Seen in 2024

 I thought I had seen a lot in 2023 (26 plays in the previous post) but it turns out I saw 40 productions in 2024:

Masterclass by Brokentalkers and Adrienne Truscott on 12th January 2024 at the Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House. Skewering any number of tropes - toxic masculinity, intrusive interviewing, inappropriate behaviour while devising a show, and so forth - this rather weird piece originally seen at the Edinburgh Festival starts with a chat-show interview in which the interviewer is plainly wearing a ridiculous wig and the interviewee ("the perennial Mr Nasty of American theatre") is plainly a woman in drag. A scattergun approach left me somewhat bewildered.

Northanger Abbey by Zoe Cooper (based on Jane Austen's novel) on 25th January 2024 at the Orange Tree Theatre. A high-spirited adaptation of an early Austen novel which satirises the craze for Gothic novels by imagining its heroine attempting to navigate Bath society with only their conventions to guide her. Some of her back story is filled in with earthy detail (not at all Austen-like) and all parts are played, often with little attention to gender, by two women and one man (he plays Catherine's mother, including in a hectic birth scene). The high spirits complement the cool amusement of Austen's original tale.

Cold War by Conor McPherson (based on Paweł Pawlikowski's film) on 27th January 2024 at the Almeida Theatre. A poignant rendition of a very poignant film. Though some of the larger set-pieces of the film (the folkloric extravaganzas which essentially betrayed the authentic folk traditions at the behest of the Polish Communist Party) are inevitably not so splendid on a small stage, the overall storyline of betrayal and ultimate disillusionment is powerfully portrayed.

Othello by William Shakespeare on 30th January 2024 at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. Othello here is reimagined as taking place in a modern police state, and the lead character is played simultaneously by two actors, one almost entirely silent representing his subconscious impulses and feelings. The action takes place as a police procedural, emphasising the racism besetting this modern Othello, and also the general misogyny of the culture. A very striking interpretation of the play.

Macbeth by William Shakespeare on 8th February 2024 at the Donmar Warehouse. In order to emphasise the interiority of Macbeth's degeneration from trusted Thane to tyrannous King the audience was provided with headphones and the entire performance was delivered aurally through them - both the exterior dialogue and the powerfully intimate soliloquies. This device also enables the weird sisters and other supernatural events in the play to be present without being seen; furthermore members of the cast could be seen seated behind a screen where the musicians were also placed, on the occasions when the screen became transparent. The play was performed on a pristine white floor, slightly raised from its usual level, with almost no props. In the banqueting scene the guests sat around the edges of this floor as if it were a huge table. The murder of MacDuff's children was made more visceral by having Macbeth catch one of them as if in appalled regret at being childless himself, but still handing him over to be killed. It was notable that the violence in the play was almost entirely suggested until the final dispatch of the beleaguered Macbeth - only then was the white floor of the stage stained by an ever-spreading pool of blood.

The Duchess of Malfi by John Webster  on 22nd February 2024 at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. The play and the playhouse suit each other (it was written for indoor Jacobean performance) and this production made good use of the Sam Wanamaker's candlelit atmosphere, though perhaps the play's innate savagery was at times too much undercut by pointing up the comedy often so close to horror.

Player Kings adapted and directed by Robert Icke from the two parts of Shakespeare's Henry IV on 6th March 2024 at the New Wimbledon Theatre. Condensing two full plays into one long evening as a vehicle for Ian McKellan to tackle the role of Falstaff is ambitious and very demanding (later, in the West End run, the final performances had to be cancelled after McKellan actually fell off the stage into the front row of the audience). Played in modern dress, with Falstaff seedy from the start and transforming himself from wheeler-dealer to cynic to music hall turn, and making use of a cleverly versatile set including huge brick walls, the play sacrificed the historical sweep of the two plays (inevitably) and lessened the importance of Prince Hal's development, but gave full scope to Falstaff in all his grotesque glory.

The Human Body by Lucy Kirkwood on 14th March 2024 at the Donmar Warehouse. The inauguration of the National Health Service is the background to a domestic drama strongly reminiscent of Brief Encounter strongly linked to a political drama as the woman involved, a doctor like her husband, prepares to stand in the 1945 general election - having an affair thus imperils not only her marriage but her potential political career. The period was beautifully evoked, and the clash of social expectations and political idealism (and the husband's growing antipathy to the whole idea of the NHS) make for an invigorating drama.

Nye by Tim Price on 23rd March 2024 at the Olivier Theatre (National). A second play dealing with the foundation of the NHS, this time through the reminiscences of Aneurin Bevan (the architect of the service in the postwar Labour cabinet) as he lies in hospital dying of a stroke. Here, the political manoeuvring and  an insight into Bevan's past, including the dire state of medical provision in Wales during his childhood and adolescence, and his later career as both a local councillor and an MP. The slightly weird effect of Nye's appearance in all his scenes clad in hospital pyjamas emphasises the flashback structure of the play, but there is just too much material in Nye's life to be squashed effectively into a single play: too much exposition at the expense of a fully satisfactory dramatic shape.

Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov on 11th April 2024 at the Orange Tree Theatre. Trevor Nunn, at 84, directs this play for the first time and once again the Orange Tree proves its superb suitability for late nineteenth century domestic dramas - it is particularly apt for the claustrophobic ennui afflicting all the characters on this provincial Russian estate. By the time I saw the production the actor playing Vanya had had to withdraw, and we were warned that his replacement would be using a script - but in fact he had been playing the part for a fortnight or so and had it completely under control, while the rest of the cast had adjusted accordingly. It was fascinating to see the play done with a full cast, and in period dress, only a few months after witnessing Andrew Scott's bravura solo performance in Vanya.

Love's Labour's Lost by William Shakespeare on 25th April 2024 at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre Stratford-upon-Avon. A fizzing but very wordy early Shakespearean comedy given a cleverly updated twist by setting it on a Pacific island (rather than a non-realistic "Navarre") - there is an intriguing undercurrent of resentment on the part of the ladies as they clearly are part of the local aristocracy whereas the ridiculous boys are foreigners on holiday. The modern setting allows the potentially tedious wordplay and Elizabethan stock comedy characters to take on new life, with some judicious songs and a fabulous revolving set.

Long Day's Journey into Night by Eugene O'Neill on 15th May 2024 at Wyndhams Theatre. A powerful version of this often gruelling play with Brian Cox as the overbearing father and husband and Patricia Clarkson as his morphine-addicted wife. Though I have found the fraternal tensions more harrowing in other productions, Clarkson's portrayal of Mary here is the most devastating I have seen.

The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov on 16th May 2024 at the Donmar Warehouse. Where the Orange Tree's Uncle Vanya had its audience on all four sides witnessing a period setting, here at the Donmar the audience on three sides was almost part of the action in a less realistic set - the floor and back wall were apparently one gigantic richly red patterned carpet, and actors sat amongst the audience when not required on stage, while some members of the audience "became" props or items of furniture. The demise of the family estate in the play's last act was rendered not by the sound of cherry trees being cut down, but rather by the destruction of this rich visual backdrop and floor. Yet further proof of Chekhov's brilliance as a playwright.

