Tezza's Theatre Place

What is ‘power’? According to an online dictionary, power is the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behaviour of others or the course of events. However, even with this definition, whilst many people believe they have power, very few actually do. There is a moment in Game of Thrones when Queen Cersei, explains the concept to Lord Baelish in three words, “Power is power”. Knowing who actually wields power is one of the conundrums that remains at the end of Oscar Wilde’s 1891 play  Salomé  which is Lazarus Theatre Company’s final production in their season at Greenwich Theatre. Things are not going well in the Roman province of Judea. Herod Antipas (Jamie O’Neill), the Tetrarch does not have a secure hold on the reigns of power in his country, Herod has many distractions in his life. There are rivals for his throne – which he basically holds at the will of Caesar – and there is unrest in his province. Chief among those causing unrest is a Judean prophet by the ...

Alice Hutchinson as Ralph in Lord of the Flies. Photo by Adam Trigg. S ome books have a real pedigree to them. For example, one well-known book was awarded a place on both lists of Modern Library 100 Best Novels, reaching number 41 on the editor’s list, and 25 on the reader’s list. It also made number 70 on the BBC’s survey The Big Read. In 2005, it was chosen by TIME magazine as one of the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to 2005. The book is Lord of the Flies and the Lazarus Theatre Company are presenting the theatrical version of the story as the second in their current season at the Greenwich Theatre. The story starts with a plane crashing on an isolated island in a remote region of the Pacific Ocean. The survivors of the crash are all school children being evacuated from the UK. The children are scattered around the island until they hear the sound of a conch shell, which acts as a rallying cry calling them to come to the blower. This is a boy called Ralph (Alic...

Micha Colombo as Prospero.  Photo by Adam Trigg. How important is gender these days? Worry not, this is a review not a political commentary, but gender has recently been at the forefront of news around the world. The thing I, it’s not a new phenomenon, back in William Shakespeare’s day, only men were permitted to act on stage – bringing up the vision of a burly bearded bloke in a dress playing the teenage Juliet. Recently, the National Theatre put on a very well received version of  Twelfth Night  with a female Malvolio. Groundbreaking Lazarus Theatre Company have taken this idea a stage further with their version of  The Tempest , the first of their three production series at the Greenwich. The story is the same. Prospero (Micha Colombo) has been usurped as Duke of Milan by an alliance of her sister, Antonio (Peace Oseyenum), Alonzo (Nicolas Salmon), King of Naples and Sebastian (Nell Hardy) the King’s sister. Thanks to the intervention of a friendly noble, G...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/193202/edward-ii-review-greenwich-theatre-london/ Lazarus Theatre’s Edward II 2017 – Photo by Adam Trigg “ Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely ” or so the saying goes. But, what is power in this context? For example, an absolute monarch appears to have total power over their domain but, in reality, this is an illusion and their hold on the throne and all that goes with it is very fragile and subject to the will of many others. Lazarus Theatre Company demonstrates this superbly in their new production of Marlowe’s  Edward II  at the Greenwich Theatre. Edward I is dead and his fourth son inherits the throne and assumes the title of Edward II (Timothy Blore). Edward is young, only 23 at the time of his accession, and his youth shows when, despite all the warnings of his court, Edward invites his favourite minion Piers Gaveston (Oseloka Obi) to return to England and join his court. Although not a nobleman by bir...