Issue 14 - 2003
Prompt Corner 
Nick Dear's Power at the Cottesloe is an infuriating play. His last, The Villains' Opera, got some extraordinarily cruel reviews and was, I still insist, very good indeed. This one has been kindly treated on the whole, more kindly than it deserves I'd say. It has the benefit of a smashing cast, all doing great things; of a simple but brilliant architectural set and some stunning costumes from Christopher Oram; and of a Michael Nyman score, sounding very much like any other Michael Nyman score, which I'd offer as a compliment.
Perhaps it was the Nyman element that began my disillusionment: it said film, and started me thinking about the wonderful recent French movies of French court life, like Wit and Vatek, which seemed to be as much Dear's source as Nancy Mitford and more serious historians. Once you've seen those, Power seems a bagatelle. It's possible to see Blairite parallels, as some critics have done, in young Louis XIV's accession to the throne with hopes of making a new and decent society (of which he would retain absolute control). It's possible to take great pleasure in watching the well-sketched power struggle between his advisers, the charismatic Fouquet and the bean-counting Colbert, especially since we have Robert Lindsay and Stephen Boxer playing parts that could have been - possibly were - made for them. It's almost impossible not to enjoy Rupert Penry-Jones' seduction dance in which he strips a mannequin of its finery, though we have to wonder whether to credit this to the author or to director Lindsay Posner. And there are the boisterous Jonathan Slinger, improving all the time, and the amazingly youthful Barbara Jefford, doing their excellent stuff. But with what material? The elegance of the production is undeniable; the elegance of its language is strained and false - falser even than a surface-obsessed court could tolerate. And there, I suggest, is the problem of Power - it's too darn clever for its own, or its audience's good. The joke of very modern linguistic interpolations into highly time-specific plays, too, is wearing very thin indeed.
I'm afraid I'm going to quibble a little about Hobson's Choice, too. The good news is that Tanika Gupta has done a wonderful job in transposing Harold Brighouse's comedy from its shoeshop to a Salford tailor's. Richard Jones' cast is splendid, with the exception of Paul Bhattarcharjee whose attempt to play old ends in embarrassing caricature. And Ultz has struck gold again, following his urban wasteland in Fallout with a superbly realised shop in the Young Vic and a cleverly improvised Portakabin/Portaloo setup in the nearby Upstream rehearsal room. Matthew Richardson supports him with lighting in the Ultz found-material tradition, too. I'm not going to nitpick and ask questions like why Hobson's daughters can be so well dressed on no wages, but I am going to confess that for all its invention and warmth I didn't find the play very funny. And that's a pity, though not totally unexpected with Mr Jones, always a rather heavy-handed humorist..
The frighteningly young Fin Kennedy gets off to quite a start with his play about social workers, Protection, at Soho. With enough incident for a six-part TV series (which would not be an inconceivable development) the evening is somewhat rushed, producing a dramatic identity crisis: is this gritty realism or situation comedy? Kennedy's case studies are solid enough, but the people dealing with them are very lightly sketched, hence the sitcom flavour. There's one screamingly duff performance, from Martin Turner, but to be charitable this could be put down to the writer-induced confusion of style. The rest of the cast perform well, and both Kellie Shirley and Joe Armstrong make the most of the chance to double up. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the play is its even-handedness: just as the clients are not all wronged innocents, their helpers are by no means starry-eyed idealists.
There have been some slighting reviews for Paul Jepson's yuppie version of The Provoked Wife at Southwark Playhouse, so let me say straight away how fresh, inventive and revelatory I found it. To create such a modern set of parallels for Vanbrugh's dandies and deceivers is quite an achievement, and to carry it off with such aplomb speaks highly for cast and director. Jepson's production may be too noisy and over-active for the small space at Southwark. Never mind - I'd love to see it again on a larger stage, where Jess Curtis could expand on her clever little sets. Simon Merrells is in his element as the ghastly Sir John Brute, consolidating the good impression he made as Phil Willmott's Henry VIII; and once you understand what Jane Galloway is doing with the funny accents she puts on for trend-spotter Lady Fanciful, she makes an admirable foil for him. The young lovers are all more than adequate, indeed Jane Robbins is very good indeed; and there's a charming, sexy cameo from Estelle Morgan. But it's a team effort above all: a very definite tone is set and brilliantly maintained. It's a production which achieves what its author set out to do, and brings it home very successfully to a modern audience. Mr Jepson, who's already had an outing for the National in the Lyttelton Loft, should go far.
