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`King John' by Gabriel Sundukyan theatre at London's Globe

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  • `King John' by Gabriel Sundukyan theatre at London's Globe

    `King John' by Gabriel Sundukyan theatre at London's Globe- Guardian's review

    tert.am
    17:22 - 26.05.12


    The British Guardian referred to the `King John' performance presented
    by the Armenian Gabriel Sundukyan theatre in London. The review runs
    as follows:

    `The Latin for apricot, says the very informative Armenian gentleman
    sitting beside me, is prunus armenicus (Armenian plum). He's telling
    me this because the Globe has been filled with the sound of the duduk,
    an instrument traditionally made from the wood of an apricot tree, as
    the Sundukyan Theatre's production of King John gets off to an
    exuberant start.

    It may have been written by Shakespeare as a tragedy, but tonight's
    performance, directed by Tigran Gasparyan, tends to focus more on
    comedy. The play opens as characters laugh and joke noisily, while
    musicians play Armenian folk. Actors enter carrying large
    old-fashioned trunks (and one or two wheely suitcases) - an apt
    recognition, perhaps, of the large proportion of tonight's audience,
    who have at some point made the journey from Armenia to settle in the
    UK. At different points in the play these trunks are thrown around the
    stage, used as thrones, battlefield barricades, a hiding place for the
    King, and even as the characters' emotional baggage.

    King John himself is portrayed as a boisterous, larger-than-life and
    at times clown-like figure by Armen Marutyan, who often pulls a
    leather crown from his pocket, tossing it into the air before placing
    it firmly on to his head to assert his right to the throne. Tigran
    Nersisyan's Bastard cuts a dashing, charismatic figure, and is by far
    the most earnest of the cast (though even he can't resist joking with
    the audience from time to time), while Arthur, the young French prince
    who has to plead for his life, is introduced as a lackadaisical drunk.
    The snide cardinal Pandolph is yet another figure of fun, whose stiff
    movements and camp manner have the audience chuckling from his first
    appearance.

    It is the female characters, though, who provide show-stealing
    performances. Nelly Kheranyan is superb as the wizened, bald,
    stick-wielding hag Queen Eleanor, whose spider-like movements around
    the stage seem to genuinely terrify her fellow cast members. She and
    Constance, played by Alla Vardanyan, have to be physically restrained
    by the men, as they face off in defence of their sons in a scene which
    veers towards slapstick, with the King bending over to slap his own
    bottom at Constance, and Louis catapulted into a forward somersault as
    he tries to hold his mother back. Even the clarinet player gets in on
    the act, providing humorous sound effects.

    Lady Blanche (Liana Arestakyan), designated a floozie from the off
    with her bright red tights, delivers what you could say was the climax
    of the show when, devastated at the thought of her new husband Louis
    going off to war, she attempts to shag him into submission. This
    performance, once it comes to a head, even earns her a standing
    ovation from the cast (whether those audience members with very young
    children felt quite the same way is another question).

    The second half sees some enjoyable comic interaction between Hubert,
    the simple fool, and King John. Skipping a few bits of the story from
    acts four and five, John's sudden death is witnessed only by Hubert,
    who immediately takes the king's leather coat and crown for himself -
    a fitting ending to a performance which saw the comedy in tragedy at
    every turn.'

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