lights are flashing – she’s busted. What follows is a classic clowning – three crazy clowns doing a string of silly dances, tricks, juggling and general zaniness.      There’s plenty of audience participation in Aga-Boom. During Friday night’s performance at the City Hall Theatre, three brave Bermuda souls got up on staged and showed the audience they can laugh at themselves and make the rest of us laugh with them. Two of them were recruited to take part in the “filming” of a silent movie directed by Aga. And then there’s the “clean-up”. Paper keeps piling up throughout the show until finally it spills over into the audience seats. By the end, the performers are shooting massive wads of paper out of cannons and blowing confetti out into the audience. Before you know it, the auditorium erupts with paper and the audience is throwing them right back at them in a free-for-all paper ball fight. Then come the huge balloons flying overhead. Kids are jumping out of their seats and into the aisles with their hands in the air – ready to punch the balloons and keep them bouncing from one side of the aisle to the other.  It’s controlled chaos –family-style mayhem. Kids from 4 to 12 were having a ball – jumping up and down, filling the room with laughter, whoops and screams. The adults were having just as much fun watching their kids having the time of their lives.       Perfect for the entire family, Aga-Boom is 75 minutes of interactive, high-energy and down-right fun for the whole family.

Watch a clip from the show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91DSsmQAlK0

 

February 9th - English Chamber Orchestra Outreach

During their stay in Bermuda the English Chamber Orchestra conducted two workshops with local children. The first was held at Francis Patton Primary School when selected students worked for 2 hours with orchestra members and then put on a presentation for parents, visiting dignataries and the rest of the school. They acted out an imaginary story of Vivaldi visiting Bermuda, becoming stormy seas, tweeting birds, sailors and pirates to the music of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons and ended with Vivaldi returning to court to regale tales of his adventures. At this point they sang a pirate song they had learnt, and became courtiers, flames of the great fire, ladies of the court and more.

 

 

 

Members of the ECO catch a quick picnic lunch backstage before joining forces with the senior Menuhin Orchestra for a workshop and performance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

February 4 - English Chamber Orchestra contributed by an audience member

If you’re like many fans of popular music, you may hear the words classical music and think: dead white male composers, outdated, stuffy, boring.  You probably don’t think of a 21 year old modern day composer, a cellist who once toured with Sinead O’Connor and David Gray or a chamber orchestra who recorded an academy award winning score. But that’s exactly what audiences got to experience Thursday night at the Ruth Seaton Hall Performing Centre for the Performing Arts.

Formed in 1960 under the patronage of Prince Charles, the English Chamber Orchestra is one of the world’s most distinguished ensembles.  It has appeared in more countries than any other orchestra, performed for numerous important occasions such as the wedding of Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales and recorded more 1,200 works including many successful film soundtracks like Pride and Prejudice and Atonement, which won an Oscar for Best Original Soundtrack.

Wednesday night, the ECO thrilled Bermuda Festival-goers under the batons of Russian conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy – one of the most renowned and revered pianists of our time. The program opened with music by another Russian musician, Anton Shelepov. The Siberian-born Shelepov started playing the violin at age four and went on to write Suite for Strings at age 20. He describes Suite for Strings as a set of five dances, Waltz, Foxtrot, Tango, Galop, and March. The piece is jam-packed with a range of sounds and emotions. One second, it’s light-hearted and fun – the next, it’s dark and spooky. All at once it’s playful and troubled, happy and sad. Not to take away from the intention of the piece, but it reminded me of the music you might hear behind a Tom and Jerry or Roadrunner cartoon. One second, they’re playing and chasing, the next one of them is hurt or falling down a cliff or something. The music allows the imagination to run wild. It’s a fun and lively piece of music that must be difficult to play with so many off-kilter rhythms and sudden transitions. Suite for Strings was originally written for a string quartet –this only the fourth time it has been performed by a chamber orchestra. What an honour to be one of the select few audiences to hear this amazing work.

