http://thegayuk.com/magazine/4574334751 ... on/8180785It was a master stroke to cast Tony with a young actor (Cousins) who is only a couple of years older than the character he is playing. He does so with a knowing innocence, for it is Tony who makes all the running, Tony who seduces David. It is an extraordinarily mature performance from a young actor.
Sandel
Sandel
A good review about Sandel, and Ashley Cousin's performance.
Re: Sandel
So amazed I was by Sandel (seen on May 27th -70 seated theatre underneath the railway arches of Vauxhall) and the performance of Ashley Cousins that I bought the book and ran across a word that was new to me; 'prelapsarian' or the state of innocence before Adam's seduction by the serpent and man's fall from grace. Perhaps this word sums up best this wonderful and yet disconcerting play. Sandel has 3 characters:Tony Sandel (a 13 year old Oxford choirboy played by Ashley), David (a 19 year old undergraduate) and Bruce (David's friend and spiritual and moral mentor manfully trying to balance his newly found Catholicism with his frustrated desires). Sandel is a love story between a boy and a man . Given the unease we may feel about this the love seems pure and innocent and harmless until a motor accident to David takes it into realms people today would feel uncomfortable with. The programme puts it well. Set in the 1960s Sandel is quintessentially English. ' An Oxfordshire summer, cream teas, lazy days by the river, chocolate cake, cricket and evensong yet with American bombers from Brize Norton blazing trails across the peaceful valleys'. This was a time when the sexual hot house of boys prep and public schools was accepted but now no longer. In Sandel the groomer is the boy not the man which makes the play so much more provocative. In this tiny theatre with its five rows of seats in touching distance of the cast the audience gets totally drawn into the love, desires, and conflicts in the lives of Tony, David and Bruce.
We always knew that Ashley ( our most genteel and longest serving Tall Boy) could do posh but he has to carry this for two hours and sing like an angel. Ashley's acting blew me away he is so compelling to watch. He is truly a thespian discovery. This was a very brave play for Ashley to take on given it's emotional intensity and the demands made on him but he is perfectly cast and a total revelation. I do hope some Billy fans will get to the Above the Stag theatre to see Sandel in it's short run to mid June. You will be in for (as I was) a mesmerising yet very challenging evening in the compelling company of this excellent cast. As a footnote I doubt that I will ever be able to listen to Schuberts 'Ave Maria' and Parry's 'Jerusalem' in quite the same way again. In conclusion Ashley you were sensational and truly showcased your undoubted talents for all to see.
We always knew that Ashley ( our most genteel and longest serving Tall Boy) could do posh but he has to carry this for two hours and sing like an angel. Ashley's acting blew me away he is so compelling to watch. He is truly a thespian discovery. This was a very brave play for Ashley to take on given it's emotional intensity and the demands made on him but he is perfectly cast and a total revelation. I do hope some Billy fans will get to the Above the Stag theatre to see Sandel in it's short run to mid June. You will be in for (as I was) a mesmerising yet very challenging evening in the compelling company of this excellent cast. As a footnote I doubt that I will ever be able to listen to Schuberts 'Ave Maria' and Parry's 'Jerusalem' in quite the same way again. In conclusion Ashley you were sensational and truly showcased your undoubted talents for all to see.
Re: Sandel
I saw this last evening and am still trying to recover, emotionally, from it.
Most people probably know from my Billy reviews that I’m an emotional guy and how that particular show delivers emotions in spades. This play did me in likewise. Rather like in Billy, not only was it the play itself but the live boy realising his own dreams as he delivers to an appreciative audience sent shivers down my spine. In this case it was the legendary long-time Tall Boy, Ashley Cousins, who delivered in shovelfuls. This was Ashley, having played a small part for 3 and a half years at the VPT going straight into a sensitive and demanding leading role and absolutely going up 100 gears in the process. This was not just a souped up version of his Posh Boy. This was a masterpiece of extraordinary classical acting played with maturity and an intensity of purpose that left me gasping with admiration and often with tears welling up. I was deeply, deeply moved by this whole experience over a period of two hours or so that sped by and, at the end, I could hardly get up from my seat let alone speak.