Bluets by Margaret Perry based on Maggie Nelson's book on 22nd June 2024 at the Royal Court Theatre. Katie Mitchell directs in her trademark style of creating a live movie projected onto a screen as her actors (in this case two women and a man) manipulate themselves, their props and a video camera each. In this production, the three never interact on the stage: each is in a separate booth, and assisted by anonymous stage hands when props need adjusting or to be moved about. The overall effect is somewhat disjointed; my attention shifted from being interested in how the effects were made to watching the final result on the screen, making it hard to concentrate on the text (itself non-dramatic and often very poetic). The technique was startling in Mitchell's early productions (for instance The Oresteia in 2000 or Waves in 2006) but is perhaps wearing a bit thin.

The Caretaker by Harold Pinter on 28th June 2024 at the Minerva Theatre Chichester. Ian McDiarmid stars as Davies with Jack Biddeford as Mick and Adam Gillen as Aston in this bleak yet often comic play by Pinter. Although it is one of his most famous, this is the first production that I have seen and it was very impressive; McDiarmid always a joy to watch, and the other two excellent foils for him and for each other. Aston's long monologue explaining himself was mesmerising, and the dingy flat in which all three were jockeying for dominance was horribly seedy.

Suite in Three Keys by Noël Coward on 4th July 2024 at the Orange Tree Theatre. Three short(ish) plays intended by Coward to be viewed as a trilogy have been split into two and one; I saw then in a matinee and evening on the same day. Four actors take all the parts; each play set in the same hotel suite concerns two women and a man (with a recurring waiter) and in each a marriage is under serious strain. Dark comedy veers towards poignant tragedy as Coward ranges over all sorts of deceptions, social hypocrisies and devastated lives: wonderful stuff.

Miss Julie by August Strindberg on 6th July 2024 at the Park Theatre (Finsbury Park). A bruising 75 minutes of heightened and transgressive emotions as the young lady of the house takes up with the ambitious and resentful valet while his fiancée has to witness the liaison. In a small acting space there is nowhere to hide but the heated emotions were perhaps not as overwhelming as they need to be to satisfy Strindberg's intention to shock.

Mnemonic by Simon McBurney on 6th July 2024 at the Olivier Theatre (National). Not content with being in London for such a short play at Finsbury Park in the afternoon, I bought a ticket for Mnemonic on spec having read a review. It's a re-imagining (not directly a revival) of McBurney's 1999 play in which the puzzle of a missing lover is blended with the excitement of finding an ancient corpse buried in the Alpine ice. Complicité's house style of extraordinary visual and aural effects is deployed to maximum effect, which just about manages to tie the two storylines and the more rarified disquisitions on the nature and perils of memory together.

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare on 11th July 2024 in various locations around Guildford. The Guildford Shakespeare Company presented another innovative summer production by staging the first half of the play in various locations around and in Guildford High Street, and the second half in the Castle Gardens. As I attended a matinee one of the scenes usually staged in a shopping mall was relegated to the street, but ordinary shoppers and passers-by were a little surprised to discover the famous balcony scene occurring across the breadth of the (pedestrianised) high street. The company had also called on the services of several school drama groups (in rotation) to supply members of the Montague and Capulet gangs who enjoyed themselves mooching around street corners and spoiling for fights.

Present Laughter by Noël Coward on 23rd July 2024, a screening of the Old Vic's 2019 production. I decided to see this again having enjoyed it so much in the theatre five years before (see the review of 31st July 2019). It is a wonderful production, but the histrionics pitched so accurately for a stage performance were perhaps too over the top in a cinema. Also, very few people came to see this screening, which meant that the collective laughter of an audience was almost entirely lacking.

The Promise by Paul Unwin on 27th July 2024 at the Minerva Theatre Chichester. A third play looking at the momentous change of government in 1945, this time concentrating on the left-wing firebrand Ellen Wilkinson and the general challenges faced by the incoming Labour government after the war years. Once again the sheer quantity of significant and dramatic events threatens to swamp a play trying to do too many of them justice, but there were powerful moments and many resonances with the current situation in Britain. On an open thrust stage the many set changes were managed with an inventive use of projections on a back wall punctured by several doors, and a series of platforms which emerged and disappeared bearing the relevant furniture (and characters).

Richard III by William Shakespeare on 31st July 2024 at Shakespeare's Globe. With arguments floating around as to whether Richard should now be played by an actor with the relevant disability, this production was bound to raise eyebrows by casting women in most of the parts, including Michelle Terry in the lead. As so often, the hectic online discussions (beginning with the announcement of the cast, not the actual staging of the play) could be safely ignored in favour of actually going to see the production to judge for oneself. The interesting thing was not the disability (hardly mentioned or emphasised) but the shifting dynamic of having all the parts except the ultimately victorious Richmond played by women. It worked well and created a satisfying version of the play.

Red Speedo by Lucas Hnath on 1st August 2024 at the Orange Tree Theatre. Partly staged now with an eye on the Paris Olympics, this 2013 play deals with the fallout when performance enhancing drugs are found in the swimming club where Ray, an Olympic hopeful, is being coached. Sparks fly between Ray's brother/manager who is also an over-articulate lawyer, the Coach, Ray's ex-girlfriend, and Ray himself, and there are surprising revelations in store as the situation is clarified for the audience. In the unsparing space of the Orange Tree a small part of the swimming pool is installed, and Ray throughout wears only the titular red speedos, a perhaps daunting demand for the young actor's stage debut. A climactic fight scene therefore requires expert choreography.

Oliver! by Lionel Bart based on Charles Dickens's novel Oliver Twist on 2nd August at the Chichester Festival Theatre. A new revival of the classic 1960 musical, scaling down somewhat from the previous more extravagant version of a few years ago, even though still overseen by Cameron Mackintosh. A welcome chance to revisit a musical with memorable melodies and sparky lyrics, the first half in particular full of energy and delight. It's noticeable that in the second half the character of Oliver himself fades into the background with little to do except be a victim in the emerging dark tale of Nancy and Bill Sykes. In a non-proscenium theatre the staging made excellent use of concentric revolves and a huge clutter of stuff.

Hello Dolly! by Jerry Herman and Michael Stewart based on a play by Thornton Wilder, on 7th August 2024 at the London Palladium. Another revival of a famous 1960s musical (this time from 1964, with a memorable 1969 Barbra Streisand film probably fixed in many people's memories), here presented as a vehicle for the indomitable Imelda Staunton. Having missed her celebrated performance in Gypsy a few years ago, and never having been to the famous London Palladium before, I decided I needed to see this, and I was not disappointed. It was cleverly staged and thoroughly entertaining. But the Palladium is vast and a seat in the centre of a stalls row awkward to reach and constricted to sit in.

The Real Thing by Tom Stoppard on 30th September 2024 at the Old Vic. Stoppard's fizzy play about relationships, trust, art and passion from 1982 is here revived with some modifications (apparently) toning down a few remarks that would now seem distractingly objectionable. Even so, Henry, the principal character, is often pompous and verbose, but engaging in James McArdle's hands. Some of what would have immediately raised a laugh in the 1980s now sounds rather dated and must have been incomprehensible to younger audience members, which meant that there was more respectful silence than I expected as the play got going, but Stoppard's theatrical skill soon won the audience over.

Here in America by David Edgar on 2nd October 2024 at the Orange Tree Theatre. The painful and immensely damaging impact of the red scare in 1950s America broke friendships, ruined careers and damaged minds across the board. The artistic community was as much a victim as any other, with the result that there were high-profile hearings and subpoenas involving the Hollywood community, and many articulate people to brood on the affair for years afterwards. In this instance, Elia Kazan and Arthur Miller, once friends, reacted differently under pressure from the HUAC, and now argue and have to face their consciences and each other's criticisms. The play is very wordy and there's too much initial exposition delivered by ostensible friends who would never have such conversations, but the issues are important, and the characters complex. However, one feels that these issues have been so much more powerfully rendered in the work of Miller particularly (famously in The Crucible), and there is a slight sense of the theatre feeding on itself (see also The Motive and the Cue).