The second highlight of the evening was a performance by one of the world’s most celebrated cellists. Caroline Dale has performed cello solos for a number of movies, most notably Pride and Prejudice, Atonement, Truly, Madly, Deeply, Hillary and Jackie and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Dale has also performed with Sinead O’Connor, former Pink Floyd guitarist and lead singer, David Gilmour, and most recently, with David Gray on his “Life in Slow Motion” tour. Here in Bermuda, she stole the spotlight with her performance of Haydn’s Cello Concerto in C major – a piece of music that wasn’t discovered until 1961 – 200 years after he wrote it.

As soon as the cello enters, you can tell what a virtuoso this cellist is You can’t help but be mesmerised by the shear talent of this cellist and the physicality of playing the cello – the fast flow of the bow, the furious finger placement – it’s truly a sight – not to mention the sound.

              After the Cello Concerto and intermission, the English Chamber Orchestra continued on with performances of Rakastava (The Beloved) by Finish composer Jean Sibelius and Serenade for Strings Pus 22 by Czech composer, Antonio Dvorak –both incredibly beautiful pieces of work that garnered huge applause at the end of the performance.

As someone who is nowhere near being an expert on classical music and who struggled while thinking of how to write this review, it has dawned on me that perhaps people make classical music more intimidating than it needs to be. I think classical music performances are much like wine tastings. You get your tasters who are definite experts discussing the mouth feel, the tannins and the legs of the wine. And then you have your pseudo wine tasters who have read about what they should look for in a wine but aren’t quite sure what they’re doing –they’re at the tasting because it’s “the thing to do”. And then there are tasters who just love wine. They know what they like but don’t necessarily know the expert word they should use to describe it. All they know is they enjoy it. Why can’t we enjoy music, art or literature in much the same way? We don’t need PhDs in literature or art to find the beauty in a book or painting. Why should we be intimidated by the beauty in classical music?

Whether you’re an expert or just an average listener, I think you’ll find the English Chamber Orchestra is fully deserving of its reputation as one of the finest chamber orchestras in the world.

30 January

 

Tony Bari, Tootsie Bean and Dave Jackson pose for a photo following their Jazz at Daylesford Acoustic Swing concert

 

26 January

Real Funny

The Bermuda Festival has proven that the performing arts are about more than just ballet, theatre and classical music. This weekend, the spotlight was on stand-up comedy. “Serious Stand-Up”, a Fringe Festival event added to this year’s line-up, is just that – seriously funny.

Fans of Comedy Central’s high-brow satire, “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” packed into Daylesford Theatre to see headliner John Oliver.  Oliver has worked as a Senior Pet Correspondent, Senior Anti-Piracy Correspondent and Senior Poetry Analyst on the parody news show – covering everything from the Presidential Inauguration and the choosing of the White House dog to Somali Pirate Attacks and Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich’s poetry reference during a press conference. Oliver has referred to himself as ‘the Reggie White of satire’ – willing to tackle any issue. His approach to stand-up comedy is similar –no topic is off limits including Bermuda, his British homeland and hecklers in the audience.

At the start of the show, Oliver quips about his accent, telling the crowd “This is how words are supposed to sound, people. We [the English] invented the language!” He then launches into one of the funniest sections of his act – a hilarious nostalgia for the English Empire. He jokes about Bermuda being the last bastion of British imperialism – that while the English may lament losing India and Hong Kong, at least they still have Bermuda which is comforting because at least “we don’t have to be alone.” Oliver also jokes that the difference between America and the British Empire is the English were more polite and there was no 24 hour news network while they were trying to take over the world.

              America also weighs heavily on his material. He touches on how Americans can’t be beat in terms of inventing and consuming the most ridiculous things imaginable. He takes it to a whole new level with the subject of the Oreo Cookie Pizza which he calls “the single most patriotic item I have ever seen in my life.” He says Americans should wave it rather than the flag “because that is the biggest imaginable ‘f@#% you’ you could possible issue to terrorists. By hoisting the Oreo pizza up a flagpole, what you’re essentially saying is there is nothing you can do to us we are not already doing to ourselves.”

