Tuesday, June 03, 2014

John & Jen: Part II...

The new theatre company I'm working with, Guildford Fringe Theatre Company, staged its first show of an ambitious year, which will feature a month-long Fringe Festival and another three productions. 

The play was a two-handed musical, John & Jen, and it was excellent. I appreciate I have a vested interest in this company and its shows, but it just blew me away. 

Directed by a first-time director, the show starred two seasoned West End performers, who told the story of a brother and sister in the first act, then the sister and her son in the second. 

I wasn't at all familiar with the piece beforehand as musicals aren't really my thing, but it was essentially an opera rather than a musical as the story was told almost exclusively in song. The libretto was very tight and kept the narrative drive moving, while the score helped drive the narrative pace while also allowing the piece the room to breath when it hit an emotional or contemplative moment. 

I've been feeling my way back into theatre stuff for a while now and I'm getting the urge to do a proper show again. The good thing about seeing this and being involved at a distance are that it's allowed me to build back up to doing something at my own pace but also given me a benchmark to hit. 

And I think I'm about ready to see if I can hit that benchmark. Exciting time ahead!

No comments: