by Harold Pinter
seen at Wyndhams Theatre on 16 November 2016
Sean Matthias directs this revival of Pinter's 1975 play with Ian McKellan as Spooner, Patrick Stewart as Hirst, Owen Teale as Briggs and Damien Molony as Foster; the set is designed by Stephen Brimson Lewis.
Hirst has invited Spooner - a shambling down-at-heels writer - back to his house in Hampstead, an eerily grand affair featuring a room with a curved wall of rather cold blue panels, with a well-stocked bar. Hirst, also apparently a writer, seems bemused by Spooner's meandering speeches, though some of his responses are extremely sharp, even if only by way of a look of mock alarm or distaste. Each drinks heavily as Spooner attempts to discover the nature of the household and Hirst gives little away; suddenly two retainers appear, the brutish Briggs and the cocky and almost camp Foster. They might be dangerous for Spooner - they might even have some hold over Hirst: they are blankly watchful when Hirst collapses and crawls out of the room.
When Hirst returns, now in a dressing gown, he appears not to know who Spooner is, a typically destabilising move from Pinter who keeps all the relationships in this play in an ambiguous state; the cast is superbly and uniformly adept at negotiating the switches in tone and the consequent alteration in the dynamics of power - threatening, conciliatory, waspishly playful, or merely bored. Ian McKellan gives Spooner a suitably dishevelled look, and for most of the time he appears to be a mere sponger fallen on hard times. But when he realises that he is being played on (preyed on?) by Hirst he suddenly proves able to give as good as he gets, and his self-satisfied triumph a having scored a point reveals an unexpected strength. Hirst seems the stronger at first, but this proves to be merely the advantage of being the wealthy host. He defends himself initially by recourse to drink, and then by mind games: Patrick Stewart is brilliant at showing the hard exterior and the inner fear of an ageing writer entering the desolation of 'no man's land'. In the closing moments of the play Spooner offers his help - an unexpected gift from someone who might otherwise have been seen as the more needy person - but it may be too late.
In the mean time Owen Teale relishes the part of Briggs, at times merely grunting, presenting the most obvious sort of threat in physical terms, but elsewhere engaging in elegant put downs by means of serving and removing Spooner;s breakfast in the second act. Damien Molony invests Foster with an ambiguous charm - is he just a wide boy or is he providing sexual favours as well? There is a hint of the latter in some of the gestures between him and Hirst, although nothing is spoken, and both Hirst and Spooner recount stories involving their wives and other female companions. But only the men are seen on stage, and the exact nature of their interactions is always hard to pin down.
McKellan and Stewart made a memorable pair when they played in Waiting for Godot a few years ago; in this production they shine even brighter.
Hirst has invited Spooner - a shambling down-at-heels writer - back to his house in Hampstead, an eerily grand affair featuring a room with a curved wall of rather cold blue panels, with a well-stocked bar. Hirst, also apparently a writer, seems bemused by Spooner's meandering speeches, though some of his responses are extremely sharp, even if only by way of a look of mock alarm or distaste. Each drinks heavily as Spooner attempts to discover the nature of the household and Hirst gives little away; suddenly two retainers appear, the brutish Briggs and the cocky and almost camp Foster. They might be dangerous for Spooner - they might even have some hold over Hirst: they are blankly watchful when Hirst collapses and crawls out of the room.
When Hirst returns, now in a dressing gown, he appears not to know who Spooner is, a typically destabilising move from Pinter who keeps all the relationships in this play in an ambiguous state; the cast is superbly and uniformly adept at negotiating the switches in tone and the consequent alteration in the dynamics of power - threatening, conciliatory, waspishly playful, or merely bored. Ian McKellan gives Spooner a suitably dishevelled look, and for most of the time he appears to be a mere sponger fallen on hard times. But when he realises that he is being played on (preyed on?) by Hirst he suddenly proves able to give as good as he gets, and his self-satisfied triumph a having scored a point reveals an unexpected strength. Hirst seems the stronger at first, but this proves to be merely the advantage of being the wealthy host. He defends himself initially by recourse to drink, and then by mind games: Patrick Stewart is brilliant at showing the hard exterior and the inner fear of an ageing writer entering the desolation of 'no man's land'. In the closing moments of the play Spooner offers his help - an unexpected gift from someone who might otherwise have been seen as the more needy person - but it may be too late.
In the mean time Owen Teale relishes the part of Briggs, at times merely grunting, presenting the most obvious sort of threat in physical terms, but elsewhere engaging in elegant put downs by means of serving and removing Spooner;s breakfast in the second act. Damien Molony invests Foster with an ambiguous charm - is he just a wide boy or is he providing sexual favours as well? There is a hint of the latter in some of the gestures between him and Hirst, although nothing is spoken, and both Hirst and Spooner recount stories involving their wives and other female companions. But only the men are seen on stage, and the exact nature of their interactions is always hard to pin down.
McKellan and Stewart made a memorable pair when they played in Waiting for Godot a few years ago; in this production they shine even brighter.
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