              Oliver’s humour lies in his deadpan delivery, impeccable timing, and likable self-deprecation. But he proves his comedic chops with his ability to be funny on his feet. A brilliant example of his quick-wit was his hilarious observation about his own late show audience being “just one heckle away from becoming a riot.” He pokes fun at “the single whoop”, “the maternal heckle” and the drunken heckler who “assassinated the comedic effect of his joke”.

Unless you’re completely closed-minded and unable to laugh at yourself, you’ll realize just how true and how funny most of what Oliver is saying is. This is one comedian who will no doubt see his career take off in a big way. Well played, Oliver.

Local Spotlight

Opening for John Oliver were two seriously funny local comedians – one of whom used to be Oliver’s roommate in London. Jonathan Young has made a name for himself in the local comedy scene winning the Best Newcomer award at last year’s Just for Laughs.

Young first tried his hand at comedy during an open mic night while attending Oxford University. Upon graduation, he spent several years doing-stand-up comedy in London before work permit issues meant he had to stop and “get a real job.” Young, who teach e-commerce at Bermuda College, got back into comedy last year when a friend encouraged him to enter the Just for Laughs ‘Fresh Faces’ competition. Winning that inspired Young to get back into comedy and develop his routine.

Young’s material is solid – poking fun at Bermuda, its government and the funny things he did while growing up on the island. Some of his most memorable jokes walk the line between hilarity and the harsh truth about life and politics in Bermuda. Most memorable are his jokes about Bermuda being an island of “50,000 drunks clinging to a rock” and him poking fun at the differences between Premier Brown and Barrack Obama being “one won by fear, another won by hope.” His jokes are funny because they make people uncomfortable. He says what others might be thinking but are afraid to say. With the right delivery that can make a lot of people laugh.  

The only criticism one might have of Young would be that he seems willing to give up on a joke or cut it out of the routine if he doesn’t get the right reaction right away. Some of that may just be timing or flow between jokes and not just the sheer humour of it. As he develops his act and performs it more often, there’s no doubt Young will only become funnier and funnier.

Another surprise treat was what Jonathan Young referred to as a “comedy sorbet” of sorts between his act and John Oliver’s. Michael Keats, another local comedian proved to be a delightful surprise.

Keats was the 2008 winner of the Just for Laughs ‘Fresh Faces of Comedy’. His short but sweet act was self-deprecating and down-right funny. Keats pokes fun of himself, mostly, saying he’s “recovering from accounting” and that the counting on Sesame Street was a gateway to accounting.

If the diverse, mostly thirty-something crowds we saw at the Daylesford Theatre over the weekend are evidence of anything, it’s that the Bermuda Festival of the Performing Arts doesn’t just cater to the island’s middle-aged elite. These three comedians managed to sell out 112 seats for each of the four shows proving that stand-up has a serious future with the Bermuda Festival. Thanks for the laughs, gentlemen.

 

25 January

Leidy Sinclair waits backstage before appearing with Imani Woodley and Kerri-Lynne Dietz in the Rising Stars performance at City Hall on January 24th.

 

 23 January

Bermuda and ‘The Beast’

Few of us get out of school without having read Lord of the Flies in English class sometime during those formative adolescent years. And I imagine even fewer revisit it as adults. But for me, seeing Lord of the Flies played out on the stage this week was like being right back in the school from my youth. So many familiar scenes, and yet the moral of the story seems so very different some decades later.

