WEBLINKS
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FACTS
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The Belgrade Theatre was the first civic theatre to be built after the war and was opened in March 1958, part of a large scale re-development of the City of Coventry.
Now an English Heritage grade II listed building, the Belgrade acquired its name in recognition and thanks for a gift of timber from the Yugoslav city of Belgrade that was used extensively in the construction of the auditorium.
Holding 866 seats in its two-tier auditorium, the theatre remains one of the largest regional producing theatres in the country.
Opened by HRH the Duchess of Kent, the Belgrade has presented over 800 shows ranging from lavish musicals to comedies and serious drama to a total audience of over 4 million.
Since its launch under its first director Bryan Bailey, the Belgrade has pursed a policy of producing innovative and new work.
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 |  | Granauile: The Pirate Queen
Reviewed by Amy Elias, Web Assistant on the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Coventry and Warwickshire Website
The weather decided to hold for Granauile: The Pirate Queen in Coventry's Cathedral ruins.
The performance was based loosely on the legend of Grace O'Mally with the Irish theatre company Macnas bringing the legend to life.
Grace O'Mally was a chieftain, pirate, mother and lover. The notorious woman was both known and feared for her courageous spirit and leadership.
Set in 16th century Ireland, the play focused around the trials and tribulations of the clans and their struggle to overcome British rule under Elizabeth I.
Grace O'Mally led the tribes in their struggle and took them to sea to disrupt the British plans. Grace O'Mally was played by three different women during the performance and the strongest performance was from the middle of the three, when she led her clan into battle.
| Μύ |  | The main steps to Coventry Cathedral
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It was still light at the beginning of the performance at 8:30pm, so the lighting was not very dramatic at the beginning and the actors merged with the audience a bit too much.
However, as it got darker the lighting was used effectively to spotlight the characters and create a sense of a stage in the centre of the cathedral ruins.
The subtle use of music also gave the performance atmosphere throughout, with sound effects adding to the imaginary space.
I thought the drumming was excellent as it brought a lot of energy and drama to every scene.
Visually the performance was very high quality. Large scale structures, drumming, stilts, music and masks created an all round stunning visual experience.
| Μύ |  | Coventry Cathedral ruins
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The costumes in the scene in which the Queen meets Grace O'Mally were fantastic. The Queen's dress was about 10ft high.
Apparently this construction got soaked during the rain storm on Tuesday but there was no sign of damage on the magnificent structure when I saw it.
O'Mally's was a red pirate ship construction, which again was superb.
The costumes of the Queen's men and women, including Sir Francis Drake, were like something out of Alice in Wonderland.
A combination of professional and community actors worked well together in the performance.
Local actors from Coventry and Warwickshire performed. It was difficult to distinguish the theatre group Macnas from the local actors. The acting was superb all-round.
The community actor, Terry Doyle, who was also in Belgrade's production of The Wedding was excellent in his role as one of the McDonell clan leaders.
The production was mainly in Gaelic and although it was very visual with a lot of miming and action, I felt the plot was quite hard to follow at times.
| Μύ |  | Coventry Cathedral ruins
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For a performance of this type when people are standing in an open space, I felt that it was slightly too long at 1 hour 30 minutes. I think that if the plot had been more concise, the production could have been cut down to 50 minutes, which would have had more impact.
This minor criticism aside, I thought it was an excellent performance. It was worth going to see for the costumes alone - they were totally superb.
It's well worth going to see, but I think I should have taken a chair for comfort and a brolly just in case it had rained!
Next year the Millennium Mysteries 2003 will be a co-production between Macnas and the Belgrade Theatre. We will have details to follow in the Autumn.
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