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TNT's 'David Copperfield' packs a punch
By Nie Xin |
April 1, 2012, Sunday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A new, more personal and emotional "David Copperfield" - a production somewhere between a drama and a musical - will be staged by UK's TNT Theatre on April 13 and 14.
The English-language production at the Lyceum Theater will have Chinese subtitles.
To mark Charles Dickens' 200th birth anniversary, the new adaptation is staged in several Chinese cities as part of TNT's world tour.
"David Copperfield" (1850) is regarded as the most autobiographical of the great author's novels. It explores the journey from childhood to manhood in Victorian England.
"Dickens is a truly theatrical novelist, perhaps the most theatrical great novelist," says Paul Stebbings, artistic director and founder of TNT. "This is because he uses melodrama - exaggerated character, strong contrasts between good and evil, thrilling action and powerful emotion that borders on sentimentality. In the novels this can sometimes seem excessive but on stage it works very well."
He calls the touring production "an opportunity to return to a challenging project and develop the original with all the experience accumulated over the last decade."
The approach selects certain narrative lines that illustrate the main themes and explores and confronts the subtext through modern eyes.
The new version is more personal, more emotional and it uses more of the original text, Stebbings says.
"Ten years ago our production was highly theatrical but perhaps not as psychologically satisfying as this new production. What has remained almost unchanged is the music, the production is somewhere between a play and musical," he says.
The new version follows the hardships and achievements of the title character, while revealing many harsh truths about class and poverty in Victorian England. It introduces a new setting, new music and has removed some of Dickens side plots to emphasize the life of David.
The score is composed by Thomas Johnson. The actors play accordion, violin and clarinet and sing five-part harmony.
Copperfield is played by George McLean, who graduated from drama school in London in 2007.
"It is a great opportunity to work with both a company I love and on a rich Dickensian tale. The biggest perk is traveling to varied places and experiencing all the different audiences and theaters," he says.
McLean is strong in physical theater and in singing. He performed on stilts in "Gulliver's Travels" at the National Center for Performing Arts in Beijing in 2010.
The show is full of demanding and exciting theatricality. In the spirit of that theatricality some predatory characters are animated with vampirically draining coldness, others with genuine human warmth, others are emotionally promiscuous.
Founded in 1980, the TNT Theatre tours extensively and has been honored at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and other events.
It has been presenting various Dickens' adaptations for nearly 10 years, including "Oliver Twist" and "A Christmas Carol." Since 2000, TNT has also adapted many of Shakespeare's well-known plays, including "Romeo and Juliet," "Macbeth" and "Hamlet."
It first staged performances in China in 2005, when it brought "Macbeth" to the Chinese mainland. It has also conducted workshops and communicated with students and theater groups.
"The city has developed a sophisticated but always open audience in a short time. The Shanghai audience is not afraid to express itself and because our style involves the audience as the extra actor, this means we enjoy performing in the city," Stebbings says.
He will direct "Oliver Twist" at the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center in June and July. In 2010 he directed "The Taming of the Shrew."
Date: April 13-14, 7:30pm
Venue: Shanghai Lyceum Theater, 57 Maoming Rd S.
Tickets: 80-380 yuan (US$12.74-60.51)
Tel: 962-388
In English with Chinese subtitles
The English-language production at the Lyceum Theater will have Chinese subtitles.
To mark Charles Dickens' 200th birth anniversary, the new adaptation is staged in several Chinese cities as part of TNT's world tour.
"David Copperfield" (1850) is regarded as the most autobiographical of the great author's novels. It explores the journey from childhood to manhood in Victorian England.
"Dickens is a truly theatrical novelist, perhaps the most theatrical great novelist," says Paul Stebbings, artistic director and founder of TNT. "This is because he uses melodrama - exaggerated character, strong contrasts between good and evil, thrilling action and powerful emotion that borders on sentimentality. In the novels this can sometimes seem excessive but on stage it works very well."
He calls the touring production "an opportunity to return to a challenging project and develop the original with all the experience accumulated over the last decade."
The approach selects certain narrative lines that illustrate the main themes and explores and confronts the subtext through modern eyes.
The new version is more personal, more emotional and it uses more of the original text, Stebbings says.
"Ten years ago our production was highly theatrical but perhaps not as psychologically satisfying as this new production. What has remained almost unchanged is the music, the production is somewhere between a play and musical," he says.
The new version follows the hardships and achievements of the title character, while revealing many harsh truths about class and poverty in Victorian England. It introduces a new setting, new music and has removed some of Dickens side plots to emphasize the life of David.
The score is composed by Thomas Johnson. The actors play accordion, violin and clarinet and sing five-part harmony.
Copperfield is played by George McLean, who graduated from drama school in London in 2007.
"It is a great opportunity to work with both a company I love and on a rich Dickensian tale. The biggest perk is traveling to varied places and experiencing all the different audiences and theaters," he says.
McLean is strong in physical theater and in singing. He performed on stilts in "Gulliver's Travels" at the National Center for Performing Arts in Beijing in 2010.
The show is full of demanding and exciting theatricality. In the spirit of that theatricality some predatory characters are animated with vampirically draining coldness, others with genuine human warmth, others are emotionally promiscuous.
Founded in 1980, the TNT Theatre tours extensively and has been honored at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and other events.
It has been presenting various Dickens' adaptations for nearly 10 years, including "Oliver Twist" and "A Christmas Carol." Since 2000, TNT has also adapted many of Shakespeare's well-known plays, including "Romeo and Juliet," "Macbeth" and "Hamlet."
It first staged performances in China in 2005, when it brought "Macbeth" to the Chinese mainland. It has also conducted workshops and communicated with students and theater groups.
"The city has developed a sophisticated but always open audience in a short time. The Shanghai audience is not afraid to express itself and because our style involves the audience as the extra actor, this means we enjoy performing in the city," Stebbings says.
He will direct "Oliver Twist" at the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center in June and July. In 2010 he directed "The Taming of the Shrew."
Date: April 13-14, 7:30pm
Venue: Shanghai Lyceum Theater, 57 Maoming Rd S.
Tickets: 80-380 yuan (US$12.74-60.51)
Tel: 962-388
In English with Chinese subtitles
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