Issue 21 - 2003
Prompt Corner 
Another busy fortnight has at last brought welcome variety to London's stages. If new writing's your bag, there are plays from two very promising young women. Those interested in work beyond the British canon may read about striking pieces from Australia, Canada and Cuba (via America). Theatre history buffs can mull over a handful of instructive revivals, while musicals fans have one stinker and one solid crowd-pleaser to choose from.
Ladies first: Emma Frost's first play, Airsick, at the Bush is evidence of a definite talent. Its central theme is the search for happiness of two lifelong girlfriends, one taking the route of instant gratification, the other looking for permanence. Neither comes from an easy background, and the near-cliché of childhood abuse is never far away. Neither achieves her aim, and the play's somewhat misanthropic content and bitter, downbeat ending suggest that as long as men remain such inadequate shits women are unlikely ever to find what they seek. But this bleak description does no justice to a play that is very funny in parts, very rich in its characters and blessedly inventive in the means by which it is put across, with expository soliloquies - almost stand-up routines at times - intercut with scenes of domesticity, fleeting moments of tender, unlikely love, and flights of edgy fantasy. From a super cast I would single out Peter Jonfield, adding a marvellously grumpy old hypochondriac to the fine gallery of grubby, weaselly low-lifes that makes up his acting career. Es Devlin's shiny black panels, lit from behind with aptly changing images, support Mike Bradwell's well-judged production with the imaginative use of scenic light that is her trademark.
Over at the Theatre Upstairs the even younger Lucy Prebble shows similar precocity in The Sugar Syndrome. She, too, writes in short, shifting scenes, here minimally presented on Jonathan Fensom's effective set, which moves us from place to place with the simple sliding of a wall. In her lead character, Dani, a Candide of the chatroom who goes out into the real world to bring comfort to the sad and potentially very dangerous characters she meets in the virtual security of the internet, she has created a marvellous part for a young actress which is gratefully seized by the terrific young Stephanie Leonidas. Dani escapes unscathed from her adventures, but disillusioned by her discovery of the horrific material her paedophile friend (a very careful, layered performance from Andrew Woodall) keeps on his laptop. This ending gives as much of a jolt as Emma Frost's, since what is remarkable about both plays is the sense that more than one of their very well drawn characters has been through growth to a healing change - which is then denied by abrupt, cruel denouements. I would say that we shall hear much more of Lucy Prebble, but it's not guaranteed: Like TMA presidents, young Royal Court writers are not always there for the long term. (Good luck, Barbara!)
The inadequate parenting and family collapse that we have come to take for granted in today's society mutters away through both these plays, and comes screaming downstage in Rabbit, by the equally young Australian Brendan Cowell. Frantic Assembly's Steven Hoggett and Scott Graham have varnished over Cowell's already baroque language with their usual seductive wash of ambient music, well drilled non-realistic movement and sharp-edged scenery (this time from Dick Bird). Their production has the added strength of two actors older than the usual Frantic casting permits, the saturnine David Sibley and the magnificently sexy Susan Kyd, and the play is never for a moment dull to watch, even if you begin to long for it to end well before it actually does. But all the rhodomontade (I hope that's the word for finicky decoration) can't cover the fact that Mr Cowell's script is absurdly adolescent in its ranting hyperbole - a fine example of the good bad play. I loved the real rabbit.
Sex and violence gain from the power of discretion at Riverside, where Paola Dionisotti makes an impressive directing debut with Nilo Cruz's Two Sisters and a Piano. I feel rotten saying that producer Catalina Botello did the production no favours by casting herself in the leading role, but this little gem of a play could have sparkled even more with a younger, more alluring actress in the part. Nevertheless, she brings a touching tenderness to the scenes that chart the hesitant growth and final withdrawal of a dissident writer's unexpected love for her personal tormentor (excellent Robert Cavanagh). They get great support from a spare but atmospheric set (Nick Barnes, lit by Gerry Jenkinson) and their emotional shadows, Eva Alexander and Stephen Hudson, have the best of many beautiful moments in this evocative study of political and personal claustrophobia, when they join in a short, live piano duet that immediately conveys more about burgeoning emotion than whole scenes in many other plays.
Look inside for more visiting drama, with
an American piece, Last
Train to Nibroc, and from Canada George Walker's Problem
Child and another visit from Robert Lepage's wonderful Far
Side of the Moon, which, if Alastair Macaulay is anything
to go by, may have lost some of its magic on the big Barbican
stage.
Four significant revivals have given long-lived critics (and there are plenty of them) the opportunity to compare them unfavourably with previous versions, but we can all rejoice that they are there, if only for the range of theatre they represent in a London scene which has been strongly attacked for lack of it. Oxford Stage's Serjeant Musgrave's Dance paid only a short visit, but thrilled in Sean Holmes' loving production, effortlessly creating a sense of community in the mining town which is invaded by Musgrave and his men. The didacticism of the set speeches in the last act lets the play down, but the fault lies more in the surprisingly muddled, war-is-bad-but-peace-is-awful, stance of Arden's conclusion than in this production.