Oedipus by Sophocles in a version by Robert Icke on 26th October 2024 at Wyndham's Theatre. Mark Strong and Lesley Manville - a power couple if ever there was one - deliver stunning performances in this modern take on a drama that has dazzled for 2500 years. Here Oedipus is a powerful political leader, not a king, and the drama unfolds in his campaign room on election night. The more one knows the original story the more disquieting is the behaviour of the family (acting of course in all innocence, but, to us, presaging future trouble). With Robert Icke's trademark brilliance at revisiting the classics, this was an electrifying production with the horror at its heart still viscerally convincing.

Guards at the Taj by Rajiv Joseph on 31st October 2024 at the Orange Tree Theatre. The director Adam Karim is this year's JMK Award winner; the play is an intriguing two-hander about two young men, lifelong friends, employed as guards during the building of the Taj Mahal (they are lowly, so only at the outer precincts) who are then tasked with chopping off the hands of all the workmen so that nothing so beautiful can be constructed again. (This is a myth, and so perhaps an odd basis on which to build a play ostensibly realistic). The easy chatting of the friends, and the riffs of the more imaginative one, buckle under the horror of what they have felt obliged to do; the poignancy of their friendship is beautifully evoked amidst the carnage.

Bellringers by Daisy Hall on 2nd November at Hampstead Theatre. Curiously, another play about two lifelong friends in an impossibly stressful situation, this time as bellringers in a small Oxfordshire village whose turn it is to ring the bells in the face of an approaching thunderstorm (apparently, this will mitigate its savagery). The peculiar intensity of their situation places the story uneasily between modern climate catastrophe and medieval folk legend - the two are dressed in cassocks, but have mobile phones; the efficacy of bellringing seems even to them be unlikely, yet they convince themselves that they must perform their task despite the fact that others before them have been electrocuted with no effect on the weather. It's a bit weird, but the friendship is powerfully portrayed.

Birdsong by Rachel Wagstaff based on the novel by Sebastian Faulks, on 5th November 2024 at the Chichester Festival Theatre. A young man researching his great-uncle's role in the First World War; a young businessman comes to rural France and begins an affair with his host's wife (cruelly treated by all) in the early twentieth century; the horrors of the Western Front, particularly for the sappers mining under the trenches and hoping to avoid counter-mines bay the Germans: it's a heady and at times sprawling brew. Though it's a compelling production, I thought that the adaptation of a novel into a play had once again not entirely worked (I haven't read the novel): too much was being shoe-horned into one evening.

The Fear of 13 by Lindsey Ferrentino on 7th November 2024 at the Donmar Warehouse. An opportunity for the American screen actor Adrien Brody to make his West End debut, this play explores the real-life predicament of a man sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit, who then spent over twenty years on death row until finally he was exonerated and released. Nick, the unfortunate inmate, narrates much of the story, and we gradually become aware that he is fatefully a gifted storyteller who learned early to disguise trauma with deflecting explanations, but did not learn to know when these would be damagingly inappropriate. Set largely in his prison, with visits from an increasingly sympathetic lawyer whom he eventually marries while still incarcerated (it doesn't last: a reminder that this is not a feel-good story), the play doesn't entirely succeed in convincing us of the timespan involved, though Brody's performance increases in power as more and more of the characters backstory becomes clear.

Coriolanus by William Shakespeare on 9th November 2024 at the Olivier Theatre (National). David Oyewolo gives a commanding performance as Caius Martius who becomes the titular Coriolanus during the course of the play; he is matched by his imperious mother (Pamela Nomvete). In a temporally indeterminate setting making full use of the large Olivier stage the drama of his stubborn refusal to play the political game even though he wants political office veers between elitist arrogance on his part and sly dealing on the part of the cynical tribunes. The violence threatened by Rome's enemies is a constant backdrop forgotten by the politicians until Coriolanus himself defects. The production traced these developments with assured stagecraft, and the verse was compellingly and clearly spoken.

Giant by Mark Rosenblatt on 14th November 2024 at the Royal Court Theatre. John Lithgow puts in a formidable performance as the writer Roald Dahl, revealed here to be a monster when it suits him, though occasionally playful and sympathetic as well. It is 1982 and he has written an explosive book review in passing condemning Israel for its actions in Lebanon (he often drew attention to the plight of the Lebanese and Palestinians). His publishers - in particular his American publishers - see the need for a damage limitation exercise, but he is in no mood to apologise; his patrician evasiveness when accused directly of anti-semitism only lasts so long, and after the interval he becomes increasingly vituperative and manipulative. It's a hard hitting play, rendered all the more provocative in the face of the current crisis in Gaza and Lebanon, and the emotional power of the various confrontations led to palpable shock and muted silence in the auditorium even during the interval. How does one deal with a beloved author who is revealed as being extremely unpleasant?

All's Well that Ends Well by William Shakespeare on 23rd November 2024 at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. A 'problem comedy' in which Helena extracts a promise from the French king that he will allow her to choose her husband if she successfully cures him, and then selects Bertram, the son of her benefactor, who only regards her as little more than a servant favoured by his mother. There is an 'impossible condition' by which he will recognise her as his wife: she must sleep with him and wear his ring, neither of which he will allow to happen; he goes off to the wars. By means of a bed trick, Helen wins her man - but is this satisfactory? How can it be with such distaste on his part and such manipulation on hers? Generally, Bertram looks irredeemably callow and Helen too singleminded. There is a fellow soldier Paroles who is worldly-wise and later revealed to be utterly cowardly: how is this a comedy? Intriguingly in this production complexities in all the characters abound, allowing both sympathy for and reservations about all of them - even Paroles; even Bertram. The ending remains ambivalent, as perhaps nowadays it must, as we no longer assume that marriage is a happy end.

The Forsyte Saga: Part 1 Irene and Part 2 Fleur by Shaun McKenna and Lin Coghlan based on John Galsworthy's novels, on 28th November 2024 at the Park Theatre (Finsbury Park). Two substantial plays to encompass six lengthy novels (and one short story) in which Galsworthy developed a family saga over a forty-year period (the1880s to the 1920s) famously adapted in a 26-part TV serial in 1967 (and a shorter serial in 2002). These authors, who created a radio adaptation more recently, have devised a stunning theatrical version. Where the leisurely older TV series evoked the period(s) replete with furnishings, even though on what even then was a small budget, on the stage in Finsbury Park everything was evoked by costume and lighting alone with a few chairs occasionally in use. Nine actors took all the parts, relying on visual cues to keep clear who was who. As a framing device, it is the vivacious (not to say intensely annoying) Fleur who provides the necessary exposition as it is imagined that she is researching family history to try to discover the causes of the great Forsyte feud. (A good many tangential stories are quietly passed over.) It was all brilliantly done, and immensely satisfying to see the two parts on one day. Complete strangers in the audience could be heard announcing their loyalties either to Irene or to Soames, just as occurred almost sixty years ago when the 'man of property' asserted his rights on television.

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde on 29th November 2024 at the Lyttleton Theatre (National). A very famous play, with some lines indelibly associated with a very famous actress: how will a revival work? With a stunningly unexpected opening scene in which Algernon (Ncuti Gatwa) appears in drag, raising all sorts of misgivings about the likely trajectory of the production as a whole, matters soon settle into a more orthodox late Victorian setting and Oscar Wilde's cut glass dialogue unfolds beautifully, with only a few unwelcome tweaks to create modern in-jokes which are not really required. With Ncuti Gate hugely enjoying himself as Algernon, Jack Skinner as a suitable earnest Jack, and Sharon D Clarke as a memorable Caribbean Lady Bracknell, the comedy is hugely entertaining.

Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare on 5th December 2024 at the Orange Tree Theatre. Set just after the Second World War, so that it can be imagined that Olivia is mourning the death of her brother in wartime action (the cause of his death is never specified in the play), this production beautifully evokes the melancholy against which romantic feelings once again burst forth. In the small acting space everything looked potentially even more constrained by the presence of a baby grand piano in the centre of the stage; during the performance this slowly revolved while Feste sat and provided all the musical accompaniment in addition to renditions of the songs in the text (Stefan Bednarczyk composed the music as well as performing it and taking the part of Feste). Everyone else circled the piano, occasionally leaning on it; for the gulling of Malvolio the conspirators sat among the audience. There was recognition that not only Malvolio is disheartened at the end (both Sir Andrew Aguecheek and Antonio are disappointed too) though he remains the most intransigent. A lovely production.

Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 by Dave Malloy on 14th December 2024 at the Donmar Warehouse. Taking just the short episode from Tolstoy's War and Peace in which Natasha Rostov disastrously breaks off her engagement to the now-absent Prince Andrei in favour of the cad Anatole Kuragin, this high-energy musical mixes modern dress and slang with early nineteenth-century Russian domestic drama to invigorating effect - but the richness of Tolstoy's vision, and his pitch-perfect evocation of the aristocratic society to which he was an heir, both suffer somewhat under the assault. It is wise to have concentrated on only a small part of the epic, but even so there is a lot of ground to cover, and the arrival of the comet seems to be an afterthought simply to allow there to be a slightly kooky title. The opening number, introducing the characters, was to my mind the most successful, but clearly I am still steeped in the melodiousness of the musicals of my childhood; in this play there were no memorable tunes.

Seen in 2023

 Continuing my catch-up account of plays seen and not reviewed in detail, here are the productions I saw in 2023:

Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare on 5th January 2023 at Bella Vista Farm, Sydney. An open-air production played in front of the historic farmhouse with a genial warning that the opening scenes might be overwhelmed by birdsong until the twilight set in (they were).

Blue by Thomas Weatherall on 15th January 2023 at the Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney. An assured monologue written and performed by the young Thomas Weatherall (22 at the time) as a 'very personal fiction', portraying the development of Mark as he and his mother exchange letters because it is easier than meeting face to face after family trauma and Mark's consequent depression. Themes of loss and anxiety which to me seemed all too applicable to any young person are, according to the friend who attended the performance with me, statistically more prevalent among the indigenous community, of which Weatherall is a member, although I viewed Mark's experiences as more universal than indigenous. The play was gripping, by turns entertaining and moving, showing great skill in both writing and performance.

Watch on the Rhine by Lillian Hellman on 26th January 2023 at the Donmar Warehouse. A fine revival of the 1941 play in which the daughter of a wealthy Washington DC family returns home after years in Germany, with her German husband and three children in tow. It transpires that they are in fact refugees, so that elements of social comedy collide with impassioned political points - Hellman's attempt to alert her American audience to the perils of doing nothing about the Nazi menace.

Richard II  by William Shakespeare on 15th February 2023 at Holy Trinity Church Guildford. The Guildford Shakespeare Company presented Richard II in their winter venue; it was possible to sit at tea tables while the performance took place in various parts of the nave of the church. In modern dress the play still packed a punch: the examination of failed leadership and political machinations is timeless.

Duet for One by Tom Kempinski on 23rd February 2023 at the Orange Tree Theatre. A violinist (Tara Fitzgerald) struck by multiple sclerosis attends sessions with a psychiatrist (Maureen Beattie) in an effort to deal with the crisis. Earlier productions had a male psychiatrist, so the dynamics are shifted here, but the play, which sounds very schematic, is very compelling to watch. Inevitably one thinks of the cellist Jacqueline du Pré, similarly afflicted, though the playwright disavowed the connection (or inspiration). In the intimate space of the Orange Tree, with the stage slowly revolving to ease the sight-lines for the audience, the battle of wills between the two women, the psychiatrist patiently waiting for emotional honesty and fielding all the diversionary tactics the violinist can throw at her, is utterly engrossing.

Romeo and Julie by Gary Owen on 15th March 2023 at the Dorfman Theatre (National). Only loosely connected to the Shakespeare play, in that the titular protagonists are teenage lovers, this play takes place in Splott, the working-class area of Cardiff, where Romeo is a struggling teenage dad and Julie, who takes up with him and falls pregnant herself, aspires to escape from Splott and study astrophysics at Cambridge. The strains in their lives, exacerbated by poverty and familial pressures, make for grim bleakness shot through with tenderness and resilience; the tragedy of the Shakespearean original is averted.

Phaedra by Simon Stone (based on Euripides, Seneca and Racine) on 29th March 2023 at the Lyttleton Theatre (National). Transported to the present day with re-named characters, Helen (Janet McTeer) falls in love with the son of her former and now deceased Moroccan lover. The bare bones of the Phaedra myth (ungovernable passion for a stepson leading to catastrophe) are thus maintained, but also somewhat subverted by themes of cross-cultural exploitation and complicated but somehow quite ,modern family dynamics. All the action was enclosed in a large revolving box, showing various rooms in Helen's comfortable home but eventually leading to the Moroccan desert. In a curious feature, several characters often spoke at once. Though this may well happen in heated family discussions or arguments, it is a risky manoeuvre in the theatre when one expects to be able to hear all the characters clearly. Surely it was all too easy to miss something important through trying to guess which voice to follow.

A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams on 29th April 2023 at the Phoenix Theatre (transferred from the Almeida). The big drawcard in this production was the actor Paul Mescal in the role of Stanley; Patsy Fernan stepped in to play Blanche even at the Almeida after Lydia Wilson had to withdraw due to injury. The production would definitely have been better seen at the Almeida, a more intimate setting and one for which the soundscape in particular would have been more suitable. In a larger and more conventional proscenium arch theatre the musical and percussion accompaniments were too distracting as they too often swamped the actors. In its West End home it all made for a too-distanced experience of the raw passions erupting throughout the play, which was a shame since the performances were clearly very strong.

The Circle by Somerset Maugham on 11th May 2023 at the Orange Tree Theatre. Tom Littler, the new artistic director of the Orange Tree, here continues its fine tradition of reviving neglected classics from the early part of the twentieth century, in this case a poised comedy of manners with cynical, or at least worldly-wise, undercurrents of dissatisfaction with conventional social and marital relations. Waspish, amusing, and surprising in its twists and turns, this was well worth seeing.

Private Lives by Noel Coward on 25th May 2023 at the Donmar Warehouse. My third Private Lives, having seen Anton Lesser and Juliet Stevenson (excellent) at the National in 1999 and Alan Rickman and Lindsey Duncan (sensational) in the West End in 2001. Here Stephen Mangan and Rachel Stirling play Elyot and Amanda in Coward's brittle comedy with its disturbingly violent undertones. The first act, in which the divorced couple find themselves on adjoining hotel balconies on their respective honeymoons with new partners, is a little muted by having these balconies at the back of the stage, but the whole acting area is fully used in the second and third acts which erupt into spectacular chaos and recrimination in a Paris apartment. The formal poise of the conception is perhaps unbalanced by the level of violence teetering on abuse in this version, but it was a fine production.

