| Show |
Comments |
Publication |
Love
Child
(February - March 2007) |
'Alex
Marker's cool, minimalist set, a room in Anna's London home,
sits elegantly in the Finborough's tiny space.'
Heather Neill
|
The
Stage |
| |
'The
production's realism is welcome: too often we see heavily
stylised sets that positively invite disbelief, but here
the naturalism of the acting is complimented by a thoughtfully
accurate recreation of Anna's apartment. At one point the
light dims, and we here it begin to rain, one of several
small details that conspired to make me feel rather as if
I were eavesdropping in someone's living room.'
Sarah Perry
|
MusicOMH.com |
| |
'If
'Fringe' carries negative connotations in quality (as opposed
to enterprise and innovation) terms then this isn't Fringe
... Alex Marker's set, from floor to tasteful designer accoutrements,
could grace any stage.'
Timothy Ramsden
|
Reviewsgate |
| |
'This
is the moment to compliment designer Alex Marker who, yet
again, has worked wonders on a minimal Finborough budget
by creating a really stylish living room that perfectly
fits the bill.'
Philip Fisher
|
British
Theatre Guide |
King
Arthur
(November 2006) |
Shapeshifter’s
‘King Arthur’ is grounded in a post-Roman Britain
which is more sackcloth-and-scuffling than sword and sorcery.
But it Merits ten out of ten for atmosphere, promenading the
audience though Artorius’ war camp, to rub shoulders
with soldiers, and peek out though cow byre slats at the yammering
barbarians.
It’s
an imaginative use of the Arcola’s cavernous space,
and the trestles, the tunics and the talk of Vortegern all
thicken the ambience.’
Caroline
McGin
|
Time
Out |
| |
The
space is exploited well in this promenade piece and the audience’s
presence is cleverly manipulated to add a sense of crowd mass
to any scene.’
Evelyn
Curlet
|
The Stage |
| |
King
Arthur is staged as a promenade piece – a device which
actually works very well. The Arcola stage, divided by rags
and driftwood, successfully takes us away from the romantic
visions of Camelot, whilst its low ceiling intensifies the
idea of a cramped Britain barely able to contain such flux.
Belinda
Williams
|
Rogues
and Vagabonds
|
Eden's
Empire
(September 2006) |
' The
torn, faded map of Europe that underscores Alex Marker’s
elegant design subtly evokes the radical shift in world
power that Eden was so comprehensively unable to navigate
in the aftermath of World War II.'
Lucy
Powell
|
Time
Out |
| |
'...design,
performance and casting that would not disgrace the West End.'
Carole Woddis
|
Rogues and Vagabonds |
| |
'Gemma
Fairlie's fast-moving production, with political manoeuvring
rendered literally in elegant quicksteps, Alex Marker's economical
design and a versatile cast led by Jamie Newall as the sick
and disappointed Eden, Kevin Quarmby as a Machiavellian Macmillan,
Selva Rasalingham as Nasser and Daisy Beaumont as ultra-loyal
Clarissa Eden serve the play well.'
Heather Neill
|
The
Stage |
| |
'Gemma
Fairlie's polished production, too, utilises every nook
and cranny of Alex Marker's clever set to create a dark,
shadowy atmosphere epitomised by its huge leather-buttoned
club chairs situated at the four corners like sentinels
of a dying Empire or the Allies four-quartered, partitioned
Berlin.'
Carole Woddis
|
Rogues and Vagabonds |
| |
'Director
Gemma Fairlie keeps her actors whizzing on and off Alex Marker's
neat set...'
Fiona Mountford
|
Evening
Standard |
The
Representative
(July - August 2006) |
One
of the Top five shows in London |
The
Independent |
|
Four
Stars
'The staging in the round is close; you peer into the action
like a hidden camera. The production combines bareness with
a docu-drama aesthetic... while little bits of discreet opulence
- a flaring candelabra here, a goblet of fine wine there -
emphasise the worldliness which slowly corrupts these good
men who do nothing.'
Caroline McGinn
|
Time
Out |
|
'The
initial impression is good, thanks to designer Alex Marker
who has a habit of working wonders on a minimal budget. The
theatre is set in the round with the atmosphere created by
four large paintings drawn from Stations of the Cross... This
is a magnificent, mammoth, must-see drama for anyone interested
in history or serious 20th-century playwriting.'
Phillip
Fisher
|
British
Theatre Guide |
Red
Night
(November 2005) |
'Designer
Alex Marker cleverly turns the tiny stage into a trench, complete
with sand bags and barbed wire.'