The didacticism in Richard Jones's Olivier revival of Tales from the Vienna Woods comes straight from Mr Jones, and makes a wretched evening out of a fine play. He seems to hate von Horvath's study of the Austrian bourgeoisie, a hatred he showed in some of his harsh deconstructions of what had been very funny plays at Jonathan Miller's Old Vic. Von Horvath, too, creates a whole community, but it is not the gang of Nazi dupes Jones so superficially suggests. In his large-cast production you can see references to Georg Grosz, Thomas Bernhardt, even sour reflections of Cabaret and The Sound of Music, but very little of pre-war Austria. The contemporary photographs in the National Theatre's programme show that Nicky Gillibrand has done meticulous research, but also reveal that she, like Jones, refuses to distinguish between Austria and Germany. There have been suggestions that her sets were cut-price, like the £10 seats. This still doesn't explain why so few of the hundreds of lanterns hanging up in the Olivier were used by Mike Gunning, or why so many of Ms Gillibrand's hundred and more costumes were so badly lit. Or does the National still have slot-meters?
John Gunter has grown used to providing economy sets for Peter Hall's prolific output; his effort for Betrayal forces the actors forward for a series of close-up encounters, denying them much use of the Duchess's stage. I wasn't that taken by the two men (Aden Gillett's near-permanent engaging twinkle can become tiresome) but Janie Dee gives another top performance, confirming her extraordinary range. But this production doesn't have the depth of Karel Reisz's 1991 Almeida version, any more than Trevor Nunn's 1998 effort did.
Where most of the critics were kind to Betrayal, a no more than workmanlike revival, there were some harsh words for Wait Until Dark. The West End sees few thrillers these days, and in the absence of new ones it seems just as reasonable to offer classics as to bring back middling Pinter or careless Wilde every few years. Last year's Sleuth, which also attracted some critical scorn, did very well, and I expect the same for Joe Harmston's production, again led by the reliable Peter Bowles (a far better actor than many would have you believe) and featuring a truly thrilling climax.
There's the same reluctance to praise Thoroughly Modern Millie, with new boy Clifford Bishop a notable exception. I agree with most of what he says: Millie isn't the greatest musical ever, but it's very well made and has some special features, such as Martin Pakledinaz's witty costumes, that lift it well above the ordinary. Amanda Holden, too, in her first leading musical role, can sing, dance and put a gag across with the best of them. She more than holds her own with known talents like Helen Baker and Rachel Izen (who gets the show-stopper), and outclasses a completely miscast Maureen Lipman and a lacklustre Sheila Ferguson. It's a little hard to call a musical which plays whole scenes in Chinese (with surtitles) unadventurous. This one could do rather well - although it was at Rabbit, not Millie, that critics were debating whether to use the hallowed 'This one will run and run.'
Anyone who saw his equally nasty and almost as short-lived Bad Boy Johnny and the Prophets of Doom will not be surprised at the reception for Daniel Abineri's Money to Burn. Jerry Springer has shown that bad taste can be funny. This inept piece reminds us that it's usually just bad taste. It was painful to watch the experienced Peter Blake and some quite bright young discoveries wading through Abineri's tide of filth. Some adequate tunes and a solid band couldn't make up for his appalling lyrics and foolish plot. The only good thing that might come of this dire evening would be for Saucy Jack and the Space Vixens, which isn't exactly rocket science but is orbiting in Deptford, to take its place on what could be a very suitable launch-pad. Ian Herbert
At the Back
No "At the Back" this issue
Contents / Reviews
London |
||||
13 MICS/THE PUGILIST play by Benji Reid, Bob Pierce |
Lyric Studio |
9 Oct |
25 Oct |
1400 |
AIRSICK play by Emma Frost |
Bush |
10 Oct |
8 Nov |
1383 |
THE ARK AND THE COVENANT play by David Hart |
BAC |
9 Oct |
31 Oct |
1389 |
AN AUDIENCE WITH SID AND NANCY written by Spud Lemon (Second Theatre from the Left) |
Etcetera |
8 Oct |
