Vassa

by Maxim Gorky adapted by Mike Bartlett

seen at the Almeida Theatre on 8 November 2019

Tinuke Craig directs Siobhán Redmond as the matriarch Vassa with Amber James as her daughter Anna, Arthur Hughes and Danny Kirrane as her sons Pavel and Semyon, Michael Gould as her brother-in-law Prokhor and Cyil Nri as her manager Mikhail. Sophie Wu played Lyudmila, Pavel's wife, Kayla Meikle was Natalya, Semyon's wife, and Alexandra Dowling and Daniella Isaacs played the two servants Lipa and Dunya.

In a versatile set designed by Fly Davis, unusually making use of a curtain in this theatre, and allowing for multiple entrance points reminiscent of a farce, the fate of capitalism is played out in miniature as Vassa attepts to preserve the family fortunes from collapse in the face of her husband's imminent death, her brother-in-law's rapacity, and her sons' incompetence. Indeed the staging encourages a view that we are watching a farce, as people erupt on stage, having been eavesdropping at the doors, or else appearing totally unaware of the crisis into which they are plummeting. Vassa herself holds the stage (she is usually on stage) with imperious determination, and even in her absence most people are fearfully aware of her authority.

Hansard

by Simon Woods

seen by live streaming from the National Theatre (Lyttleton) on 7 November 2019

Simon Godwin directs Alex Jennings as Robin Hesketh (MP and junior Cabinet Minister) and Lindsay Duncan as his wife Diana in an intense drama which begins almost innocuously as social or political comedy set in May 1988, in the week that the Local Government Act including the notorious section 28 was passed into law.

Robin returns to the marital home in the Cotswolds on the Saturday morning after the crucial vote to find Diana still not dressed, and a familiar sparring begins in which it becomes clear that she has nothing but scorn for the role of politician's wife, and, even more difficult for her husband, little sympathy with Tory policy or the general outlook of her husband.  The arguments are presumably well worn in the house, but still engaged on both sides with some degree of passion mixed with the sort of resigned weariness that allows the audience to be amused.

Solaris

by David Greig from Stanislav Lem's novel

seen at the Lyric Theatre Hammersmith on 31 October 2019

Matthew Lutton directs Polly Frame as Dr Kris Kelvin, Keegan Joyce as Ray, Jade Ogugua as Dr Sartorius, Fode Simbo as Dr Snow and Hugo Weaving (on video) as Professor Gibarian in this new adaptation of the 1961 science fiction novel, which has been twice adapted for the cinema, in 1972 (Tarkovsky directing) and in 2002 (Soderberg directing, George Clooney starring). Actually, I also saw an intense and strange theatrical version presented at Nottingham University in 1980.

The premise of the story is that the members of a scientific expedition orbiting the planet Solaris have strange 'visitors', taking the form of people from their past lives, which are presumed to be the attempt of the vast planetary ocean to contact the humans. The play opens with the arrival of Dr Kelvin on the station; she has arrived after the death of her mentor Professor Gibarian, who has left her some tapes; only Drs Snow and Sartorius are left. Kris Kelvin's 'visitor' is a past lover, Ray, an attractive oceanographer whom she dated in her student days but later lost touch with. (In the book and films, Dr Kelvin is male, and his visitor female.)

Little Baby Jesus

by Arinzé Kene

seen at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, on 24 October 2019

Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu directs Anyebe Godwin as Kehinde, Rachel Nwokoro as Joanne and Khai Shaw as Rugrat in this intense three-hander about teenagers facing the challenge of growing into adulthood. the production is designed by Tara Usher

On a raised circle imitating school playground asphalt there are two chairs and three actors. As the audience arrives and settles the three are happily chatting to their public, singling out particular people for conversation, ranging around the four sides of seats. It's a risky gambit, preserving or establishing some sense of character without knowing quite what responses they will have to react to, but it is in line with the breezy self-confidence of youth, and the young actors seemed entirely at ease with the idea. Even the presence of at least two groups of school students in the audience did not appear to put them off their stride, and the students themselves enjoyed the repartee.

A Midsummer Night's Dream (again)

by William Shakespeare

seen by live streaming from the Bridge Theatre on 17 October 2019

Having so much enjoyed the production in August (see my review of 17 August 2019) I felt sure a second viewing in the cinema would not go amiss - this was actually a repeat of the original live streaming, also broadcast in August, as the production run has now finished.