The departure of Chris Foy from running Stratford will
not bring many tears. I have no close knowledge of him,
but it does seem that the business direction of the RSC
over the last three years, for which we must assume he
was responsible, has been a complete horlicks. The company
is massively in debt, has diverted its sights from forming
a strong base all over Britain towards marginal ventures
in the US, and has upset almost everybody with its vague
but threatening plans for home base. Let's hope Michael
Boyd gets some real professional help from Mr Foy's successor,
if possible someone in the Brierley mould.
Ian Herbert
At the Back
Sunday Father, Adam Pettle's family drama of
past ghosts and present mistakes, found its way from
There's an all female Hamlet, directed by a male hand, that of Stephen Jameson, at the appealing pub stage Upstairs at the Gatehouse. Wild Thyme Productions 'would like to be known for high artistic standards, strong ensemble playing, innovative and accessible productions, creative challenges and thought-provoking, inspirational work'. And this young company tries hard to fulfil their ambitions, with varying success. Shakespeare's text has been doctored, not always to its advantage and often half heartedly. The action is set somewhere in the 1930s, though the stage is surrounded by CCTV cameras and minimalist black velvet, with a throne covered in red fabric (later on, blue material functions as water to engulf Ophelia, an unconvincing Karina Fernandez). The opening music is played live on a piano, as soldiers use metal detectors and a woman in red sings (marginally well). Harriet Ashcroft makes Polonius into a grumpy servant in tails talking into a mobile phone; Hamlet is played with excellence by Miranda Cook, with melancholic temper and a rather boyish approach; the ghost appears in ragged clothes, while Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' fades in before the king rests on the throne, comforting Hamlet like a pieta. Hamlet hisses 'To be or not to be' into Ophelia's ear, threatening to shoot himself; the grave digger sings a completely inappropriate gospel number, while umbrellas have a dance; the final duel is played (weakly) in slow motion, accompanied by Mozart's 'Requiem'. Some good ideas, however, cannot cover the fact that verse speaking and intonation is not the company's strength - here they definitely fall short of their targets.
The Gate daringly revives Václav Havel's 1968 (Prague) play The Increased Difficulty of Concentration, a wonderfully sarcastic deconstruction of mechanized human beings equalling the mechanization of science equalling the mechanistic procedures of a police state. Its brilliance lies in Havel's dismantling of a logical dramatic structure, shaking up the 23 scenes that tell the story of Dr. Eduard Huml: the scientist's problematic marriage (because of utter boredom and an ongoing affair), his eager attempt to seduce his secretary while dictating a useless philosophical article about the value of human existence, and his troubles with the intrusion of scientists trying to install a new machine called Puzuk, designed to ask clever questions about human individuality. Simon Godwin decided to go for clowning (à la Mr. Bean) and contra-absurd play mechanisms, a decision which not only undermines Havel's riddles about a nightmarish oppressive system, but also underpowers the actors' art. However, the ensemble masters the play's fast pace well on Andy Edwards' box like set of smashingly boring walls relieved by a lonesome cactus, a silly chandelier, some undersized chairs and four doors. Against my critic colleagues' opinions, I recommend this unusual revival.
Maybe Gecko should have taken on Havel's play. Their Taylor's Dummies is a deliciously lunatic, partly mysterious, highly physical show. It swings across the stage - with ropes and jazz music, fake fights and wild percussion, circus acts and superb mime - and challenges the spectator to follow Taylor's passion to reach for the unreachable: a blonde woman and a door leading to an assumed heavenly state of mind.
Brett Bailey's iMumbo Jumbo doesn't follow a narrative thread, but tries to evoke a magical yet satirical world, showing Transkei Chief Gcaleka on his journey to Scotland to claim back a famous skull in order to save South Africa from turmoil. There are marvellously surreal moments full of spirit, drumming, dance, masks and colourful costumes, celebrating the quest for good humour and tolerance. A better venue, though, would have been an open air spot!
Another transfer for Vincent in Brixton - now
post-Broadway: Nicholas Wright's gently erotic and touchingly human play
deserves its ongoing life. Anyone who hasn't seen Jochum ten Haaf's mesmerizing
Vincent should catch him now!
