Today we had a visiter from the other school doing diploma, Porchester. She is the leader of that school. Firstly we were discussing what we have been up to and the things we have dine so far in the module. After this we looked at out Quadrophenia critiques and started to re-drat them. i re-drafted mine twice after having feedback from Mr Coulson and our visiter. This really helped me improve my work and hopefully get a better mark for the critique. (RL5)
I have had some good criticism today which has helped develop my work and means I have am able to deal with setbacks, criticism and feedback. Furthermore I need to develop my skills in inviting feedback for more things - it will help me and make my work better.
Quadrophenia (tour)
Venue: Mayflower Theatre
Place: Southampton
Review Date: October 12th 2009
Rating:
Pete Townshend’s 1973‘s album, Quadrophenia has been adapted to be a Rock Opera and it is now on tour and at the Mayflower Theatre, Southampton. With an energetic cast and a rocking live orchestra in the background, this theatre experience is memorable and a must see show!
As The Who was before my time I wondered what the show would entail, furthermore as this show is classed as a rock opera I was expecting it to be a classical musical score with a rock twist portraying a story for two and a half hours. It was much, much more!
The story follows the life of a young man Jimmy, a London Mod (fashion and music obsessed, working class yobs), trying to find himself. This is portrayed by four actors showing the different aspects of Jimmy’s personalities, the romantic, the lunatic, the hard man and the hypocrite. In some songs throughout the story it is often hard to understand which one of the split personalities is being portrayed and some of the action and suspense is lost.
The story continues by following Jimmy, his friends and arch rivals The Rockers ( wear black leather and listen to classic Rock ’n’ Roll) to brighton. With a continuous series of powerful and moving songs portraying the continuous battle between the two gangs. Additionally after Jimmy looses the girl he has lusted over for so long he returns home and his life falls apart. The way the songs are staged by the actors moves the audience with songs such as “Love Reign O’er Me” leaving chills down your spine.
With a moving centre stage which is used to portray the chaos in the story and it is used effectively by the actors and the brilliant scenery is relevant and effective in all scenes, moreover it all adds to the atmosphere built up throughout the performances. The costumes were funky and relevant to this era, they also gave the audience an idea of the difference between the two groups. Furthermore I really enjoyed the dances which accompanied the songs, the choreography was ablaze and satisfying.
However, the opera sometimes overpowered the singers on stage and the story plot sometimes got confusing when scenes changed abruptly. Despite this I feel it was a positive experience and this show would appeal to any of the one who has experienced this era of time and wants to relive it for a night. It also appeals to a younger audience that likes rock music and action theatre, like myself who found it enjoyable and a really super theatre performance.