WENDY Macphee’s Theatre Set-Up usually bring good weather with them when they pitch their tents in the grounds of Rothley Court Hotel and last Thursday night was no exception.
A superb summer evening to drink a glass of champagne and watch an extremely professional outdoor production of All’s Well That Ends Well by Shakespeare. The only competition the company faced was from a magnificent thrush that went through his repertoire from the top of a nearby tree for most of the evening.
All’s Well is one of Shakespeare’s later lesser-known, less frequently performed plays. I’d never seen it before and without the help of the detailed programme, both I and the rest of the audience would have been struggling to follow the plot.
We forget that for Shakespeare, writing was a business, a way to make money and though he seems to tick all the right boxes, there’s comedy, a wronged heroine, misunderstandings, there’s a feeling in this play that he’s wasting along without really exploring the human condition as he did so effectively in his great comedies and tragedies.
Be that as it may, Theatre Set-Up approached the play with a display of gorgeous costumes and great enthusiasm. The company travel widely and perform in many countries and their professionalism shines through in the way they play off each other and speak the lines so clearly. Even on a breezy evening, every word was audible. Particularly impressive was Elizabeth Arends as the heroine Helena and Terry Ashe as Parolles, the hypocritical companion of Bertram, though all the cast made an effective contribution.
A very pleasant outdoor event. Theatre Set-Up are always good value for money but for me the night belonged to that operatic thrush – and if Shakespeare were present, I guess he would have agreed with me.
Chelmsford Weekly News - 07-08-08
"This was only the second open-air Shakespeare I've seen at Ingatestone. On both occasions the weather was damp, I'm afraid. But Theatre Set-Up refused to let the rain spoil their show and four score hardy soulds sat in the wet to watch a good work-manlike production of this problem play.
Lavishly costumed in traditional style, the actors coped well with the space and the elements. Richard Plumley was a convincing Bertram, immature and weak of will. Terry Ashe gave good value as 'gallant militarist' Parolles, and the 'foul-mouthed' clown Lavance with his little jester's doll was brought to life by Peter Lundie Wager. Elizabeth Arends played an affecting Helena, making the most of her heart-felt speeches. Diana, central to the 'bed-trick' which effects the denouement, was an elegan Kyra Williams. Terry Eddington had great presence as the ailing King, and Tony Portacio was the 'survy Lord' Lafeu. The company's founder and artistic director, Wendy MacPhee, played the Countess, the Widow, and the Psaltery - atmospheric music after Dowland.
Especially in the great outdoors, a little more broad comedy would have been welcome, and some of the words were lost to the wind and the walls of Tudor brick - Ingatestone Hall standing in for the Castle of Roussillon. But it was moving to reflect that years before Shakespeare penned this comedy, John Petre's ancestor had build his fine manor house, which made such a fitting backdrop to this 'mingled yarn'."
Michael Gray
Date reviewed 10 July 2009 by Anne Morley-Priestman at the Theatre Royal,Bury st
Edmunds WOS rating ***
...Best of the performances are those of Emily Outred as Imogen, Tony Portacio as
both Posthumus (Imogen's husband) and Cloten (her oafish step-brother and would-be
spouse) and Richard Sanderson as the malevolent Iachimo and Polydore/Guiderius...
In the lengthy exchange between two of Cymbeline's courtiers which opens the play,
Richard Plumley managed to sound both interesting and natural. And Elizabeth Arends
made a neat and contrasting double performance as Pisanio, Posthumus' servant and
Cadwal/Arviragus, the younger of the king's two abducted and disguised sons.
Who's who for any scene is conveyed through costume - terracotta for the Romans,
green for the Celts - and wigs. Lots of wigs. The designers are Kim Jones, Evelyn
Cousins and Andrew Fisher. I have a feeling that the production by artistic director
Wendy Macphee and Portacio would have appeared to better effect out-of-doors - which
is the norm for Theatre Set-Up - rather than in a conventional theatre.
Date reviewed 10th July 2009 by Mary Dunk, at the Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds
A play which moves between Ancient Rome, Britain, Wales involving caves, bedroom
spies, a headless corpse, a diamond ring and stolen bracelet does not sound like
straightforward viewing. It isn't. Eight actors tackle twenty-three roles vigorously
in this production of Shakespeare's enigmatic play currently on European tour.
Audiences are supported by an astonishingly dense programme and scene-by scene commentary.
The play, one of Shakespeare's last, is described as a comedy in the magical Celtic
tradition, though the comedic strand is obscure to say the least. But there is the
satisfaction of a happy ending where warring parties are reconciled, there is forgiveness
all round and long-lost sons are reunited with their father.
Forgiveness is certainly a high priority. Posthumus (Tony Portacio) had to flee the
British court early on having incurred the wrath of his father-in-law Cymbeline.
He falls for an old trick when Iachimo (Richard Sanderson) bets him that his devoted
wife Imogen (Emily Outred) can't be faithful, and a diamond ring is passed over.
Inevitably this ends in tears, Iachimo sneaking into Imogen's bedroom half a continent
away, and returning with her jewellery and a false report on her intimate details.
Posthumus' predictable reaction nearly causes Imogen's death, but the day is saved.
Meanwhile, on a nearby battlefield, Rome is invading Britain, and the man who kidnapped
Cymbeline's infant sons has a change of heart. There is also room for the scheming
stepmother with ambitious plans for the lazy son.
Emily Outred's outstanding Imogen gives this production a consistency and charm,
while Elizabeth Arends is strong as her servant Helen. The moments of poetry, particularly
the famous "Fear no more the heat of the sun" always redeem this mysterious play.
Theatre Set-Up, under the artistic direction of Wendy Macphee, have done well to
make this play accessible to a wider audience.
Date reviewed July 02 2009 by Jennifer Scott at Holme Pierrepont Hall, Nottingham
CYMBELINE is a big yappy mongrel of a play.
You spend much of it trying to work out how on earth it all pieces together but,
come its upbeat, waggy-taled ending, you can't help loving it.
It is Shakespeare as farce - or rather a "best of" compilation album of all his other
plays.
There are few great, intense soliloquies or emotion-racking characters. Instead you
have a complex tangle of actions to follow, in which Cymbeline, the King of Celtic
Britain, has banished the new husband of his daughter Imogen, who married against
his wishes. Of course, he comes to realise the error of his ways but, along the way,
we have doubling characters, girls dressing up as boys, long lost sons, faithful
servants and, that old chestnut, sleep-inducing drugs that make your nearest and
dearest assume you've snuffed it.
The programme for Theatre Set-Up's outdoor production at Holme Pierrepont Hall made
much of the play's Celtic symbolism.
The performance, though was far from heavy-going. Characters bounded on to stage
in an array of daft Sacha Baron Cohen wigs and laid-on-with-a trowel-accents. The
result was a massively engaging and entertaining show that was quite perfect for
its vol-au-vont eating audience. The battle scenes were a bit bewildering and the
sound quality fluctuated at times. Yet the the talented cast, all Shakespeare old-hands,
delivered their lovely lines with precision and managed the quite amazing feat of
performing two or three characters apiece - sometimes in the same scene.
It rather makes you regret that CYMBELINE isn't performed outdoors more often.