Verena Winter
Contents / Reviews
London |
|
|
|
|
16 GOBS devised and performed by Catapult Theatre Company |
Kings Head |
9 Jul | 20 Jul | 888 |
THE DEAD OF WINTER play by Jason Pyette (Montana Actors' Theatre) |
Union SE1 |
10 Jul | 26 Jul | 891 |
F***LIST CELEBRITY Nathan Cassidy play |
Etcetera |
2 Jul | 20 Jul | 874 |
HAMLET Shakespeare revival (Wild Thyme) |
Upstairs/Gatehouse |
2 Jul | 12 Jul | 877 |
HOBSON'S CHOICE Tanika Gupta adaptation from Harold Brighouse |
Young Vic |
2 Jul | 16 Aug | 869 |
LINKED devised by Graeme Miller |
M11 Link Road |
14 Jul | 903 | |
iMUMBO JUMBO written by Brett Bailey (Third World Bunfight - BITE 03) |
Barbican |
10 Jul | 19 Jul | 893 |
THE INCREASED DIFFICULTY OF CONCENTRATION revival of Vaclav Havel play |
Gate |
9 Jul | 2 Aug | 889 |
MOTHER COURAGE and her children revival of Lee Hall version of Brecht (Graeae) |
Riverside |
11 Jul | 12 Jul | 899 |
PAPER FLOWERS play by Egon Wolff in Gwynne Edwards translation |
Greenwich Playhouse |
10 Jul | 3 Aug | 904 |
POWER play by Nick Dear (NT) |
Cottesloe |
3 Jul | 1 Jan | 878 |
PROTECTION play by Fin Kennedy |
Soho |
8 Jul | 26 Jul | 886 |
THE PROVOK'D WIFE revival of the play by John Vanbrugh |
Southwark Playhouse |
4 Jul | 26 Jul | 884 |
PUNCHKIN, ENCHANTER play by Farhana Sheikh (London Bubble) |
London Parks |
12 Jul | 6 Aug | 898 |
RATBAGS Andy Leonard play |
Courtyard |
15 Jul | 3 Aug | 885 |
SENSE OF BELONGING (THE TALE OF IKPIKO) devised by Chuck Mike with Studio Theatre Workshop |
Arcola |
9 Jul | 26 Jul | 883 |
Shell Connections plays by writers including Sarah Daniels, David Farr, Mark Ravenhill, Philip Ridley |
National |
15 Jul | 22 Jul | 905 |
SUNDAY FATHER Adam Pettle play |
Hampstead |
15 Jul | 9 Aug | 900 |
TAYLOR'S DUMMIES devised and performed by Gecko |
BAC |
10 Jul | 27 Jul | 895 |
VINCENT IN BRIXTON return of play by Nicholas Wright (RNT) |
Playhouse |
10 Jul | 30 Aug | 896 |
W C written and directed Antonio Ribeiro |
Blue Elephant |
9 Jul | 26 Jul | 892 |
Regions |
|
|
|
|
BETRAYAL revival of the play by Harold Pinter (Peter Hall Company) |
T R Bath |
9 Jul | 8 Aug | 908 |
DESIGN FOR LIVING revival of the play by Noel Coward (Peter Hall Company) |
T R Bath |
9 Jul | 9 Aug | 908 |
THE FIGHT FOR BARBARA revival of the play by D H Lawrence (Peter Hall Company) |
T R Bath |
8 Jul | 6 Aug | 908 |
MARY'S WEDDING play by Stephen Massicote |
Byre Studio, St Andrew's |
4 Jul | 26 Jul | 920 |
PRECIOUS BANE play by Bryony Lavery, adapted from the novel by Mary Webb (Pentabus) |
Walcot Hall/tour |
10 Jul | 13 Jul | 919 |
SHERLOCK HOLMES - IN TROUBLE play by Mark Long and Emil Wolk |
Royal Exchange, Manchester |
14 Jul | 9 Aug | 919 |
Transmissions seventeen plays by new young writers |
Door, Birmingham Rep |
2 Jul | 12 Jul | 916 |
Bard in the Botanics: a festival of Shakespeare and others |
Botanic Gardens, Glasgow |
921/3 |
||
ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA revival of the play by William Shakespeare, adapted by Scott Palmer |
Botanic Gardens |
15 Jul | 27 Jul | |
DUCK VARIATIONS revival of the play by David Mamet |
Botanic Gardens |
26 Jun | 29 Jun | |
HENRY revival of the play by William Shakespeare (Henry V), adapted by Scott Palmer |
Arboretum |
7 Jul | 13 Jul | |
MEASURE FOR MEASURE revival of the play by William Shakespeare, adapted by Kate Varney |
Botanic Gardens |
25 Jun | 6 Jul | |
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM revival of the play by William Shakespeare, adapted by Gordon Barr |
Kibble Palace |
26 Jun | 6 Jul | |
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING revival of the play by William Shakespeare, adapted by Kate Varney |
Botanic Gardens |
16 Jul | 27 Jul | |
SISTER MARY IGNATIUS EXPLAINS IT ALL FOR YOU revival of the play by Christopher Durang |
Kibble Palace |
8 Jul | 13 Jul |