This was an excellent evening. We are in a Southern USA Plantation House to which a group of three siblings and their families have returned following the death of their father. There is Toni, the matriarch of the trio, her successful brother Bo and his wife (Rachael) and the more wayward Franz and his slightly hippy girlfriend, River. Toni and Bo have a teenage son (Rhys) and daughter (Cassidy) and there is speculation that these cousins fancy each other. There is also the much younger Ainsley who charges around the stage and is discovered early on going through a set of pictures that are the subject of the evening. They are of lynchings many years ago when slaves were present on the plantation. These pit the siblings and partners into much constructive denial that their ancestors could have been part of such atrocities but things are complicated when the monetary value of the photographs is determined.
The evening mixes a good deal of humour with what is mainly an examination of the dynamics of the family - with old scores and resentments to reprise. The standout performance was Monica Dolan, playing Toni - closely followed by the rest of the cast and the amazing gothic house set.
Sunday, 15 September 2019
Sunday, 8 September 2019
30 August 2019. The Doctor at the Almeida.
The evening will be particularly remembered by me for the fine acting of Juliet Stevenson as well as the engaging staging and set. We are in a hospital where a priest is refused admission to the room where a child is dying from sepsis caused by a botched self-administered abortion. The doctor - played by Stevenson - bases the refusal on not wishing to distress the child by alerting her to her impending death. She finds out anyway and dies in great distress - off stage.
The play looks at the 'shitstorm' that ensues from this action. Based on the play Professor Bernhardi by Arthur Schnitzler, this modern version shows how Ruth, the jewish doctor, rapidly becomes engulfed by an online petition and social media frenzy with the mob turning against her for her decision. She finds herself holed up at the home she shares with her lesbian partner and with an adolescent girl, excellently played by Ria Zmitrowicz. Outside the crowd are baying and slaughtering their cat.
The play is so full of action that it feels quite exhausting to try and note down all that it covered and captured. Most clear was the organisational politics that quickly asserted themselves, with members of Ruth's team and others quickly using the events to settle scores and gain advantages. Indeed, the whole turn of events, we are told, was caused by a disloyal nurse telling the child she was dying. Ruth is streets ahead of the others in terms of professional brilliance and heads up a unit looking to cure dementia. Her Elizabeth Institute is reliant on private funding and about to acquire its own building. All this comes crashing apart as the storm unfolds.
Under the direction of Robert Icke, time passes quickly for us watching this production. All too soon, we are at the point where Ruth is suspended from her post and 'tried' on television. At this point, Stevenson's anguish looked so real that I was forced to wonder how she could sustain the performance over the six week run of the play.
Really, an excellent evening and one which not surprisingly garnered great reviews.
The play looks at the 'shitstorm' that ensues from this action. Based on the play Professor Bernhardi by Arthur Schnitzler, this modern version shows how Ruth, the jewish doctor, rapidly becomes engulfed by an online petition and social media frenzy with the mob turning against her for her decision. She finds herself holed up at the home she shares with her lesbian partner and with an adolescent girl, excellently played by Ria Zmitrowicz. Outside the crowd are baying and slaughtering their cat.
The play is so full of action that it feels quite exhausting to try and note down all that it covered and captured. Most clear was the organisational politics that quickly asserted themselves, with members of Ruth's team and others quickly using the events to settle scores and gain advantages. Indeed, the whole turn of events, we are told, was caused by a disloyal nurse telling the child she was dying. Ruth is streets ahead of the others in terms of professional brilliance and heads up a unit looking to cure dementia. Her Elizabeth Institute is reliant on private funding and about to acquire its own building. All this comes crashing apart as the storm unfolds.
Under the direction of Robert Icke, time passes quickly for us watching this production. All too soon, we are at the point where Ruth is suspended from her post and 'tried' on television. At this point, Stevenson's anguish looked so real that I was forced to wonder how she could sustain the performance over the six week run of the play.
Really, an excellent evening and one which not surprisingly garnered great reviews.
29 August 2019. Hansard at the National Theatre
This was an excellently acted two-hander with Lindsay Duncan and Alex Jennings as stay-at-home in the Cotswolds wife and Tory Minister husband. Sitting through it, I felt thoroughly engaged and sufficiently won over by the lines to buy the text. However, on reading it through and reflecting, I think this was more an entertaining evening with a few extremely pithy and savage observations than a great play.
The characters err on being caricatures. He - Robin Hesketh - is the Etonian, stand-on-your-own-feet Tory; Diana is the bored, boozy wife who seems to have totally failed to realize her talents, apart from spouting a brand of champagne socialism. They tear strips off each other but I felt she had the better lines - maybe because of my own sympathies. Some punches land and feel relevant to today's Brexit Britain - especially the weird awe in which Etonians are held by a significant tranche of the electorate, coupled with a dread of foreigners. Set in the 1980s, a particular bone of contention is the Tories' Section 28 legislation that forebad the 'encouragement' of homosexuality.
Robin stays in London during the week and married Diana following an affair which they conducted when he maintained a similar routine - using his time in London to sneak off for the affair. Now, Diana suspects him of repeating history. The almost too predictable twist is that he has a soft side after all - hardly news to a psychologist and was as devastated as she was when their son committed suicide having felt rejected by the mother when she found him dressed in her clothes.
This great revelation was thoroughly well acted but really felt all too predictable. Furthermore, it does not, on reflection, seem to get one anywhere in 'makes one think' terms.
Anyway, all in all, it was an entertaining 80 minutes and one that I instantly recommended. The punches as delivered by this pair landed very satisfyingly.
The characters err on being caricatures. He - Robin Hesketh - is the Etonian, stand-on-your-own-feet Tory; Diana is the bored, boozy wife who seems to have totally failed to realize her talents, apart from spouting a brand of champagne socialism. They tear strips off each other but I felt she had the better lines - maybe because of my own sympathies. Some punches land and feel relevant to today's Brexit Britain - especially the weird awe in which Etonians are held by a significant tranche of the electorate, coupled with a dread of foreigners. Set in the 1980s, a particular bone of contention is the Tories' Section 28 legislation that forebad the 'encouragement' of homosexuality.
Robin stays in London during the week and married Diana following an affair which they conducted when he maintained a similar routine - using his time in London to sneak off for the affair. Now, Diana suspects him of repeating history. The almost too predictable twist is that he has a soft side after all - hardly news to a psychologist and was as devastated as she was when their son committed suicide having felt rejected by the mother when she found him dressed in her clothes.
This great revelation was thoroughly well acted but really felt all too predictable. Furthermore, it does not, on reflection, seem to get one anywhere in 'makes one think' terms.
Anyway, all in all, it was an entertaining 80 minutes and one that I instantly recommended. The punches as delivered by this pair landed very satisfyingly.
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