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Arriving second in Jamie Lloyd's highly anticipated Trafalgar Transformed season at the Trafalgar Studios, The Hothouse doesn't relax the intensity set by its predecessor, the apocalyptic Macbeth starring James McAvoy. Shocking and at times, offensive, The Hothouse depicts the sinister workings inside an undefined mental institution. Yet despite the outrageously immoral practices and some utterly unforgiving characters, this revival of one of Pinter’s early plays is unrelenting in its comic intentions.
In shedding the pauses and other habits of Pinter plays, Lloyd’s production breathes new life into a script that can often encroach into the realms of the too sinister. Absent of any actual patients, the stage time is entirely dominated by a team of staff who have little interest of those in their care.
Holding the fort of this unpleasant institute is Roote, the self-obsessed ex-colonel who is both grappling to retain control of this establishment and struggling to retain his last vestiages of sanity as his mind is slowly failing him. Fresh from this BAFTA win the night before, Simon Russell Beale is brilliantly funny and an utter joy to watch as he fumbles around oblivious to his manipulation by his colleagues, John Simm’s manic, power hungry Gibbs and the deranged nurse, Miss Cutts played by Indira Varma. These powerhouse performances are perfectly pitched alongside the suspiciously affable Lush (John Heffernan) and Harry Melling’s endearingly naive Lamb. The latter’s performance was often among the hardest to watch as the well-meaning Lamb falls fowl of some Gibb’s more alarming experiments; indeed these moments certainly confirmed Melling’s status as among some of Britain’s most exciting new stage talent.
Both entertaining and alarming, The Hothouse is certainly an experience to behold.
The Hothouse runs until 3rd August at the Trafalgar Studios, London. For more information or to book tickets, visit the website.
Posted by Claire on 05-16-2013 at 3:35 PM
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One thing that can certainly be said for Smack Family Robinson is that it is not for the faint hearted! Set entirely within the family's lounge, the play centres upon the Robinsons, a drug dealing, money laundering family full of community spirit. F-bombs and mild threats fly easily from the mouths of the parents who are spread luxuriously across white leather sofas, beer and wine in hand, casually informing their children of the adult channels' password.
Gavin, played by Keith Allen (Treasure Island, Robin Hood), is an aging hippie longing for the Sixties when he was both roadie and drug dealer to rock 'n' roll legends and his relinquished the responsibilities of the family business to sons Robert (Matthew Wilson) and Sean (Harry Melling, Harry Potter). Despite the seemingly more pressing matters of Robert's wife's death and mum Catherine's (Denise Welch) money laundering flower shop, the family seem more preoccupied by how their daughter, straight-laced college student Cora (Kate Lamb), is going to celebrate her 18th Birthday. This gentle mocking of the daughter who wants to be rid of the family's criminal activities is only paused when the revelation that the Russian mafia who took on Sean's debt collection, have gruesomely killed one of their friends over a small debt, mildly shocks the family and begins their descent into chaos, albeit slowly.
Previously written nearly ten years ago and since revised, Smack Family Robinson is an incredibly black comedy from the writer who gave us the jolly West End and Broadway hit, One Man, Two Guvnors. Much of the amusement comes from the shock of seeing a family react to such unbelievable and appalling situations in such a nonchalant fashion. Yet sometimes it is too much so. All the performances hold up throughout the lighter first half, with particular mention to Melling's rather vile Sean and Allen's genuinely family loving father Gavin, but as the play gets darker and the jokes more sinister, the heightened climatic moments fail to hit the mark and in doing so move the performances into the realm of charactures and slapstick.
Not a production without its flaws but this is still a very funny play with some great performances from the small versatile cast.
Smack Family Robinson runs until 20th March 2013 at the Kingston Rose Theatre, Surrey. For more information or to book tickets, check out their website.
Posted by Claire on 04-04-2013 at 06:20 AM
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Several Harry Potter stars are participating in this year's National Doodle Day, a fundraising event which raises money for the charity Epilepsy Action, an organization that works to improve the lives of those living with epilepsy.
As part of their campaign, National Doodle Day will feature an auction, beginning Februrary 8th, where doodles of celebrities will be listed on eBay. Several actors from the Harry Potter franchise have donated doodles to this worthy cause, including Bonnie Wright (Ginny Weasley), Sean Biggerstaff (Oliver Wood), Adrian Rawlins (James Potter), Brendan Gleeson (Mad Eye Moody), Fiona Shaw (Aunt Petunia), John Hurt (Mr. Ollivander), and Mark Williams (Arthur Weasley). Their doodles, along with the others that will be featured in the auction, can be viewed here.
Thanks to Stephanie W. for the tip! It's nice to see so many Harry Potter actors giving back. Will you place a bid on any of the doodles?
Posted by Jessica on 01-21-2013 at 11:55 PM
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Here at MuggleNet.com, we like to make note of just about every day that's significant to the Harry Potter community, and today - January 8th - we're celebrating Freddie Stroma's birthday. His character may have given Hermione and Ron a hard time in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, but we won't hold that against him. Why not join us in sending the star a happy birthday message on Twitter?
If you would like to keep up to date with the most significant days in the Harry Potter community, we ought to remind you that following MuggleNet for the news is not the only way you can do it. By purchasing the MuggleNet 2013 Fandom Clanendar and making it your regular organizational tool, you will be able to celebrate countless dates important to the fandom - everything from birthdays of the actors and characters to the date Harry defeated Voldemort. We guarantee you'll suddenly have a lot more to celebrate than your normal, Muggle friends.
While we're on the topic of Freddie Stroma, we've been following the latest news regarding the actor and would like to remind you to check back for updates on the release of his new film The Philosophers coming out later this year, which also features Potter co-star and Ginny Weasley actress Bonnie Wright. Also if you haven't seen it, and would like to see some more from Stroma, you may want to check out Pitch Perfect, a freature film the actor starred in that just came out on DVD.
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Daniel Radcliffe’s tendency to prank his fellow Harry Potter cast-mates often added levity to the set, but there was at least one time when his antics went a little too far.
Reportedly, Robbie Coltrane, who portrayed Hagrid in the films, was once a victim of a prank where the young actor changed the settings on his friend’s phone from English to Turkish. The joke seems harmless enough—except that Coltrane was left unable to make calls!
The infuriated actor had a hard time finding anyone on set who could change the settings of his phone back to English, and Radcliffe was left feeling understandably sheepish about what he had done. Coltrane remembers the event clearly:
Eventually we found a girl in the Harry Potter make-up department who was Turkish Cypriot. She phoned her mum and was chatting away in great detail until they sorted it out. I think Daniel was so upset at what had happened that he wrote me that note...'Dear Mr. Coltrane, I'm sorry I changed your mobile telephone into Turkish...
Have you ever been part of a prank gone too far? Let us know in the comments!
Posted by Jessica on 12-06-2012 at 12:50 AM
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To fans of the series, there is no denying that Harry Potter is about more than the boy wizard and his two best friends. Friendship, bravery, and love are just a few of the central emotions and themes that run through the books and movies.
To celebrate the final film being released, Total Film has put together a list of what they believe to be the top 50 things that they learned from Harry Potter.
The list runs from the obvious (love, common sense, & confidence) to the hilarious (school sucks and beware of the troll!) and can be viewed here in it's entirety.
What have YOU learned from Harry Potter? Is there anything that you would add to the list?
Posted by Kat on 12-04-2011 at 5:25 PM
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