26 Oct |
1379 |
BEST BEHAVIOUR devised and created by Mark Storor |
Polka, SW19 |
25 Sep |
25 Oct |
1441 |
BETRAYAL revival of the play by Harold Pinter (Peter Hall Company) |
Duchess |
8 Oct |
31 Jan |
1375 |
THE BIG COMEBACK play by Serge Kribus translated by Geoffrey Strachan |
Upstairs/Gatehouse |
8 Oct |
25 Oct |
1391 |
BILL BAILEY: PART TROLL solo show |
Wyndham's |
13 Oct |
25 Oct |
1390 |
THE FAR SIDE OF THE MOON revival of solo devised by Robert Lepage |
Barbican |
16 Oct |
25 Oct |
1407 |
FORGOTTEN VOICES FROM THE GREAT WAR three plays: D Company and Black 'Ell by Miles Malleson, Brigade Exchange by Ernst Johannsen |
Pleasance |
16 Oct |
16 Nov |
1409 |
GOLEM created and performed by Nenagh Watson (Doo Cot) |
Drill Hall 1 |
19 Oct |
2 Nov |
1412 |
HELLO AND GOODBYE Athol Fugard revival |
Southwark Playhouse |
17 Oct |
1 Nov |
1412 |
THE KISSES Rebecca Mordan adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula |
Courtyard |
21 Oct |
9 Nov |
1391 |
LAST TRAIN TO NIBROC play by Arlene Hutton |
New End |
20 Oct |
8 Nov |
1425 |
MISS JULIE Strindberg adaptation by Nadia Fall (Naach) |
Warehouse, Croydon |
10 Oct |
26 Oct |
1394 |
MONEY TO BURN musical by Daniel Abineri |
The Venue |
9 Oct |
11 Oct |
1380 |
Octoberfest festival of visual theatre |
BAC |
27 Sep |
25 Oct |
1426 |
PROBLEM CHILD play by George Walker |
New End |
16 Oct |
8 Nov |
1406 |
RABBIT play by Brendan Cowell (Frantic Assembly) |
Lyric Hammersmith |
20 Oct |
25 Oct |
1417 |
SERJEANT MUSGRAVE'S DANCE revival of play by John Arden (Oxford Stage) |
Greenwich |
14 Oct |
18 Oct |
1392 |
SIMPLICITY revival of play by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu from Marivaux |
Orange Tree |
10 Oct |
8 Nov |
1388 |
A SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP play by Sara Clifford (Three Legged TC) |
Arcola |
20 Oct |
25 Oct |
1391 |
STEALING SWEETS AND PUNCHING PEOPLE play by Phil Porter |
Latchmere |
9 Oct |
26 Oct |
1382 |
THE SUGAR SYNDROME play by Lucy Prebble |
Royal Court Upstairs |
20 Oct |
15 Nov |
1413 |
TALES FROM THE VIENNA WOODS revival of play by Odon von Horvath in David Harrower version |
Olivier |
14 Oct |
19 Nov |
1395 |
THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE musical by Jeanine Tesori, Dick Scanlan and Richard Morris |
Shaftesbury |
21 Oct |
1419 |
|
TWO SISTERS AND A PIANO play by Nilo Cruz |
Riverside |
16 Oct |
25 Oct |
1405 |
WAIT UNTIL DARK revival of thriller by Frederick Knott |
Garrick |
15 Oct |
1401 |
|
ZADIE'S SHOES play by Adam Pettle |
Finborough |
9 Oct |
1 Nov |
1387 |
Regions |
||||
ANTIGONE revival of the tragedy by Sophocles |
Salts Mill, Saltarie |
8 Oct |
11 Oct |
1438 |
ARMS AND THE MAN revival of the play by Bernard Shaw |
King's, Edinburgh (tour) |
14 Oct |
18 Oct |
1433 |
CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF revival of the play by Tennessee Williams ( T R Bury) |
Corn Exchange, Newbury |
13 Oct |
15 Oct |
1440 |
THE CRUCIBLE revival of the play by Arthur Miller |
Theatre Clwyd, Mold |
9 Oct |
1 Nov |
1440 |
FLORA THE RED MENACE revival of the musical by John Kander and Fred Ebb, book by David Thomson |
Dundee Rep |
9 Oct |
25 Oct |
1430 |
THE JASMINE ROAD play by Ghazi Hussein |
Theatre Workshop, Edinburgh |
9 Oct |
25 Oct |
1433 |
MONSTER play by Walter Dean Myers, scripted by Douglas Irvine (Visible Fictions) |
Traverse, Edinburgh |
8 Oct |
11 Oct |
1429 |
THE OLD LADIES revival of the play by Rodney Ackland from the novel by Hugh Walpole |
Richmond/tour |
6 Oct |
11 Oct |
1437 |
QUARTERMAINE'S TERMS revival of the play by Simon Gray (Royal, Northampton) |
Salisbury Playhouse |
10 Oct |
1 Nov |
1439 |
RESURRECTION revival of the play by Maureen Lawrence |
Lichfield Garrick |
8 Oct |
18 Oct |
1439 |
SAN DIEGO play by David Greig |
Tron, Glasgow |
16 Oct |
1 Nov |
1432 |
THE TAMING OF THE SHREW revival of the play by William Shakespeare (TR Plymouth) |
Yvonne Arnaud, Guildford |
13 Oct |
18 Oct |
1434 |
TWO TRACKS AND TEXT ME play by Sol B River |
Courtyard, West Yorks |
15 Oct |
1 Nov |
1436 |
UNDER MILK WOOD revival of the play for by Dylan Thomas |
Grand, Swansea |
11 Oct |
18 Oct |
1439 |
WAITING FOR GODOT revival of the play by Samuel Beckett |
Arches, Glasgow |
8 Oct |
25 Oct |
1429 |
WUTHERING HEIGHTS adapted by Jane Thornton from the novel by Emily Bronte |
Hull Truck |
10 Oct |
1 Nov |
1440 |