When Winston Went to War with the Wireless by Jack Thorne on 29th June 2023 at the Donmar Warehouse. A play concerning the struggle between Winston Churchill (then Chancellor of the Exchequer) representing Stanley Baldwin's government and John Reith, at the helm of the British Broadcasting Company (soon to become a Corporation), during the General Strike in 1926. The play graphically illustrates the fact that the BBC has been subject to government pressure since its inception, as Reith sought to preserve Olympian impartiality while the government was always toying with the idea that the BBC should be a state-sponsored broadcaster. Churchill in the play is his usual bombastic self, but much time is also spent on Reith's background and personal struggles; Churchill is not really the main focus. The play is cleverly staged, with many sound effects created by the actors using props from a typical press-room of the time (typewriters, phones, etc), but it suffers from needing an enormous amount of exposition in order to familiarise a modern audience with details of the characters and the historical period - more of a dramatised documentary with added human interest than a fully fledged play.

The Motive and the Cue by Jack Thorne on 1st July 2023 at the Lyttleton Theatre (National). The prolific Jack Thorne has here another history-as-drama play (and he's also partly responsible for the script of the long-running Harry Potter play as well). This time we are looking at the preparation of a Broadway production of Hamlet to be directed by John Gielgud (Mark Gatiss) and starring Richard Burton (Johnny Flynn) - 'a classicist wanting to be modern and a modern wanting to be a classicist' according to Elizabeth Taylor (Tuppence Middleton). The whole thing risks being self-indulgent - a play in which actors are playing actors rehearsing to be characters in a play - but it is saved by the excellence of the cast and the intrinsic interest of the unlikely collaboration between two such famous men. Inevitably, as much of the play concentrates on the rehearsal process and the personal demons of Gielgud and Burton, Elizabeth Taylor is rather sidelined, which in real life is almost impossible to imagine.

The Swell by Isley Lynn on 6th July 2023 at the Orange Tree Theatre. Bel and Annie are engaged, and Annie's friend the volatile Flo comes to visit. Years later, with different actors playing the parts, Bel and Flo are together and Annie is the outsider; the narrative strands are woven together as each trio takes the story forward by turns. Part of the drive is the question of why Bel has shifted her allegiance from one friend to the other, but throughout the play the challenges of love and commitment are explored with acute intelligence and insight.

Frank and Percy by Ben Weatherill on 13th July 2023 at Theatre Royal, Windsor. A chance to see Ian McKellen  (Percy) and Roger Allan (Frank) in a whimsical two-hander in which the older gay man meets the younger widower while they walk their dogs on Hampstead Heath. Both sparks and tenderness fly as the idea of romance for older people is given the attention it deserves.

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare on 22nd July 2023 at the Almeida Theatre. Rebecca Frecknall, fresh from her re-imagining of A Streetcar Named Desire, turns her attention to this classic and provides a modern dress and fast paced version in which many characters seem to be mute witnesses of scenes for which they are usually off-stage - but their presence is zombie-like, not as if they are actually present to the speaking characters. This gives a sense of edginess and urgency, and highlights the incipient violence of the Montague/Capulet feud and the headlong rush of events: a fine energy prevails.

As You Like It by William Shakespeare on 29th July 2023 at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon. In this intriguing RSC production it is imagined that the cast are meeting forty years after they first performed the play (except of course for the oldest member who would have been more than a centenarian by now) in order to rehearse it again. This means that a play usually imagined to be about young people is being performed by a much older cast in their sixties or seventies. Quixotic idea on paper, but in practice in worked surprisingly well, not least because the verse-speaking was a pure joy to listen to. Clearly the training in verse speaking has suffered in the past forty years as too many younger actors are too much attuned to television 'realist' work in which they mumble in the modern style.

Brokeback Mountain by Ashley Robinson based on E. Annie Proulx's short story, on 3rd August 2023 at @sohoplace Theatre. Distilled into an intense 90 minutes the heartrending story of Ennis (Lucas Hedges) and Jack (Michael Faist) from their teenage passions to their closeted adult lives is eloquently performed in one of London's newest acting spaces. The two young actors from the US are the drawcards having made strong impressions in various films (notably, for my part, in Manchester by the Sea for Hedges and the new West Side Story for Faist). They play well together throughout, and the conclusion is no less devastating for being well-known on account of the film (and the original story of course).

Guys and Dolls by Frank Loesser et al on 11th August 2023 at the Bridge Theatre. A hugely entertaining revival of the classic musical based on Damon Runyon's stories, in which the Bridge Theatre has once again proved its versatility in providing a promenade experience for those wishing to be more participative. Rostra rise and fall throughout the evening as the story moves from cafe to bar to revival hall, and the musical numbers are delivered with huge energy and flair. I'm not sure now at the time of writing whether I saw the original cast, but the scheduled run until early September had already been extended and in fact, with several cast changes, it has been running at the Bridge until the end of 2024.

Vanya by Anton Chekhov on 29th August 2023 at the Theatre Royal Richmond. Andrew Scott gave a tour de force performance of this adaptation in which he took all the parts. Astonishingly, it was always clear when he shifted from one character to another, and the stifling atmosphere enfolding both Vanya and his niece Sonya was no less powerful for being placed in a bare modern space. Occasionally the sheer versatility involved becomes distracting, and some choices may seem excessive, but in the hands of a consummate actor such as Scott the experiment is fascinating.

Next to Normal by Brian Yorkey (book and lyrics) and Tom Kitt (music) on 7th September 2023 at the Donmar Warehouse. A powerful musical about the often misunderstood subject of bipolar disorder, this production was both exuberant and poignant. The Goodman family appears 'normal' at first, but Diana, the mother, is revealed to be suffering from bipolar disorder, having to face the dilemmas surrounding the options for treatment and/or medication, while other members of the family find their coping mechanisms under increasing strain. A pivotal revelation of family history recasts the whole story in a new light and leads Dan, the father, to a hugely moving new challenge. The cast managed the dizzying turns of mood and the complexity of handling such a difficult subject sympathetically through the music, with great skill.

That Face by Polly Stenham on 5th October 2023 at the Orange Tree Theatre. Another dysfunctional family with a mother mired in addiction and despair, and her two children damaged and bewildered - it's hard to watch but brilliantly acted in the intimate space of the Orange Tree.

Clyde's by Lynn Nottage on 26th October 2023 at the Donmar Warehouse. Clyde's is an unprepossessing sandwich bar in a down-at-heels part of Pennsylvania, which the fearsome manager Clyde rules in a reign of terror: her staff are released prisoners, which means she can control their destiny to keep them in line. A long-term employee is constantly pestering her to improve the quality and variety of the food, but she will have none of it; he sees the devising of the perfect sandwich as a means of redemption for his colleagues. In typical American style, the play is loaded with significance, but the execution carries the weight effortlessly.

Hamnet by Lolita Chakrarbarti based on Maggie O'Farrell's novel, on 1st November 2023 at the Garrick Theatre London (transferred from the Swan at Stratford). The novel evokes the short life and premature death of Shakespeare's son Hamnet (who died in 1596 at the age of 11), and also features the boy's mother Agnes (better known as Anne Hathaway). The narrative voice closely following both these people is extraordinary but is almost entirely missing from the stage adaptation; the decision to have Shakespeare's young children played by adults (or at least young actors too old for their parts) further dissipates the intensity of the crisis. In order to cover the story of Will's and Agnes's courtship, the fate of their son, and their differing experiences of grief, the play loses focus and becomes too expository and episodic. One can understand the RSC's interest in commissioning and producing the piece, but I felt that reading the novel was a far superior experience.

