Frantic Assembly Performance Review: ‘Lovesong’ And
‘Stockholm’
Introduction:
‘Lovesong’:
Written by the playwright Abi Morgan, and
choreographed by the Artistic Directors/Founders of Frantic Assembly, Scott
Graham and Steven Hoggett, presents a gripping, passionate and heart told story
respectively named ‘Lovesong’.
The play, ‘Lovesong’, is a wildly successful
production telling the story of a long married couple, Bill and Maggie. The play includes a unique dynamic of
performance which is to present the stories of the married couple in both their
youth and their old state simultaneously, with the older variant of Bill and
Maggie viewing their younger counterparts as a flashback. The story of ‘Lovesong’ is a journey towards
Bill and Maggie’s final destination together in loving arms. The whole performance of ‘Lovesong’ is
presented by 4 excellent actors within the physical theatre group of Frantic
Assembly that, altogether, bring both relatable dialogue for the audience to
listen to, and realistic emotions towards the given dialogue throughout the
whole course of the play until it’s emotionally powerful end that concludes the
whole goal of ‘Lovesong’, with Bill and Maggie dying in each other’s arms.
‘Stockholm’:
Written by the playwright Bryony Lavery, and
choreographed by the Artistic Directors/Founders of Frantic Assembly, Scott
Graham and Steven Hoggett, presents a sharp, aggressively erotic and physically
binding story respectively named ‘Stockholm’.
The play,
‘Stockholm’, is yet another wildly successful production presented from the
physical works of Frantic Assembly which tells the story of another married
couple with their own respective relationship, Todd and Kall. These two individual characters are a couple who are as close as they
can be, they know everything about each other.
The story of
‘Stockholm’ is that it is Todd’s birthday and he and his wife, Kall, are going
to fly over to Stockholm to celebrate. In the middle of the play, they’re both at their own home, cooking dinner
in their exquisite and tastefully furnished kitchen and they are at their
happiest moment together in their relationship.
However, their exquisite and tastefully furnished kitchen becomes more
dangerous as it is beautiful. As their
romantic evening meal is being prepared, the probability of them ever reaching
the starting dish gradually decreases.
‘Stockholm’ is a naturalistic performance presented with a narrative
tone to play out a terrifyingly erotic, thrilling and haunting story that keeps
the audience on the tip of their seats the whole way through.
Elements Of Theatre Used Throughout Both Plays:
‘Lovesong’:
The elements of both the Staging and the Lighting
used within ‘Lovesong’ presents a stunning visual to witness from the
audiences’ perspective.
The whole play is presented on one stage which
isn’t moved about at all throughout the whole duration of ‘Lovesong’. The stage is very large and includes a bunch
of props which the 4 actors in ‘Lovesong’ interact with throughout the many
scenes in the play. These props are
things like a fridge, glasses/bottles of wine and medication (Pills). The stage also creates an illusion of an
outdoor environment by having leaves from trees spread all across the
stage. I felt that Frantic Assembly
creating this illusion was very effective and it did make the whole performance
feel more vibrant and alive.
The lighting used throughout the scenes in
‘Lovesong’ is very dark and gloomy in the background and there is an overhead
light for the main area of the stage, this is to give a representation that the
stage is Bill and Maggie’s own house.
When there are scenes that take place in the night-time, or when one of
the actors are on stage presenting a monologue, there is a singular spot light
that follows that actor, and if any other actors come on stage at that time to
present something physically, another spotlight will be brought out to
illuminate them.
The theatre element of Sounds also comes into
consideration for this play since it creates a unique atmosphere that results
in all of the audience member’s to become an essential role within the
performance. The sounds used within
‘Lovesong’ does indeed, again, bring a unique atmosphere which presents a
naturalistic vibe towards the performance and overall staging of ‘Lovesong’. The sounds included throughout the play are
background ambient sounds such as birds tweeting/singing and emotional music
that fits into the scene to make it more atmospheric, like I had previously
mentioned.
‘Stockholm’:
Much like ‘Lovesong’, the elements of Staging and
Lighting used in ‘Stockholm’ presents another stunning visual to witness form
the audiences’ perspective.
