The Beggar's Opera at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre

The weather forecast predicted rain so I was sceptical as to whether ‘The Beggar’s Opera’ would go ahead in Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre. The policy for this seasonal venue is never to cancel any performance, with the hope that any showers will clear and the play can go ahead. With a completely uncovered stage and auditorium every show is unique, with the weather and open skies adding extra transient effects each night.

Written in 1728, John Gay’s satirical drama was the first ballad opera, poking fun at the very popular extravagant Italian opera of the time. Poor Polly Peachum is in quite a pickle – newly wed to her beloved Macheath, a famous highwayman; her parents are furious that she can no longer be of use to the family business, and decide the only solution is to kill Macheath for his money. Aware of this plan, Polly hides Macheath before ordering him away for protection. In a tavern, he is surrounded by dubious women, and enjoys flirting with them but discovers, too late, that two of them (Jenny Diver, Suky Tawdry) have been sent by Mr Peachum to capture him - he is taken to prison to await trial and be hung. Pregnant women come from near and far to claim him as their rightful husband, particularly a very persistent Lucy Lockit (daughter of the gaoler), while his wife Polly struggles to win him back. Morally Macheath should be hung, but the audience demands a happy ending and so the play concludes with the celebration of Polly and Macheath’s marriage.

It is a silly story, but one filled with vivid characters and popular folk tunes. To one side of the stage a small band, the City Waites, provide the music using authentic instruments. Led by a lively Roddy Skeaping on violin and bass viol, I thought the band was fantastic - rich in tone and character, a gentle purring accompaniment that adds depth to the narrative. The stage is appropriately decorated with beds and wooden carts, a clever and adaptable design from William Dudley. Big bosomed women hang around the edges, lurking in the bushes, waiting to pounce. It is quite a sight and gloriously romantic in the leafy setting of Regent’s Park.

Unfortunately on the night there were a few technical hitches with the microphones, aside from being rather distracting this also disrupted the flow of the drama, and swallowed up the occasional word or song lyric. On the whole though, I was impressed with the cast, especially considering the 32 degree heat - their energy was commendable.

Jasper Britton is a suitably stern Mr Peachum, and Janet Fullerlove is hilarious as his wife; she seems to revel in Gay’s wickedly naughty script. I loved watching the frantic catfights between Lucy (Beverly Rudd) and Polly (Flora Spencer-Longhurst) who certainly got the most laughs on the night. I saw Rudd last year in the Regent Park’s version of Sondheim’s ‘Into the Woods’, she was outstanding then and is just as brilliant here... with a buoyant attitude and a belter of a voice, she conquers the expansive Regent’s Park stage; there is so much to look at and yet I always feel gripped by her presence on stage. Spencer Longhurst, bright faced and wide eyed as the innocent but crafty little Polly, acts with great assurance and in addition has a bright soprano voice that soars in this theatre.

What this play lacks in excitement, it makes up for in charm: Regent’s Park is the loveliest of settings, and ‘The Beggar’s Opera’ is a witty, sometimes neglected work sure to provide a pleasant summer’s evening out.

The Beggar's Opera continues until 23 July, book here.

Kingdom of Earth at The Print Room

I was not around in the 1960s to know what it was like, but ‘Kingdom of Earth’, a primal and strikingly bleak 1968 play by Tennessee Williams, feels to me as if it is set much earlier. The Print Room are staging this forgotten play for Williams’ centenary year.

We are first confronted with a statuesque mount of clay, so big it covers a substantial area of the room, and casts an imposing shadow over the audience, a constant reminder of the characters' impending doom. This play has only three players, just as the previous production at the Print Room did. Young and wildly energetic on stage, there is an enthusiasm in this cast that transfixed me in my exhausted post-work state. All three are impressively assured; I detected no faltering despite the intimidatingly intimate layout of the stage and the obvious daunting nature of ‘press night’.

Lot, a scrawny dying transvestite returns to his family home in the Mississippi Delta with his new TV wife, eccentric Myrtle. Here his animalistic half-brother, Chicken has been left to tend to the property, but is given no payment or recognition for his work, although he does have signed proof that when Lot dies the house will be his. A great flood is coming, threatening their lives. As Lot deteriorates he hopes to steal back the farm for his wife, while also desperate to pay tribute to his mother’s memory.

Of the three actors, I was most amazed by Joseph Drake, who I annoyingly recently missed playing the title role in ‘Vernon God Little’ at the Young Vic. Dressed in a vintage white suit and clinging pathetically to his ivory cigarette holder, he perches languidly on his mummy’s gold chairs, and gives a performance that is strange but brilliantly executed and oddly believable. His TB stricken rendition is painfully realistic and as he groaned and writhed about the floor tangled in a white dress I couldn’t help but shudder and turn away. Brother Chicken is performed as the exact opposite, a brute of a man, coated in a layer of mud. David Sturzaker seems to take it in his stride and roams about, menacing and yet strangely enticing. Showgirl Myrtle is taken on by fabulously confident Fiona Glascott, who has a difficult role playing the chatty blonde between the brothers. She could give a masterclass in southern accents, hers is so convincing, even managing to keep it up when speaking at great speed. She loses not a moment's concentration, and shows a real understanding of the role particularly towards the end of the production as she learns the truth about her situation.

Director Lucy Bailey triumphs, as she always does with these morbid pieces... I suggested to the Print Room that they attempt a musical next, but the idea was sneered at! This is a theatre that wants to say something new, always challenge themselves and the audience. The set, complete with dripping water from the ceiling and fresh clay, was being watered for the next performance as we left. This imaginative design comes from Ruth Sutcliffe, winner of the 2009 Linbury Prize for Stage Design; she is one to watch.

I sat next to Tom (who owns the Tennessee Williams estate) and he preached to me before the show, “there is so much more to him that just Streetcar, everyone wanted another Streetcar, but Williams at his second best is still better than most.” And with this production I think he might be right.

Kingdom of Earth continues until 28 May, book here.

The RSC's Julius Caesar at The Roundhouse

The last time I was at The Roundhouse, I was singing my heart out in my childhood choir; I was only 14 or 15 years old. I can recall the damp and musty atmosphere of the great circular space, as we all stood in formation ready to sing. That was a long time ago and the hall has been transformed since becoming the London home of the Royal Shakespeare Company for the current ten week season. On the press night of Julius Caesar the place was full of vitality, an audience of great theatre lovers all milling about intrigued by the latest Shakespearean offering. I was directed to brilliant stalls seats and immediately felt a sense of involvement in the drama. Elevated aisles run through the audience and other nearby passageways suggested more routes for the actors to use. I noticed gaps left open on the balconies too, ready for action.

Lucy Bailey directs this explosive new production of Julius Caesar, a tale of politics and passion. The play certainly thrilled the audience, who seemed to relish in the gore. Fake blood is used in abundance, so much so that some of the audience members around me seemed to get splattered in the stuff, that’s the punishment you get for being able to afford the pricier, stalls seats I suppose. Full on violence is introduced from the start - Romulus and Remus are engaged in an aggressively physical fight to the death. Bailey certainly doesn’t shy away from this bold element of the text, it's similar in style to her production of Macbeth at the Globe.

I am sure the use of film and video will cause a stir with some critics. Large rectangular blocks are used to show projected moving film, the vision of designer Bill Dudley (Bailey’s partner). The more frantic crowd sequences are, at times distracting, but on the whole the concept is highly stimulating and gives the stage an added depth and excitement. Julius Caesar is a difficult play to stage, but this production uses the challenges to its advantage.

There is real concentration from the male strong cast, some of their angry faces look possessed at times, and with my seats being close to the aisle I could feel their wrath as they ran past terrifyingly close. Sam Troughton is less animalistic than his fellow conspirators, and has a thoughtful glint in his eye. He commands attention on stage, but more as a philosopher than fighter. John Mackay towers above him in height, but is less impressive as conniving Cassius, and I found him eventually quite irritating to watch. Darrell D’Silva is brilliant as Mark Antony, strong in stature and voice. Greg Hicks is unusually restrained as Caesar, his expression is sometimes awkward but is enjoyable to watch nonetheless. The poor man deals very well with being bludgeoned to death, in a rather complex fight scene!

The play itself is not one of my favourite Shakespeares, with the protagonist dead by the interval there is little to look forward to in the second half. However with Bailey’s powerful vision, this Julius Caesar becomes quite enthralling.

Julius Caesar continues until 5 February 2011, book tickets here.