Wednesday 10 December 2008

What A Review!



Another review from the WWRY forum -- this one is of Rachel as Scaramouche on December 2nd. The really great thing about reviews such as this is that they are NOT written by Rachel fans. These writers are die-hard fans of the show and probably the toughest crowd to win over, which makes it all the more impressive to read accounts like this one.

OK the guy thinks that Rachel comes from Dublin rather than Belfast, but we'll let him off.

''I was very much taken indeed with Rachel's Scara .... Yes there were two fluffed lines but unless you know the script you'd not have realised because there was seamless recovery both times, and yes she was slightly out of position for a nano-second just once or twice, and yes she comes from the little town of Glasagow just outside Dublin, but then she's had limited opportunities to play Scara so far and get the role as intuitive as breathing.

She is a hugely refreshing Scara ... her pacing of PLENTY of the lines is different certainly, phrasing and emphasis altered but simply because that is how this Scara speaks. Where Sabrina's Scara is very shouty, always needs to be seen as right, is scared of losing the superiority she thinks she has and works constantly to retain, Rachel's Scara is completely comfortable in her own skin, knows she doesn't have anything to prove, knows she's way superior and only has to be herself for things to stay that way. No big deal. She's the Aston Martin tootling down the M1 while all the boy-racers melt their tappets passing her in their ego-mobiles, she and they completely aware that a wiggle of her big toe would see them all in the dust.

And she is funny! Scara has to be acerbic, but you can do that different ways. Hannah went for sarcasm and the occasional elbow-in-the-ribs to make her point, Jenna was more the cheeky know-it-all with some great mockery thrown in, Sabrina has her as being completely in-your-face with sharp teeth, a short fuse and a long stiletto, and Rachel is all "Yeah yeah whatever, but look we both know that I am right, right? So stop your prannying-around and lets get on with it because I'm getting hungry. 'Kay?"

She takes most of Scara's barbs and sticks them in just as deep but she delivers them in new and different ways, some soft and invisible til they land, others completely backhandedly ... think of the kind of insult that is delivered right to your face and with a smile, and takes you anything from ten seconds to three months to realise ... very funny, and it also gives Ricardo more to respond to and play-off ...

There's more, including that she can rattle the rafters one minute and whisper the next (when did you ever hear Scara whisper?!), hit every note she went for and went for all of the big ones, and has a neat line in Highland Flings.

However, there's genuinely too much to mention, lovely little things from nuances to attitude-shifts, mannerisms to expressions. Just go-see if you get the chance, make up your own mind. Rachel inevitably comes with some Nancy-baggage that doesn't help - see past that and you won't be disappointed.''

6 comments:

Naomi said...

Brilliant review. I love the line 'Nancy Baggage'. Clearly not equally a fan of TV talent searches.

Andy said...

The best and most valid review we've posted.

Katie said...

Really good review! Well done Rachel :)

Anonymous said...

Great review! Made me want to go and see it again! Not sure what's meant by Nancy-baggage though!

Talking of Nancy...... isn't it Jodie's opening night tonight? How about a special mention on the blog?

Anonymous said...

She did scara on saturday 17th jan matinee, and was spellbinding, totally awesome!!

David said...

Excellent Georgia -- glad to hear you had a good time!