Fiona Mountford
|
Evening
Standard |
| |
Time
Out Critics Choice
'How better to recreate the claustrophobia of the trenches
than by staging World War I in a fringe theatre? For Two's
Company's revival of 'Red Night' - the latest in their Forgotten
Voices of the Great War series - designer Alex Marker has
performed impressive feats with this pokey studio space. Initially,
it's all sandbags and duckboards, along which a hapless platoon
of British soldiers stretcher their comrades' corpses under
enemy fire. For the play's cheerier moments, it's a behind-the-lines
café, where Privates Hardcastle, Whitman, McTaggart
et al convene to sing their blues away and flirt with the
French hostesses.' Brian Logan
|
Time
Out |
| |
'A
review of this show which did not mention the ingenious and
imaginative design by Alex Marker would be incomplete and
indeed a travesty…
Marker's set evokes all the brutality and danger of the trenches
while opening and closing like a delicate but dirty chocolate
box.
The fringes of the set are the quaint, safe, elegant drawing
rooms: a constant reminder of the lives and loved ones that
the soldiers were forced to leave behind.
This fades effortlessly into the barbed wire and sandbag shabbiness
of the trenches which suddenly, magically, become the French
café where the men go to find liberation from the shackles
of trench life.
This safe environment is only a temporary outlet for the men,
although it is here we see them at their most natural and
open, and Marker mirrors this by folding the cafe back into
the trenches again, blending old photos, letters, candles,
boots into the backdrop to provide the harsh realities of
the trench environment.' Adam Taylor
|
Rogues
and Vagabonds |
| |
'…The
attention to detail - both set and costume - is highly impressive…'
Derek Smith
|
The
Stage |
Lark
Rise to Candleford
(September - October 2005) |
‘Alex
Marker’s set, whose rough hewn blocks, platforms and
stairways are wittly transformed by simple props and the conviction
of the performances into lively taverns, ploughed fields,
homely hearthsides and narrow cobbled streets almost looks
like a sepia tinted photograph…the staging is full of
inspired moments… the production… creates an entire
beguiling world that enfolds its audience in a warm embrace-
a big achievement in a small- scale theatre’
Sam Marlow
|
The
Times |
|
'Designer
Alex Marker has transformed the Finborough space into a
selection of rustic barns and cottages, which the audience
are invited to promenade as the action of the story progresses.'
Paul Vale
|
The
Stage |
| |
'With
barely room to swing a cat, Alex Marker’s wooden platforms
and steps work wonders, representing a whole variety of situations
from fields to homes to streets to pubs.'
Carole Woddis
|
What’s
on Stage
|
| |
'The
production design is ingenious and charming, set all around
the theatre space, so that the audience must promenade in
order to fully experience the various interior and exterior
locations of the village.'
Joanna
Bacon
|
Rogues
and Vagabonds |
| |
‘Alex
Marker’s wooden set, with its ladders and mezzanines,
is a stunning bit of craftsmanship’
Clair Whitefield
|
Music
OMH.Com |
| |
‘The
set (Designed by Alex Marker) constantly changes too so you
never get too comfortable in one spot, and you become almost
absorbed into the production, rather like the village gossip.’
Bronagh Taggart
|
The
British Theatre Guide |
| |
‘You
don’t feel as though you are ‘watching a play’,
rather you are ‘being there’ and this feeling is
quite hypnotic and compelling, it makes you want to go back
again and again.’
Julia Hickman
|
Theatreworld
Internet Magazine |
| |
Time
Out: Critics Choice |
|
Hush
(August - October 2005) |
Four
stars.
Andrew Burnet
|
The
Scotsman |
Albert's
Boy
(July - August 2005) |
'Designer
Alex Marker has made interesting and beautifully detailed
use of the space, which I am sure he will adapt ingeniously
if this wonderful production gets the transfer it deserves.'
Joanna Bacon
|
Rogues
and Vagabonds |
| |
'
The conflict between the two men is lucidly realised…on
Alex Marker's realistic set.'
Aleks Sierz
|
The
Stage |
| |
'The
production [steps] out of its minutely realist mode to create
a climactic evocation of the bomb.'
Robert Hewison
|
The
Sunday Times |
Hortensia
and the Museum of Dreams
(May - June 2005) |
'Anyone
who has been to Cuba will instantly recognise the transformation
the tiny Finborough stage has undergone. The walls, hung
with old photos and curling images of the Madonna, are peeling,
and brightly painted shutters struggle to keep out the piercing
Caribbean sunlight. Designer Alex Marker has done a magnificent
job.'