It was a great pleasure to see this inventive and engaging production again. In this case, there were benefits to be gained from camera close-ups and varying points of view, though occasionally the editor's choices of shots were frustrating. But the pleasure of seeing some of the details in the performances of the actors more than outweighed the disadvantages of filming a live show. In particular, the roguishness of Puck, the gleeful pleasure Titania took in her machinations, and the besottedness of Oberon gained from a closer look at their facial expressions, while Theseus's initial intransigence was chillingly conveyed just by the intensity of his narrowed gaze at Hermia.

The hilarious comedy of Bottom especially among the Rude Mechanicals, and the weirdness of Puck, whose curling toes seemed to have a life of their own, were wonderfully in evidence in one of the great productions of this play.

Amsterdam

by Maya Arad Yasur translated by Eran Edry

seen at the Orange Tree Theatre on 10 October 2019

Matthew Xia directs Daniel Abelson, Fiston Barek, Michal Horowicz and Hara Yannas in a production designed by Naomi Kuyck-Cohen of Amsterdam, a play which explores facets of Jewish consciousness and experience during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands and in the present day. The rosy picture of Dutch resistance to Nazi anti-semitism is confounded by individual acts of betrayal; the prevalence of modern anti-semitism is complicated by the possible paranoia of a visiting Israeli violinist as she negotiates living in Amsterdam and coping with an insensitive bureaucracy. The two themes are linked by the fact that Dutch Jews returning to their properties after the Second World War (those that were able to) were presented with utility bills (including gas bills) unpaid in their absence, when these properties had often been used by occupying forces. The Israeli visitor, renting a flat, is presented with a bill plus penalties and interest, amounting to 1700 euros, unpaid for decades by the titular landlady, whom she never meets.

The Real Thing

by Tom Stoppard

seen at the Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House on 1 October 2019

Simon Philips directs Johnny Carr as Henry, Geraldine Hakewill as Annie, Charlie Garber as Max, Rachel Gordon as Charlotte, Shiv Palekar as Billy, Julia Robertson as Debbie and Dorje Swallow as Brodie in a Sydney Theatre Company (STC) production of Tom Stoppard's 1982 play about a brilliant playwright agonising about 'the real thing' - a loving relationship - and the problems of depicting it satisfactorily on stage.

Stoppard's earlier (and later) plays are noted for their verbal brilliance, technical craft, and concentration on intellectual not to say philosophical themes, at the expense of deeper emotional engagement and very thin roles for women. The Real Thing is in part a deliberate answer to the criticisms levelled at a presumed shallowness. The marriage between Henry, the playwright, and Charlotte, his actress wife, is shaky, and completely destabilised by the love affair between him and Annie, another actress; very soon they are living together and trying to negotiate the terms on which two passionate and articulate adults can co-exist.

Stoppard being Stoppard, the situation is not presented so straightforwardly, as there are several occasions on which scenes from plays are performed by (variously) Charlotte, Annie, Max (Annie's actor husband) and Billie (a young actor attracted to Annie); but it requires fierce attention on the part of the audience to disentangle some of these scenes from the 'reality' of Henry and Annie's story. (Of course the excerpt from 'Tis Pity She's a Whore is not so hard to spot, due to the Jacobean language.) But these interpolations are not merely meta-theatrical high-jinks: they also offer astute comments on the dramaturgical problems of representing human passions both honestly and interestingly, without compromising them. 

Henry himself is given to obsessive ruminations about the use of language and the respect owed to words in order to preserve the integrity of their meanings and hence ultimately of their speakers. It's easy to take this as Stoppard's own view, but he takes care to allow both Debbie, Henry and Charlotte's teenage daughter, and Annie herself to convey withering attacks on Henry's position, a potent reminder that surface brilliance is often superficial.

The cast handle the shifts of tone and the rigour of the language well, although I felt that the adoption of 'received English' pronunciation was at times laboured to the point of being overdone, especially in the early scenes. This affected the rhythm of the play, which really hit its stride only in the second half; but this might also mean that the audience itself had become more used to the style of the play by then. The set design by Charles Davis was masterly, allowing the smooth transition of scenes while not pre-judging what the actual setting was - the revolve revealed a series of rooms in which the cast played out both the 'real' lives of the characters, and the stage scenes many of them were performing.

Though the opening riff on the impermanence of digital watches now seems somewhat hard to fathom, many of the concerns voiced in a play of 1982 still resonate today; the revival was well worth producing, and the performances a pleasure to watch. As it happens, I last saw the play myself in 1985, in the same venue.