She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith on 23rd November 2023 at the Orange Tree Theatre. Given a 1930's Christmas setting this sparkling comedy is a delight to witness; Tom Littler has taken to the Orange Tree's distinctive ethos with great aplomb in his first season as artistic director. The ludicrous misunderstandings and hesitancies of the original, and the mixture of boorish and mercurial characters, transposes well to the new setting, proving that not only Shakespearean classics can flourish in having their period settings re-imagined.

Ghosts by Henrik Ibsen on 29th November 2023 at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. The famously candle-lit playhouse attached to Shakespeare's Globe in Southwark would seem to be the ideal space for Ibsen's claustrophobic drama of a mother and son crushed by events in their pasts, but the intensity of the piece was slightly dissipated by the sometimes heavy-handed directorial decisions of this production - the language sometimes too colloquial, the vivid scarlet carpet too symbolic. I have seen two other productions which packed more punch - one in Sydney in the 1980s and one at the Almeida in 2013.

My Neighbour Totorro by Tom Morton-Smith adapted from the Japanese animated film, on 30th November 2023 at the Barbican Theatre. I missed this stunning production from the RSC during its first London appearance a year ago (and it is now running again at the end of 2024), but on the advice of some relatives who had seen it I decided to see for myself in what turned out to be my last theatre visit of 2023. It is a brilliant piece of stage work bringing an unfamiliar aesthetic to life in the form of a folk tale happening to modern Japanese children. Beautifully staged with magical theatrical effects, it was a wonderfully satisfying treat. 

Apology for a long silence

It has been just over thirty months since I last posted a theatre review. Unfortunately I failed to maintain my custom of writing a review within a couple of days of seeing a play, and the number of unwritten reviews escalated quickly, making the task seem ever more formidable. 

With apologies for the resultant brevity, here is a brief account of what I saw in the remainder of 2022 since the last post in June of that year. Subsequent posts will deal with 2023 and 2024.

It's most likely that the email notifying you of this post will not contain the full text, so I recommend following the link to read everything (if you are still interested).

Oklahoma! on 25th June 2022 at the Young Vic. This was a fascinating re-imagining of the classic Rogers and Hammerstein musical, in which the characters of the story made their own music, with a small band on stage and the actors themselves replacing the usual lush orchestra of a Broadway/West End musical. From the moment when Curly's tuning of his guitar morphed into the opening chords of 'Oh, What a Beautiful Morning' there was a special atmosphere of excitement about the whole enterprise. The production also saw the raunchiest Ado Annie and the most handsome Judd one is ever likely to see. The food and drinks for the various social occasions were prepared onstage by the cast, but the party atmosphere was offset by a constant reminder that life was hard, family dynamics could be oppressive, and guns were everywhere. The dream sequence in the second act, always problematic, was perhaps the least successful segment of the show, which was otherwise a revelation.

The False Servant by Pierre Marivaux on 30th June 2022 at the Orange Tree Theatre. A witty and cynical look at human relationships with trickery, disguise and deception at its heart. The French style of comedy is something of an acquired taste, the poise and rhetorical flourishes of the language often seeming too ornate and lacking in emotional depth to an English audience.

The Southbury Child by Stephen Beresford on 6th July 2022 at the Bridge Theatre. A probing play in which a vicar's refusal to accommodate a grieving family's plans for their child's funeral exposes a wide range of social prejudices and moral quandaries. Excellent performances by Alex Jennings and Phoebe Nicholls as the vicar and his wife in a play that does not quite deliver on its initial promise.

A Doll's House Part 2 by Lucas Hnath on 14th July 2022 at the Donmar Warehouse. Does Nora ever return to the family home after the notorious slamming of the front door at the conclusion of Ibsen's play? Lucas Hnath imagines the return of a successful woman many years later when Nora faces more bruising encounters with the family and household she left behind. The production opened with the house dominating the stage; it was literally drawn up into the fly area to reveal the acting area. The play amazingly managed to introduce new dilemmas which were plausibly just like those deployed by Ibsen himself, but it was strange to witness characters in full nineteenth century dress cursing and swearing in a very modern way.

The Tempest by William Shakespeare on 20th July 2022 in Stoke Park, Guildford. The Guildford Shakespeare Company presented an open-air production in various locations in Stoke Park. We were seated in front of an acting area which allowed the staging of the opening tempest and an indication of Prospero's dwelling, but we were instructed to walk to different locations in the park to visit Caliban, Stephano and Trinculo, and the shipwrecked courtiers. In a daring move these scenes were acted concurrently three times over, with the audience split by badges handed out on arrival to watch them in assorted order. It so happened that I saw them in the order of the text, but it clearly worked in any sequence. In the second half, in the late summer twilight, we were back on our seats just as the heavens opened (plastic ponchos available at the bar). Half the audience on this evening were schoolchildren who were entranced, with no complaints or restlessness despite the rain, a sure sign that the production was a success.

South Pacific on 17th August 2022 at Sadlers Wells. Another Rogers and Hammerstein classic performed on more traditional lines than Oklahoma! and very enjoyably so despite its now problematic racism and sexism. These were addressed intelligently without tearing the fabric of the play itself through some sensitive interventions and adjustments by the director Daniel Evans.

The Trials by Dawn King on 25th August 2022 at the Donmar Warehouse. Teenagers in a world of poisonous air and general climate disaster preside over trials of their elders who have squandered the environment and now may be deemed 'climate criminals'. Is retribution the answer? The invincible self-righteousness of the young may encourage this response at whatever emotional cost; three trials in a claustrophobic space where peer-group pressure runs rife lay bare the high stakes. I found the production intense and confronting, as it was doubtless intended to be, but also worryingly blind. There was great emphasis on the climate catastrophe and the collusion (whether deliberate or 'accidental') of us all in the worsening degradation of the environment, but virtually no recognition that the high-minded search for justice among the young prosecutors and judges was degenerating into a dangerous vindictiveness. In a piece of virtue-signalling there was no physical programme; one had to read everything online (though there are environmental costs to unlimited internet coverage). The young actors, all of whom were excellent, expatiated in the programme notes on how much their awareness of the climate crisis was heightened by taking part in the play, but none of them expressed any reservations about the 'justice' meted out, or seemed to have any awareness of the bitter cycle in which idealistic movements all too soon begin to eat their own.

Handbagged by Moira Buffini on 21st September 2022 at the Kiln theatre. An exploration of Thatcherism and Margaret Thatcher's influence on British politics presented through the imagined conversations between the divisive PM and Queen Elizabeth II (conversations which occurred more or less weekly, but which in reality are completely confidential). An older and a younger version of both women take the stage, with two other actors filling in all the supporting roles (with a greater or lesser degree of competitiveness depending on who is to be portrayed). A sharp political piece which has lost none of its bite or relevance.

Yellowman by Dael Orlandersmith on 22nd September 2022 at the Orange Tree Theatre. A coloured couple in South Carolina reveal their relationship with one another from childhood friendship to adult coupledom, and show how deeply it is affected by the social and familial pressures surrounding them, which are often frighteningly toxic. In my general ignorance I had not imagined that the coloured communities in the US are themselves so fixated on gradations of colour, having assumed that white prejudice alone was the principal manifestation of prejudice. This was a salutary revelation of strong attachments battling with deep-seated self-loathing.

