Schnitzler’s La Ronde

The second of the aCT now! plays at Chatham’s Central Theatre meant I was out and about enjoying myself twice within the space of two weeks. Shocking isn’t it - and I’ve now been banned for twenty years, much like this play was - because it was too dirty for the sensibilities of the 1900’s. I’ve been banned because They didn’t like having to make their own pancakes. I mean, how tricky is it to shake the bottle and pour a bit into a frying pan?

It’s hard to believe that a play whose sexual encounters consisted of a series of ----------- in the written form could cause such consternation. Back then, the sex scenes on stage were represented by the lowering of the curtain and playing classical music - playing it in a rhythm evocative of sexual intercourse …I can’t believe I’m writing this. Oh, hang on - it’s art, so it’s ok … Back then though, the entire theatre company were arrested on obscenity charges! Seems rather quaint by today’s standards, doesn’t it!

I wasn’t really getting it at first (maybe I should rephrase that?) What I mean is, it struck me like a round robin tournament - five actors playing eleven characters - everyone has a play with everyone, if you get my drift and there was no journey towards a solution. Which, of course, is why it’s called ‘The Round Dance’!

There was a ‘Talkback’ with the cast of theatre company Love&Madness at the end of the play, when they took us through the adaptation process and the whole getting-their-kit-off-in-every-scene made sense. Bringing the play back in these modern anything - goes time, director Neil Sheppeck had to find a way of presenting the sex scenes: Seduced by a tango lesson four years ago, he knew he’d struck gold when a friend suggested he listen to the Gotan Project. The problem was solved - no curtain required, the actors Tango! See, I thought I was going to a dance show; Strictly is ruined for me now.

I’m all for a bargain and The Cherry Orchard and Relatively Speaking (I’m going AWOL on 30th March for that) we covered in our scriptwriting course. Book three of the four aCT now! plays though and you get three for less than the price of two! So my third choice was La Ronde (featuring the Tango) or Oliver Twist (seen that, sung that, done the school play) which the company performed the night before. They rehearsed both plays at the same time, which made me think: What if a couple of the actors forgot where they were during Oliver? Could have added a whole new dimension to Sykes and Fagin’s relationship …

Question of the night to the actors, from TalkBack host, Nick Walker: How easy did you find slipping in and out of all the different characters? Only in Chatham …