The whole play, again, is presented on one stage,
but for ‘Stockholm’ respectively, the stage rotates throughout the whole
duration of the play to create a new area for the actors on stage to work
in. An example of this happening is that
in the first scene for ‘Stockholm’, the stage is showing the hallway/staircase
of Todd and Kalls’ house, then, later on in the performance, the stage rotates
to show a scene where the couple are in a kitchen cooking their romantic dinner. There are many props that the actors use in
this kitchen scene, such as knives and forks, to give a weird twist to the
overall performance. This twist is that
the actors on stage, as their characters, initiate a sort of dance routine
including these knives and forks to give a physical representation that they
are devouring each other. This, of
course, doesn’t really happen to both characters, but it does create that
dramatic, thrilling and dark moment that ‘Stockholm’ promises. (Continues on Page
3)
The lighting used in ‘Stockholm’ is very similar to
that of ‘Lovesong’. The only difference
is that in ‘Stockholm’ there is less of the spot light treatment, where a scene
shows one of the actors presenting a monologue.
Other than this, the lighting on stage, overall, seems to be a lot
brighter than ‘Lovesong’, possibly to counteract the atmospherically dark theme
of the play.
The sounds in ‘Stockholm’ are as atmospheric as
‘Lovesong’, but it didn’t have any background ambient noises such as the birds
tweeting/singing. What ‘Stockholm’ did
have however was even more of the music to go alongside the dancing routines
throughout the play. It wasn’t as
emotional as ‘Lovesong’, but it set the right mood for the routine, which was
to create a more chilling/thrilling presentation.
How ‘Lovesong’ And ‘Stockholm’ Is Presented:
‘Lovesong’:
The whole performance of ‘Lovesong’ is presented in
the third person along with very descriptive, almost narrative dialogue. For
example, at the beginning of ‘Lovesong’, the character Billy is giving a long
monologue about his daily morning routine such as brushing his teeth, having a
shower etc. This type of language is
used throughout the whole of the play and develops itself to fit alongside the
events happening within the story of ‘Lovesong’. To me, it seems the type of language used
does allow audience interaction, but after watching ‘Lovesong’ again, I didn’t
notice any of this. The costumes used in
‘Lovesong’ did fit the time period for both the old variant of Billy and Maggie
and their younger counterparts. The old
Billy and Maggie were wearing what normal old folk these days would be
wearing. For what Billy was wearing; it
was a knitted jumper, slacks and a shirt, just general smart casual wear. For what Maggie was wearing; it was a
cardigan, along with a shirt and trousers.
The younger counterparts of Billy and Maggie were wearing what people
usually in the 50’s/60’s would be. For
what Billy was wearing; it was a formal shirt, along with a tie, black formal
trousers. For what Maggie was wearing;
it was a singular long dress that went down to her knees. Throughout the whole duration of the
performance, both variants of the couple Billy and Maggie would be changing
costumes that were appropriate to the scene they were performing in, such
costume changes could have been in a scene where it took place in their bedroom
resulting in them to wear their pyjamas.
‘Stockholm’:
Much like ‘Lovesong’, the play ‘Stockholm’ also
presents its dialogue in the third person but it has an even more narrative
tone towards it. Alongside having a more
narrative tone, ‘Stockholm’ has the unique feature of presenting what is being
described through using a narrative tone of voice by using physical actions
between the two characters. This goes
into more of what the dance routines within ‘Stockholm’ are meant to be
showing. The costumes used, for both
Todd and Kall, don’t change throughout the whole duration of ‘Stockholm’. For what Todd is wearing; it is a casual long
sleeved shirt with jeans. For what Kall
was wearing; it was a dress that went to just over her knees. I felt that with ‘Stockholm’, Frantic
Assembly could of implemented difference of costume suitable to the scene, but
nonetheless, it was still an outstanding performance.
Conclusion:
Frantic Assembly’s work for both productions named
‘Lovesong’ and ‘Stockholm’ presents an unforgettable, eye gripping and
exhilarating performance, which brings alongside an unexpected unique feature
of performance.
This is one of the many reasons as to why Frantic
Assembly’s productions are as famous as they are, they bring forth a unique
feature for each play they present to accomplish their companies overall
objective, which is to present something unique/different than most other
physical theatre companies such as DV8 and Volcano Theatre Company, whom
Frantic Assembly is inspired by, to an audience to increase the overall
physical boundaries of a presented performance, which the actors in ‘Lovesong’
and ‘Stockholm’ definitely live up too throughout the whole duration of their
individual stories.
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