John Gabriel Borkman by Henrik Ibsen on 5th October 2022 at the Bridge Theatre. Not one of Ibsen's better known plays, this does nevertheless provide three actors with stunning opportunities: I have seen Paul Scofield, Eileen Atkins and Vanessa Redgrave at the National in 1996; Ian McDiarmid, Deborah Findlay and Penelope Wilton at the Donmar in 2007; and now Simon Russell Beale, Clare Higgins and Lia Williams take the parts of Borkman, his wife Gunhild and his sister-in-law Ella, all with powerful results. This new production presents the action in modern dress, which is at times disconcerting, though the nature of male narcissism has hardly changed and therefore the women's subservience is still all-too-credible.

The Solid Life of Sugar Water by Jack Thorne on 27th October 2022 at the Orange Tree Theatre. Indiana Lown-Collins, the winner of this year's JMK Award, directs Katie Erich as Alice and Adam Fenton as Phil in this short play which charts the life of a couple from their meeting to their attempt to deal with a catastrophe, the still-birth of their child. It takes place in and around a bed, and is intimate, funny, poignant and powerful. As required by the author (and the premise of the play), Alice is played by a deaf actor, and the wrenching denouement given in sign languages with titles projected on the gallery walls.

Othello by William Shakespeare on 4th November 2022 at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford. The play in this production by Frantic Assembly is re-set in modern gangland, Othello being the macho leader brought low by Iago's insinuations. Desdemona is no shrinking violet, and the action scenes are infused with dance-like energy and visceral rage: a revelation in a high-stakes approach to staging a classic.

Mary by Rona Munro on 24th November 2022 at Hampstead Theatre. Continuing her cycle of history plays revolving around Scottish monarchs (her three James plays were among the first productions I reviewed in this blog in 2014) Rona Munro has created an unusual play in which the titular figure makes only a fleeting and wordless appearance at the very end: everything is about the opinions and reactions of three people around her: an unsympathetic maidservant, a manservant with ambivalent allegiances, and Sir James Melville, a hitherto loyal courtier. It is intensely wordy but forensically gripping, and the mystique which still surrounds the figure of Mary Queen of Scots is cleverly maintained by our awareness that she is just in the next room but apparently unable or unwilling to speak for herself.

Arms and the Man by George Bernard Shaw on 26th November 2022 at the Orange Tree Theatre. Continuing a run of Shaw plays Paul Miller directs one of his most famous farces as his last major production as artistic director of the Orange Tree. He goes out on a high, with consummate performances all round, while the play itself, nearly 130 years old, has lost none of its fun nor its clever critique of mindless militarism and overbearing patriarchy.

The Band's Visit by Itamar Moses (script) and David Yazbek (score) on 1st December 2022 at the Donmar Warehouse. An Egyptian police band turns up mistakenly at a small Israeli village in the Negev and they and the locals interact during this unplanned visit to a place where 'nothing happens'. In short scenes aspirations are evoked, past disappointments revealed, and life goes on: a lovely conclusion to a year of theatre-going.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

by William Shakespeare

seen at Racks Close Guildford on 17 June 2022

Abigail Anderson directs A Midsummer Night's Dream, the first play this summer's season by the Guildford Shakespeare Company, performed in Racks Close, a hilly park in the centre of Guildford. A cast of nine take on the twenty speaking roles, though intriguingly Titania's four servants are never actually seen; only Rosaline Blessed has a single role as Nic Bottom. As is almost traditonal, Theseus and Oberon were twinned (Jim Creighton), matched by Hippolyta and Titania (Johanne Murdock).

The play began in the picnic area, which was perhaps a too difficult acoustic for some of the audience. However, once the Mechanicals had arrived, ostensibly from among the picnickers, and distributed their parts, the audience was invited to walk up to the proper acting area where seats were provided before an amphitheatre-like stage. Here it was much easier to follow the proceedings, and the setting was ideal for the night's events in the forest.

The opening scene was played 'straight', that is, with no hint that the suavity of Theseus's words to Hippolyta might be masking a fairly brutal marriage arrangement, and no hint from Hippolyta that she might find the Athenian laws affecting Hermia in any way distasteful or wrong. (The long recriminations between Oberon and Titania were also curtailed.) The travails of the four young people were thus related only to their own misaligned loves and Puck's mismanagement of the magic flower; creating a light-hearted entertainment on a balmy summer's night. The brutality of the courtiers' disparagement of the Mechanicals' play was considerably watered down by the fact that only Theseus, Hippolyta and Philostrate were witnessing it - the two pairs of lovers were busy being various Mechanicals, and the members of the court were seated among the real audience with many of their harshest comments cut. Again, the effect was to lighten the mood, without detrcting from the ridiculousness of the Pyramus and Thisbe play: as should be expected Bottom provided a spectacularly over-the-top death scene.

Robin Goodfellow (Daniel Krikler) was an engaging Puck, at one point riding a unicycle, and appearing on stilts at the beginning of the second half. He was far too cheerful to be downcast by his mistakes or Oberon's displeasure, and thought nothing of scaling the tree in the centre of the stage to watch the foolish mortals from above. The sound design by Matt Eaton augmented his magical side by throwing his voice around through cunningly placed speakers, and this feature was also put to excellent use in directing the audience's attenton to the invisible Cobweb, Moth, Mustardseed and Peaseblossom.

All in all, a delightful way to enjoy an outdoor version of the play.

Life of Pi

by Lolita Chakrabarti based on Yann Martel's novel

seen at Wyndhams Theatre on 11 June 2022

After the erudite expositions of Socratic philosophy in Cancelling Socrates, I saw on the same day a rather different approach to dramatising fundamental questions about existence in Lolita Chakrabarti's inventive adaptation of Yann Martel's novel Life of Pi, in which a young boy (Hiran Abeysekera, ably supported by a dozen cast members and assorted puppeteers) first faces and then accounts for a lengthy voyage across the Pacific Ocean adrift in a lifeboat as the only human survivor of a shipwreck (he is accompanied by a number of animals including a huge Bengal tiger incongruously named Richard Parker).

The play, directed by Max Webster with brilliant set and costume designs by Tim Hatley, opens in the hospital in Mexico where Pi is recovering from his ordeal; representatives of the Canadian consulate (Pi and his family were due to settle in Canada) and the Japanese owners of the wrecked ship are interviewing him to try to find out what happened, but are baffled by the extravagant story he tells of shipping a zoo from India to Canada, and the perils of sharing a small lifeboat with a large tiger.

Here is another play in which narrative plays a significant part, but it is only a framing device, quickly seguing into dramatic reconstructions of the major events of Pi's story; with a dazzling array of video projections and more traditional opening and closing of doors and walls the coldly lit hospital ward is transformed into the vibrant town in which Pi and his family live, the port of embarkation, and the cramped conditions of the ocean-going vessel. Lastly the outlines of the lifeboat emerged as if by magic from the stage floor as the vast loneliness of the ocean was evoked by waves projected onto the floor and expansive vistas of sky elsewhere on the stage. All the while, fantastic puppetry designed by Nick Barnes and Finn Caldwell and directed by the latter brings to life the animals and ocean creatures encountered by the resilient boy at the centre of the story.

