Regular playgoers at Faversham’s Arden Theatre know that any play directed by Richard Andrews, the theatre’s artistic Director, will be creative, interesting, different, and often thought-provoking. The current Arden double bill of “The Musicians”, written by Patrick Marber, and “Blue Remembered Hills” by Dennis Potter, is quintessential Richard Andrews – full of drama, laughter and magical imagination.
“The Musicians” features the adventures of a small-town school orchestra, chosen to perform at a prestigious Youth Orchestra Festival in Moscow. This is slated to be the highlight of their career – except that all their instruments get impounded by Russian Customs! But all is not lost! With the help of Alex, the concert hall’s Russian janitor, a solution is found! (Kudos to Alister Cheeseman for his enthusiastic delivery of his character’s Russian dialogue!). I won’t give away how the problem is solved, but with the use of “magic” and imagination, the orchestra gives a performance that is heart-stopping! Congratulations not only to Ashton Town’s brilliant choreography, but also to the complete dedication of the entire cast that makes the music come “alive”!
Even more “magic” is performed by the Arden’s skilled and hard-working stage crew; during the intermission the audience is invited to leave the auditorium (and enjoy the wide selection of wines and drinks served by the ever-cheerful bar-tenders!) while the stage is completely transformed. We are transported from a concert hall in Moscow to the green fields of England during the Second World War. The atmosphere is creatively established by Martin Kelly’s beautifully painted back-drop and the dramatic music and innovative sound effects.
We meet a group of seven-year-olds, who fight and scrap and call each other names. Who’s the Number One in the pecking order? Who’s going to play the chief part in their role-playing games? These are the subjects of the often-hilarious dialogue – until tragedy strikes! The entire adult cast performs with such integrity and enthusiastic energy that not for a moment do we doubt that they are seven-year-olds school kids. A special mention is deserved by the three cast members who silently play the walls of the “barn”; an ingenious solution to what would otherwise be a cumbersome staging situation.
The pairing of these two plays on this program is dynamic, fascinating and thought-provoking . It makes for the kind of theatre that we’ve come to expect of the Arden.
E.B.
