20 posts tagged “national theatre”

Just over a week ago I wrote about a week in prospect that would take in two plays and two eagerly anticipated films. Did it live up to its cultural and entertainment potential?
I've already written about Bright Star which was certainly the highlight but there was much else to be enjoyed.

First there was Dominic West making his debut before the Rev Stan in Spanish play Life is a Dream at the Donmar.
The play's writer Pedro Calderon de la Barca was sort of a Spanish Shakespeare and was writing at a time when Spain's golden age of discovery and the wealth and culture it brought with it had be frittered away.
Life is a Dream captures that feeling of having had something so good it was like a dream. It tells the story of Prince Seigusmundo (West) who is secretly imprisoned at birth by his father after hearing a prophesy that he'll be a tyrant. Grown up, his father releases him as a test of his character but having had a closeted life he behaves badly and is taken back to prison having been convinced his time of freedom was in fact a dream.
His existence now known of by the people of his father's kingdom he is broken out of prison and embarks on getting what is rightfully his but this time in constant fear that he is living a dream and is therefore determined to behave better.
It is both comedic and philosophical something some of my fellow theatre-goers had problems but I think the two are inextricably linked.
West put in a stirling performance and I've now ordered first series of The Wire by way of a contrast.
It was an enjoyable play, easy to follow with the language updated in its translation and entertaining enough that the two and half hours flew by.
Next up was The Habit of Art a new Alan Bennett play at the National Theatre. And what a contrast.
It is a play about a play about a fictitious meeting between poet W H Auden and composer Benjamin Britten. On one level it is about two talented men reflecting on their careers at a time when their creativity is dwindling.
On another it is a behind the scenes expose of theatre life: the ego's, the tantrums and again the creative process.
It was very funny with some typically brilliant Bennett one-liners, none of which I can remember. Richard Griffiths as the dial-a-rent-boy loving Auden commands the stage and sparks off the wonderful Frances de la Tour who plays the production manager.
A highly amusing evening all round.
And then stage comedy to film comedy: The Men Who Stare at Goats rounded off the week's viewing pleasure. At the beginning you are told 'More of this is true than you would imagine' and I really hope it is because it is laugh out loud funny.
It you try and explain it, it sounds ridiculous: Psychic spies.
The cast is formidable with Jeff Bridges, George Clooney, Ewan McGregor and Kevin Spacey all doing wonderful turns at comedy something which is refreshing to see.
I know it's had mixed reviews but I think it worked really well and perfect Sunday afternoon silliness.
Oh and you get to see McGregor and Clooney walking away from the camera with their bums hanging out of hospital gowns. Perfect.

The last couple of things I've seen at the NT's Cottesloe Theatre have been a bit of a disappointment: Black Album and Dido, Queen of Carthage.
Our Class was theatre-buddy Debbie's choice and if she could apply the same judgement to picking horses she'd be very rich.

Written by Polish playwright Tadeusz Slobodzianek and translated by Ryan Craig it follows the lives of 10 classmates growing up in Jedwabne, Poland where hundreds of jews were massacred, from the 1920s to present day.
It's the first time I've seen the Cottesloe use the flexible seating arrangement it boasts and the stage was in the middle: A bare-boards pit with 10 chairs. The only other decoration was a pile of ash for the second half.
The opening scene is set in a classroom with the 10 each introducing themselves and saying what they want to be when they grow up - the playfulness, innocence and friendship you know is going to be slowly destroyed by horrific anti-semitism, politics and fear.
All actors remained on stage sitting on the edge of pit when not part of the action. There was a mix of re-enactment, first person narrative mixed with children's songs and live music stirred in.
It examines the tragedy of Jedwabne through the eyes of those 10 who lived (and died)
It's a thought provoking and harrowing piece of drama and a great bit of theatre, simply but effectively done.
And here are some others thoughts

Guardian What the play also proves, with unsensational dignity, is that, as one of the characters says, "you can never bury the truth"
Daily Telegraph It is hard to praise the 10-strong cast too highly as they bring the complex stories of 10 characters, some of them through many decades, to vivid life

PS I can tick yet another Harry Potter actor off the theatre list - Stan Shunpike the bus conductor in Prisoner of Azkaban AKA Lee Ingleby. Shame Michael Gambon has had to pull out of the Art of Class but I get Richard Griffiths instead, although it will be the third time I've seen him tread the boards.