The boy has grown up exposed to three very different religious traditions - Hinduism, Islam and Christianity - and has participated in the communal aspects of all of them perhaps without deeply understanding their theological underpinnings. However he remains touchingly convinced that a religious outlook on life is essential; atheists he can cope with because at least they have a belief, while agnostics simply flummox him. This attitude undoubtedly helps him to survive even as the cold rationality of his intercolutors threatens to unhinge him; it's a remarkable testimony to the power of stagecraft, as much as to the power of fiction, that we are on his side as he asserts his right to tell his own story in his own way.

It was really exhilarating to see a play rush headlong through a strong and exciting tale with such confidence and energy.

Cancelling Socrates

by Howard Brenton

seen at the Jermyn Street Theatre on 11 June 2022

Tom Littler directs Jonathan Hyde as Socrates, Hannah Morrish as his wife Xanthippe (and also as a Daemon), Robert Mountford as his friend Euthyphro (and also as a Gaoler) and Sophie Ward as the hetaira Aspasia in Howard Brenton's new play Cancelling Socrates based on the four Platonic dialogues long published in the Penguin Classics series as The Last Days of Socrates.

The Jermyn Street Theatre is a small basement space underneath a restaurant, so the play is kept in an intimate form, the stage bare except for a fluted column, two pedestals for food offerings and a bench. The scene is amusingly set by having the sign pointing to the toilets in both Greek and English, and the formal announcements about starting times, switching off mobile phones and wearing facemasks given first in Greek and then in English translation (presumably modern rather than classical Greek). Indeed, when he first appears, the snippets of conversation involving Euthyphro, a young merchant who gives his name to the Platonic dialogue opening the sequence, come from invisible Greek speakers, though fortunately for us he answers in English.

Soon he meets Socrates, engagingly played as an eccentric with a powerful mind and a twitchy manner by Jonathan Hyde, Euthyphro soon being ambushed into a discussion about what constitutes justice and holiness, and whether the gods are just (particularly if different gods support different sides in a war, for example) before a conversation about their several reasons for attending the magistrates' court emerges. Euthyphro is, as usual, trapped by the Socratic line of questioning, but he is appalled at the flippancy with which Socrates seems to regard his own approaching case. 

Wisely the play does not directly present the Apology, Socrates's formal speeches to the court in which he defended himself against the accusation of sacrilege and corrupting the young, and then proposed an alternative to the death penalty voted by the jurors on his conviction (the defendant had the right to propose an alternative). There is no way the theatre could suggest a court hearing in which there were 501 jurors. Instead there is an extremely interesting and tense discussion between Aspasia and Xanthippe (a discussion that Plato would never have conceived of writing), the former appealing to politics and the state as the protectors of civic life, and the latter advancing the claims of family. Xanthippe has brought finely spun birds-nest pastries which she has made herself; Aspasia provides the new-fangled Egyptian delicacy she calls 'baklava' but scornfully dismisses any knowledge of how it is made, since a slave made it (that is what slaves are for). Irritatingly, Socrates, when he appears between his speeches, ignores his wife's cakes in favour of the exciting novelty of the pistachio-rich baklava. But Xanthippe knows her husband better than the worldly-wise Aspasia: she realises with horror that he will improvise his second speech rather than deliver the politic proposal prepared for him by Aspasia, and the result is disaster: the death penalty is upheld.

A cynical and down-to-earh gaoler presents the possibility that Socrates might simply escape from gaol rather than face the looming execution: as is cusomtanry for those with connections, the Gaoler has been bribed to let this happen. This covers the material in the short dialogue Crito but in a more comedic vein as the Gaoler's practical concerns (he needs th money for roof repairs at home) almost inure him to the restless Socratic pursuit of knowledge. The final scene of Socrates's life, depicted as an extended discussion of the afterlife among a host of friends in the Phaedo, is here presented in far more mundane fashion with only the Gaoler and Aspasia in attendace (Xanthippe having safely gone into exile with her sons), and the mysterious Daemon apparently present only to the great philosiopher's own consciousness.

The peculiarities of the Athenian court system and the weirdness of the position Socrates adopts - his apparent flippancy disguising a fearsome curiosity about deep philospohical questions - are brilliantly conveyed by the cast without stretching our patience or overloading us with too much informaton. At the same time there are some sly moments when the Athenian world and our own are shown to be not all that far apart: the trial takes place not long after a hideous plague beset the city, followed by a gruelling war (not that the UK is directly waging war at the moment, as Athens had been, but the point stands), and a waspish comment such as 'the young believe it's their absolute right not to be upset' drew wry chuckles from the mainly elderly audience.

These particular Platonic dialogues, among the most obviously dramatic of his works, have been finely brought to the stage in this excellent production.

Girl on an Altar

by Marina Carr

seen at the Kiln Theatre on 1 June 2022

Here we are at Aulis for the second time within a month as Marina Carr's new play Girl on an Altar has its world premiere at the Kiln Theatre in Kilburn in a production in partnership with Dublin's Abbey Theatre. It is directed by Annabelle Comyn with Eileen Walsh as Clytemnestra, David Walmsley as Agamemnon, Kate Stanley-Brennan as Cilissa (a serving woman, daughter of an Amazon), Nina Bowers as Cassandra, Daon Broni as Aegisthus and Jim Findley as Tyndareus.

From the cast list alone it is clear that this is very different from Age of Rage (reviewed recently), the expansive elaboration of the tangled story of the House of Atreus devised by Ivo van Hove. With Iphigenia and the other children only referred to here and not seen (and the young victim described as only ten years old) the revolting act of sacrifice impinges on the audience through the filter of her parents' reactions: Agamemnon's angry self-justifications and Clytemnestra's appalled feelings of betrayal and loss.

Again ten years are elided and we soon witness Agamemnon's homecoming from Troy, but the play pursues a sharply different narrative from the usual: the king and queen live in tense hostility as he knows that Clytemnestra has had an affair with Aegisthus - there is even a child - and she seethes with resentment and horror at what Agmemnon has done, while still occasionally falling prey to a visceral physical attraction to him. This proves to be a startlingly effective and powerful means to explore the dynamics of a ghastly situation at both the personal and political level. Agamemnon appears to think that present necessity overrides past misdeeds - 'tell me what will make it right between us again?' - while Clytemnestra is trapped in her grief and rage. The situation proves impossible to maintain; when Clytemnestra is banished to the living death of the palace harem rebellion is fomented by Aegsithus and her father Tyndareus, while yet another confrontation between the central couple leads to a shockingly familiar outcome - at which point the play finishes.

The set, designed by Tom Piper, features an enormous bed in an otherwise featureless room. When Clytemnestra is the favoured woman there is a rich brocade cover, but Cilissa eventually has to strip the bed and provide more austere linens when Cassandra is promoted to the premier position. Huge wooden-slatted screens at the back are occasionally pushed aside to reveal further vistas, but much of the action takes place in this suffocating domestic space, The actors not only speak to one another but also tell us directly what they are thinking and what they observe one another doing. It's a curious device which eliminates implausible speechifying while still transmitting vital information about their interior lives; at first I thought there was no direct dialogue at all, but then I realised that conversation and observation were profoundly intermingled, allowing all sorts of nuances and instabilities to flourish.  

The cast are excellent, Eileen Walsh in particular giving a towering performance as Clytemnestra, ably matched by the masculine swagger of David Walmsley's Agamemnon. This is a completely refreshing (though hardly consoling) investigation of a story now millennia old, proving once again the extraordinary dramatic power of these ancient tragedies.