Ashley’s co-stars, Joseph Lindoe and Calum Fleming were perfect foils. There were periods when two and then all three were on stage together. You couldn’t imagine three completely different people all in the same room. You felt sorry for Joseph’s character, caught between this precocious youngster and his longtime friend. A witty, highly intelligent and extremely sharp script kept things going non-stop. I was enthralled for every second of it. Blink and you missed something.
I knew from others that the audience was close to the actors in this theatre but we were, in fact, actually on the stage. The actors were an arm’s length away some of the time.
The quiet opening scene between Joseph and Calum set the scene but when Ashley, literally, bounded in all dressed up in his chorister’s gear, the play took on a new momentum and never let go except for some exceptionally well directed quieter moments that were designed to tear your heart out.
The music was expertly chosen and Ashley confirmed afterwards that my own favourite from the play was Bach’s Cantata No. 208 (Sheep may safely graze).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYjqnlc7MRw
Obviously, I didn’t go to school in England but this particular piece I find epitomises my idea of a time in England that we shall not see again. Whenever I hear it played in the future it will be associated with and remind me of Sandel.
I will always be grateful to Ashley, Joseph and Calum plus writer/director Glenn Chandler for putting on what is just such a beautiful play that it remains forever in your heart.
Some of the BETM cast have been down to see it. I urge everyone that can get to see it to go. It finishes next weekend 14th June. I can assure you that Ashley will be thrilled to see you.
Pat
Most people probably know from my Billy reviews that I’m an emotional guy and how that particular show delivers emotions in spades. This play did me in likewise. Rather like in Billy, not only was it the play itself but the live boy realising his own dreams as he delivers to an appreciative audience sent shivers down my spine. In this case it was the legendary long-time Tall Boy, Ashley Cousins, who delivered in shovelfuls. This was Ashley, having played a small part for 3 and a half years at the VPT going straight into a sensitive and demanding leading role and absolutely going up 100 gears in the process. This was not just a souped up version of his Posh Boy. This was a masterpiece of extraordinary classical acting played with maturity and an intensity of purpose that left me gasping with admiration and often with tears welling up. I was deeply, deeply moved by this whole experience over a period of two hours or so that sped by and, at the end, I could hardly get up from my seat let alone speak.
Ashley’s co-stars, Joseph Lindoe and Calum Fleming were perfect foils. There were periods when two and then all three were on stage together. You couldn’t imagine three completely different people all in the same room. You felt sorry for Joseph’s character, caught between this precocious youngster and his longtime friend. A witty, highly intelligent and extremely sharp script kept things going non-stop. I was enthralled for every second of it. Blink and you missed something.
I knew from others that the audience was close to the actors in this theatre but we were, in fact, actually on the stage. The actors were an arm’s length away some of the time.
The quiet opening scene between Joseph and Calum set the scene but when Ashley, literally, bounded in all dressed up in his chorister’s gear, the play took on a new momentum and never let go except for some exceptionally well directed quieter moments that were designed to tear your heart out.
The music was expertly chosen and Ashley confirmed afterwards that my own favourite from the play was Bach’s Cantata No. 208 (Sheep may safely graze).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYjqnlc7MRw
Obviously, I didn’t go to school in England but this particular piece I find epitomises my idea of a time in England that we shall not see again. Whenever I hear it played in the future it will be associated with and remind me of Sandel.
I will always be grateful to Ashley, Joseph and Calum plus writer/director Glenn Chandler for putting on what is just such a beautiful play that it remains forever in your heart.
Some of the BETM cast have been down to see it. I urge everyone that can get to see it to go. It finishes next weekend 14th June. I can assure you that Ashley will be thrilled to see you.
Pat