Been to see some great theatre and interesting theatre in recent weeks but have been a bit lax in actually writing about it. So here is a bit of a catch up of the highlights hopefully short and sweet:

Mother Courage and all her Children - National Theatre

Loved the first Brecht I saw at the Young Vic a couple of years ago so was excited about this NT production.
Set during the 30 years war in Europe it tells the story of Mother Courage (Fiona Shaw) who profits from the war going from battle site to battle site selling her wares, changing allegiances when profitable and trying to protect her two sons and mute daughter along the way.
There has been much written online about the delay to press night and the various hiccups in the production and even though I saw it during preview, I didn't noticed anything going particularly wrong. Shaw put in an amazingly energetic performance, there was live music and and an Irish singer Duke Special who had the most beautiful voice. Brecht challenged sympathies and perceptions once again and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Oh and I didn't find out until I got home that another Harry Potter actor was also in the play - Harry Melling who plays Dudley. In this he was once again playing Fiona Shaw's son.

I like a tragedy me and the ancient Greeks were a bit partial too hence why they wrote so many. But the tragic element to Phedre which playing at the National Theatre is well a little too ancient Greek for my taste.

For those unfamiliar with Phedre's story she is married to King Theseus who has disappeared, presumed dead. Phedre (played by Dame Helen Mirren) has long harboured a bit of a crush, ok she luurves him in a way only iambic pentameter can express, her step son Hippolytus (played by Dominic Cooper of The History Boys and The Duchess fame).
As hubby is thought dead she decides to confess to her feelings and is rejected. Then hubby returns and in an attempt to hide her incestuous confession tells him that Hippolytus came on the her. Now Daddy, quite angry banishes son but not before he invokes Neptune to curse him. Hippolytus meanwhile decides confess his love to Aricia (Ruth Negga) whom his father banned from marrying when and run off with her. Phedre discovers Hippolytus is in love she falls into a jealous rage.
Now I thought I could tell where it was going from there (spoiler alert) knowing that Phedre and Hippolytus end up dead there surely had to be some sort of accidental/remorseful death or bloody incident akin to the ending of Hamlet.
Well no it's a Greek tragedy you see so Neptune does the dirty work and Hippolytus is attacked by some mysterious sea creature which smashes his chariot leaving him to be dragged to his death by his horses. Phedre, remorseful, confesses and poisons herself. Now Hippolytus's death is all off stage - as is the way with Greek tragedy apparently - and recounted by his servant. The tale is vividly and grippingly told but for me the fantastical element stymied any feeling of tragedy I might have had. Phedre does spend most of the play being melodramatic and hysterical so I wasn't to sorry to see her go.
If I'd have written it I would have had more on stage death for a start and the leads would have had a bigger hand in their own demise*.
All this implies that I didn't enjoy it when I did, very much. I was on the edge of my seat. Mirren deftly swung from morbid depression to hysteria and Cooper played Hippolytus with a steely cold aloofness that led some in my party to accuse him of a lack of spark with his leading lady but I disagree. His character is described by other characters as being driven and determined to the point that when he confesses his love to Aricia it is with the violence of someone whose expression of feeling is like a bottle of shaken champagne uncorked and then recorked again.
The stage was appropriately of Grecian time, not with adornments but the white/cream stone and rock so common in the countries ancient monuments. The passage of time was shown via the lighting which went from midday glare and heat cast sharp shadows through dusk and evening to a soft morning sunrise that was beautiful.
It's not my favourite play by any stretch of the imagination but it was entertaining and I'm tempted to buy a copy to read which is higher praise than most productions get.
Here are some others views:
Guardian: "The strength of Hytner's production is that Phèdre herself, in Helen Mirren's forceful performance, is not so much a victim of the gods as of an unconquerable erotic obsession."
West End Whingers: "Though with the National’s resources the Whingers of course would have preferred and expected to see the scene where his chariot is attacked by a giant sea monster"
Independent: "Everyone's very good. They're just all acting in something very bad, a thoroughly traduced and reverentially presented "classic"."

*Perhaps Phedre in her fit of jealousy could stab Aricia, Hippolytus discovers her dying and tries to strangle Phedre his father bursts in and catches him in the act and stabs his son in order to protect his wife. Phedre distraught that the object of her affection is dead confesses and kills herself. Leaving the King with a big dry cleaning bill and a bit sad that he killed his own son. What do you think?"

After a day cooped up on a training course (more online stuff with www.adam.vox.com doing an expert job once again) I've escaped to my favourite place for a stroll: South Bank.
It's warm and bright and I have an evening of theatre at the National ahead of me. The play is Black Album and is based on the Hanif Kureishi novel by the same name (hope I spelt his name correctly not on internet to check).
But first a bite to eat in the sun with Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince* - as is always the way with the books it has hooked its claws into me from the outset and I'm sure I'll devour it in a matter of days.