I caught the performance on opening night at the Ruth Seaton James Centre for the Performing Arts and was struck by this dangerous, edgy and gripping production. It’s one that will not only resonate with the YouTube generation - with a bold mix of video, music and live performance- but with Baby Boomers and Gen X-ers who read the book long before YouTube or the Internet even existed

First published in 1955, Lord of the Flies is one of the most disturbing, celebrated and widely read novels of modern times. If you’ve read the book, watched Survivor, or ever left a bunch of little boys by themselves for more than ten minutes, then you’ve got some idea of the plot. In a nutshell: a group of boys are stranded on a tropical island with no adult supervision. They elect a leader. There’s a struggle for power. Chaos ultimately ensues.

Directing a theatrical production of William Golding’s classic is no easy task. Balancing the degree of symbolism versus realism, deciding how to stage the action sequences, and making it relevant to present day while staying true to the author’s vision are just a few of the challenges. Fortunately, the production audiences will see as part of the Bermuda Festival is one that rises to those challenges.

Pilot Theatre Company, based in the UK, vividly brings Golding’s novel to life in this award-winning stage adaptation by Nigel Williams. The production, directed by Marcus Romer, has been seen by more than a million people worldwide. This is the first time audiences in Bermuda have had a chance to see the show the Financial Times referred to as “William Golding meets Quentin Tarantino.”

This production takes the familiarity of what you read in school and gives it a cinematic feel complete with pulsating soundtrack. The scenes are as you remember: A plane crashes. A group of young boys are the lone survivors. There are no homes, no schools, no adults, no rules. There is an unquenchable thirst for power. School boys descend into savagery. But unlike in the book or in my imagination as I was reading the book years ago, the scenes are intensely energetic using video projections, raw sound and constant set movement to create a powerful cutting-edge theatrical experience.  The integration of music, design and technology move the story forward creating a visually stunning production that is powerful, thought-provoking.

But while the special effects are cool and modern, they never overshadow the performances of the eight actors on stage before you. Particularly compelling are those of Piggy (played by Dominic Doughty) and Jack (played by Mark Knightley). Piggy is exactly as Golding portrays him in the book – the sweet boy who is bullied and picked-on but always does what’s right. And Jack is that child. We all had one in our class growing up - the know-it-all, show-off, bully.

I don’t know about you, but when I first read Lord of the Flies, certain themes resonated with me. Themes that 13 year olds can identify with – that without adult supervision, boys will run wild (something that, as a girl, I knew just by watching boys on the playground), that kids are forever cruel, and that there’s always at least one child who tries to stand up for what’s right, but is ridiculed for speaking out.

But watching it now, as an adult, Lord of the Flies is just as current and perhaps even more relevant. We can all too easily draw contemporary parallels. Look around and you’ll find a Piggy who leads by example and stands for what is right. You’ll see a Jack who tries to force and scare people into following him. You’ll see people in positions of power and the false sense of self-importance and security that power has brought them. You’ll see the “go with the flow” mob mentality – people in groups acting in ways they wouldn’t normally act as an individual. You can see ‘the beast’ – the weakness in humanity – in our everyday lives, our governments, and our selves.

It’s not surprising to learn that Golding wrote Lord of the Flies in the aftermath of World War II. He saw the horrific things that otherwise civilised people could do to one another when they found themselves in desperate situations. He saw that extreme situations bring extreme reactions. Lord of the Flies is about that realisation – that loss of innocence. 

I don’t think I got that message when I first read the book as an optimistic teen. In fact, I’m sure the message of evil’s presence in the human heart is lost on most adolescents. It can be learned only as Golding learned it – by experience.

Lord of the Flies is playing at the Ruth Seaton James Centre for the Performing Arts from Wednesday, January 21, until Saturday January 24. Performances are at 8:00pm. Tickets cost from $-$. To buy tickets, click here.

 

14 January

Christ Church Cathedral Choir, Oxford with

Bermuda Institute Choir

Whilst on the Island, the Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford collaborated with the choir of local school Bermuda Institute.

It made for an exciting programme of contrasts culminating in  the two choirs combining to sing Moses Hagan's Great Day, A Jubilant Song by Allen Pote and the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah.