Issue 19, 2008
Prompt Corner 
Firstly, apologies for the week's delay in publication of this issue. You may recall that at the beginning of the year we had to tinker with our cover dates in order to buy ourselves enough time to produce the magazine. It's because the contents of our issues are governed by dates (for instance, this Issue 19 of any given year will ordinarily always cover shows opening on these dates, apart from leap-year corrections), whereas the issue's publication schedule is set by days of the week: the issue is printed and delivered to us on a Friday, etc. The result of this twin-track arrangement is that every year we find we have one day less in which to produce the issue than we had the previous year; in leap years, we lose a second day as of Issue 05. There was bound to come a point where we'd have to either radically re-organise the way the magazine is produced or just reclaim a whole week. When other matters made a delay almost inevitable with this issue, we decided to take advantage and do that rescheduling now. Sorry about the hiccup it has caused. The advantage for you as a reader is that it should mean fewer reviews being printed late under "More on previous productions". But anyway...
Jazz playwriting
Revising as we go along is part of the business of criticism. On the last outing in 1999 of Tennessee Williams' Small Craft Warnings, I wrote for the Financial Times that it "is not by any means a slight work." I'd now beg to differ. It's a textbook example of what I've grown to think of as jazz playwriting: define a basic chord progression – that's your situation; play a chorus or two with the band, or cast; then give each of them space to blow a solo. So, here, one night in a Pacific beachfront bar, a bunch of regulars and a newcomer or two, a few spats, fewer reconciliations, a series of soul-barings, the characters continue in their divers undistinguished ways through the foggy night (hence both the literal and figurative senses of the title). The events, such as they are – some sleeping arrangements change, an offstage character dies – seem included largely to punctuate the monologues, which are generally delivered straight out to the audience since the playwright provides little alternative.
The distinction given to the Arcola's revival is that it reunites director Bill Bryden with several members of the ensemble he ran in the Cottesloe in the late 1970s and early '80s. The dominant performances, however, are both from new female additions. Meredith MacNeill catches well the web of damage and dissociation which entangles Violet, not a whore so much as a cracked, compulsive masturbatrix of any man that comes within reach. Sian Thomas is a fine mixture of venom and concern as trailer-trash beautician Leona: as she alternates between lashing out and solicitous straight-talking, it is as if she wants to be a tender person but a lifetime of conditioning keeps setting off contrary reflexes. This is a useful opportunity to see some late-period Williams (London has of late been more preoccupied with his apprentice pieces, and with less justification), but I welcome the opportunity to correct my earlier opinion.
Slapsticks
Sometimes opinions are radically revised in the course of an evening. I had seen and enjoyed Eurobeat (Almost Eurovision) on the Edinburgh Fringe in 2007, but even so I was shocked and appalled by the regimented attitude taken to whipping up raucous hysteria in the Novello Theatre: doling out badges and flags of the competing nations, and almost compulsory plastic "clappers" (or, in the literal sense, slapsticks, as one colleague pointed out). I hadn't encountered such a "mass psychology of fascism" approach to audience enjoyment since the London opening of the Blue Man Group, and at least one other reviewer was so stone-faced by the time he arrived at his seat I half-expected to see moss and lichen growing on his visage. But the material itself is so sharp that it proves impossible to dislike the show. So the British entry is undistinguished – when was it last otherwise at the real Eurovision Song Contest? So the songs in general are less than entirely memorable – name me one memorable Eurovision song that hasn't been (a) the winning entry, (b) the British entry or (c) "Ring Ring" by Abba (which wasn't even the Swedish national entry in its year). ...And I suspect this is beginning to suggest that I know altogether too much about the Eurovision contest to be good for me...
Slung Low's wonderful, intimate show Helium has gone a long way to revising many people's opinion of the Oxford Samuel Beckett Theatre Trust awards. More than one reviewer observes that, in bestowing a grant based on the concept for a production, the risk is run that the actual show turns out to be a failure, and that in the past few years this has been the usual case with OSBTT shows. In Slung Low's prime mover Alan Lane, the Trust picked a man who has a record as a theatrical huckster stretching back to his student days, so Helium could have ended up like so many of its award-winning predecessors, but for one important point: Lane is a kind of con-man in reverse – he makes his schemes look and sound like japes, but the guiding principle is that they are enjoyable for their practitioners and spectators alike. In Helium the dramatic scenes are not at all interactive, but a feeling of direct and personal connection is provided by giving each spectator their individual "guide" from scene to scene.
Engagement
A similar kind of direct engagement is offered by Jon Spooner, who regularly follows up the "performance" segment of Unlimited's The Ethics Of Progress with a discussion/Q&A session addressing the aspects of quantum theory he has just explained and/or the wider issues he raises through them. In unhappy contrast, few opinions of Brecht's obsolescence as a playwright will be countered by the Hampstead production of his Turandot.
Ian Shuttleworth | ian@theatrerecord.com
At the Back
Can You Hear Me In The Baltics?
Every year, the theatre communities of the three Baltic states compare notes in a festival of their new drama, View. This year's was held in the Latvian capital, Riga, with two productions from each country on display. The festival had a jury, composed this time of a representative from each country with myself as the benevolent neutral chair. We were told that there were a number of ceramic plaques to be given out, and we could award them in any way we liked, bearing in mind that the festival was not, of course, competitive. We did our best to reflect the highlights of a rather disappointing selection that belied the importance of countries that have produced the likes of Alvis Hermanis, Oskaras Korsunovas and Jan Taatte.
Sentimentality
First up were the Latvians, with two productions from their National Theatre. Both were large-scale shows on the main stage, with big casts – indeed, we saw several of the same actors on successive nights. This made for interesting comparisons, particularly since the plays originated a hundred years apart, yet handled very similar themes. Lelde Stumbre's The Heirs Of Smiltaji looked at the history of a farmhouse in the dunes through the eyes of the struggling family that lived in it – or its barn, since for much of the play's three hour duration it remains derelict after the fire that destroys it in the first few minutes. The family's travails are detailed with the same sentimentality one might expect in a nineteenth century novel, and apart from a modern coda which sees the latest heirs in an ironic light the action is presented in a stark, rural realist style. In contrast, Matters Of Measures really is a nineteenth-century novel, the first in Latvia, newly adapted by Margarita Zieda. The same sentimental plotlines appear – forced marriages, illegitimacy, disputed parenthood – but here they back a satirical, Gogol-like tale of the corrupting impact of a land survey which sets villagers apart. To make the not entirely new point that such corruption still exists, director Vesturs Kairishs sets the whole piece in a present day small-town social club, complete with a tiny stage on which from time to time a choir comments by means of songs by a local favourite. (The first play had its chorus, too, a group of old women speaking in almost impenetrable Old Latvian.) Kairishs never really overcame the challenges set by his huge set – designed by his wife – and the play's most effective scene, a grotesque municipal banquet, took place in the orchestra pit downstage.
Mayhem
Lithuania kicked off with a contrastingly small-scale solo performance by Ben Shark, What's Left When Nothing's Left, built round poems by Gintaras Grajauskas. Shark, a wiry fifty-something, flitted about the stage in singlet and shorts, interspersing the verse with musings on his stage career. The main redeeming feature of his rather lifeless, not to say pointless act was his imaginative use of everyday items as props – at one point, three water bottles stood in for the Holy Trinity. The second Lithuanian offering was back in the familiar territory of small-town corruption. Director Jonas Vaitkus also set his elegantly designed production of Petr Vaichunas' 1926 political farce, Patriots, in the present, with its leading characters bearing a close physical resemblance to his country's current leaders. It had its moments of enjoyable mayhem, but for too much of its inordinate length the comedy was laid on so thick that it lost all effect.
Big Themes
Estonia's two entries took on big themes and handled them pretty successfully. Jaan Undusk's Boulgakoff looked at the end of the career of the author of Master And Margarita, who has become for many the emblem of Stalinist literary oppression. Undusk's treatment of the subject was seen as somewhat frivolous by some who had all too recent memories of living under Stalinism, but for this outsider Margus Kasterpalu's almost boulevard production, for Talinn's Estonian Drama Theatre, hit the right spot. On a spare but luxurious set, dominated by a huge chandelier, Bulgakov and his circle talk (maybe too much) drink (certainly too much) and await the telephone call from the dictator that may mean death – or permission to stage a play. For our hero, the two possibilities carry equal weight. This piece contained some of the best performances of the entire festival, with the whole company finding and maintaining a common high level of unforced ensemble playing – something sadly lacking in the other performances. What I found especially satisfying about the production was its incrementally increasing pace and physicality, progressing from languid bedroom conversations and earnest political exchanges to wild theatrical celebrations that took up the whole stage, with the dying Bulgakov finally swinging from that wonderful chandelier to proclaim his genius.
The second, larger Estonian show trod more controversial ground. It is impossible for the visitor to any of the Baltic states to remain unaware for long of the terrible impact of World War II, where the successive occupying forces of Hitler and Stalin forced much of the population into their own brands of slavery. Mart Kivastik's The Hero uncovers the story of the "Finnish Boys", those Estonians who joined the Finnish army to fight the Soviets. The play itself is uneven, with an awkward balance between the satirical peacetime scenes that frame the play with a quick run through Estonian history of the last century, and the gritty central scenes of military training and combat. It's obvious that the actors got a lot of enjoyment out of their simulated military service, but the section that sees them welded into a fighting unit, somewhere between Oh, What A Lovely War and Observe The Sons Of Ulster..., is far too long. Nevertheless there is a great poignancy about the way in which the play's central figure finds himself the innocent cause of death for so many of his comrades, and it well presents the hideous choice of evils that faced the youth of the time. Kalju Komissarov's hugely ambitious production, for Endla Theatre in Parmu, succeeds far more than it fails, thanks in particular to some excellent lighting and sound design which more than compensates for the production's deliberately bare stage.
Not long ago the Baltic theatres were looking at their entry into Europe, usually with a degree of cynicism. Now they seem to be exploring deeper into the nature of their identity as nations. Perhaps they can now turn their attention to the elephant in their room, their large and largely disenfranchised Russian-speaking populations.
Ian Herbert | ian@herbertknott.com
Contents / Reviews
London |
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CASA Latin American Theatre Festival Season of new plays (Tangram TC); see review pages for full details Union SE1 |
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9 Sep |
27 Sep |
1036 |
CHERRY DOOS New play by David Gow |
King's Head |
9 Sep |
19 Oct |
1019 |
CROOKED WOOD Revival of play by Gillian Plowman |
Jermyn Street |
10 Sep |
4 Oct |
1034 |
DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR DAUGHTER IS? Return of play by Angie Le Mar (Straight To Audience TC) |
Hackney Emp. Studio |
2 Sep |
27 Sep |
1058 |
A DOLL'S HOUSE Revival of play by Henrik Ibsen (Peter Hall Co) |
Rose, Kingston |
12 Sep |
27 Sep |
1018 |
EDWARD II Revival of play by Christopher Marlowe (Eyestrings) |
St Andrew's Crypt |
10 Sep |
26 Sep |
1039 |
1800 ACRES New play by David Myers (Axes Of Evil) |
Riverside Studios |
19 Sep |
12 Oct |
1053 |
THE ETHICS OF PROGRESS Return of piece by Jon Spooner, Chris Thorpe and Clare Duffy (Unlimited) |
Southwark Playhouse |
17 Sep |
27 Sep |
1019 |
EUROBEAT (ALMOST EUROVISION) New musical by Craig Christie and Andrew Patterson |
Novello |
9 Sep |
15 Nov |
1015 |
FIGHT FACE New play by Sophie Woolley |
Lyric Studio |
18 Sep |
4 Oct |
1045 |
HELIUM New piece by Slung Low |
The Pit |
8 Sep |
20 Sep |
1031 |
in-iNew dance theatre piece by Juliette Binoche and Akram Khan |
Lyttelton |
18 Sep |
20 Oct |
1046 |
IVANOV Revival of play by Anton Chekhov in new version by Tom Stoppard (Donmar) |
Wyndhams |
17 Sep |
29 Nov |
1040 |
KICKING A DEAD HORSE New play by Sam Shepard (Gate, Dublin) |
Almeida |
10 Sep |
20 Sep |
1021 |
LANDSCAPE I A SLIGHT ACHE Revival of plays by Harold Pinter (NT) |
Lyttelton |
13 Sep |
1 Oct |
1035 |
MIMI AND THE STALKER New play by Glyn Maxwell |
Theatre 503 |
19 Sep |
11 Oct |
1018 |
NOW OR LATER New play by Christopher Shinn |
Royal Court |
11 Sep |
1 Nov |
1023 |
PROPHECY New play by Karen Malpede |
New End |
9 Sep |
5 Oct |
1058 |
RAIN MAN New adaptation by Dan Gordon of story/screenplay by Barry Morrow |
Apollo |
19 Sep |
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1054 |
REMINISCENCE New piece by Theatre DaCapo |
Jackson's Lane |
9 Sep |
20 Sep |
1049 |
RIFLEMIND New play by Andrew Upton |
Trafalgar Studio 1 |
18 Sep |
3 Jan |
1050 |
SIX CHARACTERS IN SEARCH OF AN AUTHOR Revival of play by Pirandello aflap, R Goold I B Power |
Gielgud |
15 Sep |
8 Nov |
1037 |
SMALL CRAFT WARNINGS Revival of play by Tennessee Williams |
Arcola |
12 Sep |
18 Oct |
1033 |
365 New play by David Harrower (NTS) |
Lyric Hammersmith |
11 Sep |
27 Sep |
1032 |
TURANDOT UK première of play by Bertolt Brecht, in a version by Edward Kemp |
Hampstead |
8 Sep |
4 Oct |
1013 |
WAR HORSE Return of adaptation by Nick Stafford from book by Michael Morpurgo |
Olivier |
10 Sep |
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1020 |
WELL New play by Lisa Kron |
Trafalgar Studio 2 |
10 Sep |
27 Sep |
1028 |
Regions |
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CALENDAR GIRLS New play by Tim Firth based on screenplay by Firth and Juliette Towhidi |
Chichester Festival I touring |
16 Sep |
27 Sep |
1066 |
DON JUAN Revival of adaptation by Robert David Macdonald from play by Carlo Goldoni |
Glasgow, Citizens |
19 Sep |
11 Oct |
1073 |
THE DRESSER Revival of play by Ronald Harwood |
Watford Palace |
8 Sep |
27 Sep |
1061 |
FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD New adaptation by Mark Healy from novel by Thomas Hardy (ETT) |
Exeter, Northcott I touring |
16 Sep |
27 Sep |
1064 |
FLEETO Revival of play by Paddy Cuneen (V.Amp Prods) |
Glasgow, Tron 1 touring |
10 Sep |
13 Sep |
1069 |
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST I IN EXTREMIS Revivals by Oscar Wilde I Neil Bartlett |
Keswick, Theatre by the Lake |
18 Jul |
8 Nov |
1061 |
MACBETH Revival of play by Shakespeare (Royal Lyceum I Nottingham Playhouse) |
Edinburgh, Royal Lyceum |
13 Sep |
11 Oct |
1071 |
MOTHER COURAGE Revival of play by Bertolt Brecht, translated by John Willett |
Dundee Rep |
10 Sep |
27 Sep |
1070 |
OF ALL THE PEOPLE IN ALL THE WORLD Installation l performance by Stan's Café |
Birmingham, A E Harris factory |
16 Sep |
5 Oct |
1065 |
ONE GIANT LEAP New piece by Andy Cannon, lain Johnstone & David Trouton (Wee Stories I NTS) |
Fort William, Caol Centre I touring |
17 Sep |
17 Sep |
1072 |
PRIVATES ON PARADE Revival of play by Peter Nichols (WYP I Birmingham Rep) |
Leeds, WYP Quarry |
18 Sep |
11 Oct |
1066 |
THREE SISTERS Revival of play by Anton Chekhov, translated by Michael Frayn |
Manchester, Royal Exchange |
15 Sep |
11 Oct |
1063 |
VERTIGO Revival of adaptation by Jonathan Holloway from Pierre Boileau & Thomas Narcejac (Red Shift) |
Nottingham Playhouse |
16 Sep |
27 Sep |
1065 |
WIVES AS THEY WERE, AND MAIDS AS THEY ARE Revival of play by Elizabeth Inchbald |
Bury St Edmunds, Theatre Royal |
9 Sep |
20 Sep |
1062 |
WOMAN IN MIND Revival of play by Alan Ayckbourn |
Scarborough, Stephen Joseph |
9 Sep |
4 Oct |
1062 |