* want to see if my criticism of the film's plot changes and choices are justified

NB links added after original posting and I didn't much enjoy the play it couldn't decide what it wanted to be.

After a self-imposed virtual drought during May, June's theatre visits kicked off in fine form with a bit of Shakespeare at the National Theatre accompanied by adam, who likes a bit of the Bard.

Now I wasn't familiar with All's Well That Ends Well but have since done a bit of research and it is what is sometimes described as Shakespeare noir. It doesn't really fit into the standard comedy envelope that would easily accomodate say Twelfth Night or a Midsummers Night Dream; if you take the story literally it's about a female stalker.
As a result it is quite a strange story  but if you don't worry about that too much and view it more as a fairy tale then it's an entertaining romp with Shakespeare flexing his word play muscles.
The first half is the set up: girl falls for boy who's socially above her, she helps out the King who in return promises to let her marry whomever she chooses. Guess who she chooses? Boy, Bertram is his name, rejects her saying he'll only be her husband if she gets a ring on him he can't remove and has his baby.
He then buggers off to war in Italy. End of part one.
The second half is basically how she does the seemingly impossible. There is a Falstaff-type character thrown in for extra comedy value and hey presto there you have it.

And while the story didn't exactly float my boat, the production and acting more than made up for it. The set designers definitely went for fairy tale with castle turrets almost appearing like gnarly old trees and projections of spiders and bats on the back drop. Clever lighting picked out sparkles and sequins against quite a dark backdrop.
Notable performances came from the wonderful Oliver Ford Davies as the King (last seen doing a brilliantly comic Polonius in the RSC's Hamlet) and Conleth Hill as Parolles.
It's not going to be my favourite play of the year but it certainly dazzled and for £10 a ticket in the Travelex season you can't complain that it wasn't worth the money.
Here's what a few reviewers thought:
Independent
Time Out
Guardian

OK so I've spazzed away the afternoon on the internet but I'm trying to rest up a bit and get over this cold so that my excuse so there.

During the interval of Dido, which is on at the National Theatre, I overheard a conversation about the play in which one person asked why there were Greek gods. 'Duh,' I thought, 'it's so they can manipulate the mortals and add a few extra bends in the storyline'.

However come the end of the play I was beginning to ask the same question myself.
Taken at it's basic thread Christopher Marlowe's play is about how Dido falls in love with Aeneas who is shipwrecked on the shores of Carthage. There is a honeymoon period then Aeneas leaves Dido to continue on his mission to rebuild Troy which breaks her heart and she kills herself.
Now if they'd stuck with that it could have been a good, simple tragedy.
But the Gods in the first half who manipulated Dido and Aeneas's relationship by kidnapping Aeneas's son and replacing him with Cupid were also arguing among themselves then making up and scheming so that when they virtually disappeared in the second half I was left wondering...'hang on a minute, what about...  They never returned to view the fruits of their labours or even comment on the catastrophe.
It felt like chunks of the story had been chopped out and I admit I lost the plot. Dido's speeches became more hysterical, so much so that I was silently urging Aeneas to run like the wind and was quite relieved when she topped herself. And so was the rest of the audience who didn't applaud enough to encourage the actors back a second curtain call.
The production wasn't helped by technical problems with the curtains that ran across the back of the stage concealing bits of set. One of the Gods would gracefully walk by to elegantly undraw the curtain and reveal say a bed with Dido and Aenaes asleep only to find it sticking and no amount of subtle tugging would get it moving.
Then there was the noise of the back stage scene changes which disturbed the atmosphere of what was going on on the stage. There must have been problems we couldn't see during the interval because the second half was late starting, in fact the production finished 40 mins later than the estimated time in the programme.
I don't know how reflective of Marlow's writing the confused story is or whether chunks were removed as I haven't read the original.
It was preview week is the only concession I can give and maybe come opening night technical problems will have been ironed out, some performances pegged back (the Gods were far to pantomime) and some semblence of sense restored to the story.

No other reviews to share as it hasn't had it's press night yet.

As if seeing Dame Judi next month wasn't enough another grand dame of the acting world is treading the boards. HRH

Helen Mirren has been tempted to the National Theatre by Greek tragedy-based Phedre.
Knew the tickets would sell quickly but not as quickly as the stalls virtually all gone within 10 mins of the website going live. But for some unfathomable yet fortunate reason the front row in the circle still had seats and so I pounced on them.
Dominic Cooper (The Duchess and The History Boys) and Margaret Tyzack join HRH join the cast so there is much to be excited about.
Dame Helen, and a curtsey as I type that plays a step mother who seduces her step son and based on how gorgeous she looks in the poster, it's not going to be too hard to believe that she can pull it off.