It's time for my review of The Saintliness of Margery Kempe.A friend of mine in New York City (@BroadwayBobNYC) invited me to join him to watch The Saintliness of Margery Kempe, in what would be my first (and only) visit to Off-Broadway throughout the duration of my time in the USA.
The Saintliness of Margery Kempe follows the true-life misadventures of the 14th century English woman, who views herself as remarkable. She begins her career by joining forces with Satan and buying a brewery. When this does not go as planned, she makes the decision to become a saint instead... although there is still one minor issue: she has absolutely none of the qualifications for the job. I did enjoy certain elements of this story, and I simply cannot deny that Margery Kempe did indeed have a rather unique life, especially for a woman living in 14th century England. However, despite following an interesting life-story, The Saintliness of Margery Kempe often felt it was dramatically longer than it needed to be. Several scenes throughout the duration of the play tend to drag on, causing this piece to feel somewhat long-winded. The production currently runs at 2 hours and 10 minutes, including one 15 minute intermission. To ensure that the production keeps a fast pace, I would personally remove the 15 minute intermission and trim the show down to 1 hour and 30 minutes. This production has the potential to be excellent, however it feels as if its length is stopping it from doing so. If the show had had a shorter running time, then I believe that my views on The Saintliness of Margery Kempe would have been a lot more positive.
The cast consists of only 9 actors and actresses, who between them perform in over 30 roles. Every single cast member proved themselves to be extremely talented, providing many different interesting and unique characterisations. Despite the fact that I was not the greatest fan of the material, I still felt that the cast delivered all the dialogue efficiently. Jason O'Connell in particular gives an outstanding performance, porting John Kemp, Peter Poke, Friar Bonadventure and The Thief. I had previously seen O'Connell in the Off-Broadway production of Sense and Sensibility, where he also gave a masterful performance. O'Connell portrayed clear differences between the four characters, clearly demonstrating a wide range of abilities.
The featured star of The Saintliness of Margery Keme is, drum roll please... JASON O'CONNELL!
Jason O'Connell truly stole the show. Whilst I did enjoy all of the performances within The Saintliness of Margery Kempe, it was O'Connell that stood out. He has a diverse range of skills, faultlessly performing both the comedic and tragic elements of The Saintliness of Margery Kempe.
Now for my final verdict on The Saintliness of Margery Kempe. I give The Saintliness of Margery Kempe...
Despite the fact that I thoroughly enjoyed the performances of the talented cast, The Saintliness of Margery Kempe did not leave a large impression on me. Having said that, the piece certainly has potential and if it is shortened in length I believe the production would have been greatly improved.
Think it should have got a higher rating? Agree with my rating? Think it should have got a lower rating? If so comment below.
Thanks for reading!
-The Reviewer
No comments:
Post a Comment