Fiona Mountford
|
The
Evening Standard |
| |
'Alex
Marker's set is richly evocative of Cuba's dilapidated glamour.'
Lucy
Powell
|
Time
Out |
| |
'We
are in Cuba. Before a word has been spoken, the audience is
transported to the heat and colours and decaying fabric of
the Latin American Island, realised by the accumulated detail
and painterly imagination of Alex Marker's extraordinary set.
He recently created an enchanted Victorian world in the Finborough's
Trelawny of the 'Wells', and now has provided Cherub Theatre
Company's production … with the perfect setting for Nilo
Cruz's drama… The simple idea of using the room's structural
walls, instead of denying them, and covering every space that
is left available with set dressing, creates a stunning theatrical
illusion. Though detailed, it is not cluttered. It raises
small house theatre design to a new level.'
C J Sheridan
|
Rogues
and Vagabonds |
| |
'…the
set effortlessly evokes the crumbling colonial buildings
of Cuba, with its peeling painted shutters and stained ochre
walls.'
Cheryl
Freedman
|
What's
On in London
|
| |
'Director
Michael Gieleta draws good performances from his leading actors.
He also does a good job in creating the steamy atmosphere
of Cuba with the assistance of designer Alex Marker.'
Philip Fisher
|
British
Theatre Guide |
Trelawny
of the 'Wells'
(April - May 2005) |
'Alex
Marker's design ...deserves to win awards. It effortlessly
transforms from stage to drawing room and then wings.'
Philip Fisher
|
British
Theatre Guide |
| |
'Stage
sets at the Finborough are a minor miracle, and the designer,
Alex Marker, has shown great ingenuity.'
Michael
Portillo
|
New
Statesman |
| |
'It's
a good production, with a 13-strong cast well marshalled
on a tiny stage by director Phil Willmott and clever design
by Alex Marker.'
Mike Parker
|
The
Morning Star |
| |
'Alex
Marker has worked wonders with his design, adapting to the
limitations of the Finborough Stage...'
Paul Vale
|
The
Stage |
| |
'A
chief source of delight in watching this Trelawny are Alex
Marker's pretty, colourful sets and resourceful use of the
old pub room to conjure up Victoriana on a space not much
larger that a toy theatre.'
C.J.Sheridan
|
Rouges
and Vagabonds |
| |
'Alex
Marker's ingeniously flexible set.'
Timothy Ramsden
|
Reviewsgate.com |
A
Doll's House
(December - January 2004 - 2005) |
'Ibsen
argued that anyone who wished to understand him fully needed
to know Norway, its "spectacular but severe landscape",
its isolated inhabitants and it long dark winters. For the
non initiate, they are depicted by set-designer Alex Marker's
icy looking fjord, peeping through an all to flimsy domestic
framework.'
Barbara Lewis
|
The
Stage |
| |
'The
set design too was just as fabulous, right down to the most
intricate of details, including a delicate decorated Christmas
tree complete with presents tied up with string, it truly
takes one back in time.'
Emma Whitelaw
|
Indielondon |
| |
'The
set creates the perfect tone for the play's chilly Scandinavian
severity. The stage's back wall is painted with and icy moonlit
Norwegian fjord. This environment permeates the household;
the scene is replicated in two paintings which hang, beautifully
spot lit on and imaginary wall.'
Paul Revel
|
Bucks free press |
Happy
Family
(October 2004) |
'It's
hard to fault this superb revival of Cooper's black comedy
in which Alex Marker's traditional drawing room set hosts
some wonderful comic timing from the cast and director.'
Colin Shearman
|
The Stage |
London's
Free Open Air Theatre Season
(July - September 2004) |
Critics
Choice:
Critics Choice:
Critics Choice:
|
Time
Out
The Metro
Evening Standard ("Out and About) |
| |
'Visually
Captivating.'
Elizabeth Maloney
|
The
Guardian |
| |
'The
Scoop's architecture is suited to Greek tragedy, its stone
steps creating a creepy environment for the carpeted staircase
up which Agamemnon walks to his doom.'
Paul Taylor
|
The
Independent |
Soldiers
(July 2004) |
Critics
Choice:
Critics Choice:
|
Time
Out
The Times |
| |
'Alex
Marker contrives an amazingly atmospheric sense of Churchill
commanding from his bunker bed and London's wartime operations
room.'
Timothy Ramsden
|
Reviewsgate |
