Tag: National Theatre

Twelfth Night at the National Theatre review ****

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Twelfth Night

National Theatre, 10th April 2017

Now I’m not going to lie to you. The first couple of times when I saw Twelfth Night years ago I had no idea what was going on. Mind you I put no effort in and was, on one occasion I recall, knackered after a few long shifts at work. Even so it put me off a bit. And I still find it a bit more of a tougher nut to crack than the classic Shakespeare tragedies, the history plays and the some of the other comedies.

I know that the whole spiel is that Twelfth Night is a time of mischief and general larking about. I get that we are in a world of sharp reversals in terms of gender, fortunes and behaviours. I can see the “dead” brothers sub-text and the possible link to the death of Hamnet. But that hasn’t stopped me finding the whole thing a bit mannered and a little less than entirely satisfying. And I have previously found Olivia, Viola/Cesario, Sebastian, Orsino and Aguecheek all slightly colourless.

Still never give up. After all if I can’t get my head around these mistaken identity comedy plots then I can’t really count myself a serious theatre-goer can I.

So joys of joys this production has allayed my prior misgivings.

First up, as most everyone has observed, the gender reversal of Malvolio into Malvolia is a stroke of genius. For me it brings a whole new dimension not just to this character, but it spills over elsewhere, particularly into Olivia’s and then Orsino’s relationship with Viola/Cesario. Now you, and they, are really unsure about their identities and sexualities and we get a bit of a head of steam building up to the benefit of the gag quotient.

Of course this dimension is only made possible by the genius of Tamsin Greig. So the family loves her from the telly and though I have only seen her a couple of times on stage, in Jumpy and, most recently, in IHo at Hampstead, she blew my socks off. Great actor, impeccable comic timing. Of course you are primed to laugh at Malvolio/a but she took it to a whole new level in the gulling/topiary scene. And I really believe “she’ll be back” to get the bastards who treated her so badly. At last I savoured this downbeat contrast at the end.

I also think Tim McMullan is a brilliant actor. Sir Toby was another reason I have got frustrated by productions of Twelfth Night in the past. The temptation with this character to slice thinly, marinade overnight and then flash fry the scenery before chewing loudly might prove too great for some actors but Mr McMullan wisely eschews (geddit) this. With a Cooganesque swagger he gets the balance between dick and provocateur bang on. The SO loved him in Man and Superman. And just look a his list of NT credits. If he is in it, it will be good, and so it was here.

I would also call out Phoebe Fox as Olivia and Niky Wardley as Maria. In fact the only slightly unconvincing link in the actorial chain was Doon Mackichan as Feste who just didn’t seem comfortable as a fool, having to ensure we could follow all her fool-ish meaning, whilst moving sharply through the set. Oh yes and what a genius set it was. I think Soutra Gilmour must be my favourite set designer (never thought I would have a favourite set designer) what with this, My Brilliant Friend. Les Blancs, The Homecoming, Strange Interlude, Bull, and Antigone in the last few years.

And finally hats off to director Simon Godwin. After all the masterstroke in the gender rewiring of cast and the freedom of choice with set, place and costume, which in turn emphasised the characters own freedom to maybe be what they want to be, was presumably his call.

So I get the play. At last. Hurrah.

Ugly Lies the Bone at the National Theatre review ****

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Ugly Lies the Bone

National Theatre, 28th March 2017

Tricky one this. It was by no means perfect, a little too thinly drawn for me, but there was so much to applaud that I think it worthy of a strong positive review.

The playwright, Lindsay Ferrentino is entirely new to me, but the string of awards, the intriguing content and the imprimatur of the NT, was enough to sucker me in. The play focuses on Jess, played by a massive favourite of mine Kate Fleetwood (her performance in Medea at the Almeida, directed I recall by hubby Rupert Goold, and written by a Kate Atkinson in full-on spleen venting mode, was a cracker), who returns ravaged physically and mentally from tours in Afghanistan to her native Space Coast Florida. She undergoes a pioneering virtual reality therapy, which gives set designer Es Devlin and her video, lighting and sound colleagues carte blanche to pump up the pyrotechnics, and boy do they seize the opportunity, whilst rebuilding relationships with sister (Olivia Darnley), an old flame (Ralf Little), sister’s maybe dodgy boyfriend (Kris Marshall) and eventually mother.

The text is direct but funny, Ms Fleetwood draws out Jess’s p*ssed-offedness with the world brilliantly, the supporting cast are uniformly excellent and Indhu Rubasingham’s direction (how is that Tricycle refurb going?) is clear as a bell. The reliance of Jess’s hometown on the NASA space programme is also well articulated to mirror Jess’s personal demons. So all good. I just wanted a little bit more. The technical pyrotechnics were a bit guilty of overshadowing the personal dramas, and the urge to maintain a lightish touch and neatish resolutions, left me liking the characters more than caring for them. Smaller stage, more lines, less fancy-dan stuff might have served it better.

Anyway definitely worth seeing though (on for a few more weeks and plenty of tickets) and I hope to see more of Ms Ferrentino’s work.

London theatre update

Focussing on theatre and couldn’t be arsed to put in a photo.

Most of this below post still applies but a few new shiny things have caught my beady eye.

Some ideas for the culturally inclined in London

At the Barbican booking opening for a Japanese version of Macbeth which is apparently a “once in a lifetime” experience. So they have hooked me in easily. And all the Shakespeare Roman plays are coming from Stratford to the Barbican with booking very soon.

Talking of Roman plays the new Bridge Theatre with the marvellous Nicholas Hytner at the tiller will announce its inaugural season on 19th April but has already teased with a Julius Caesar with Ben Wishaw as Brutus. Busy Ben will also be in Against at the Almeida. What with the National Theatre productions of The Madness of King George III, The Cripple of Inishmaan, The Alchemist, England People Very Nice, One Man Two Guvnors, Timon of Athens and Othello through the years Mr Hytner has been the brains behind some of the very best theatre I have ever seen.

The West End transfer of the Almeida Hamlet with Andrew Scott is booking already I think – I got a bit confused. Mandatory viewing if you haven’t already seen it. Hamlet at the Almeida review *****

And the Park Theatre new season has been announced and looks full of goodies to me. I don’t know how they do it but the ideas, writers and cast they attract it tip top. Rabbits, Loot, What Shadows and The Retreat all catch my eye for varying reasons. Take a gander at the website.

Park Theatre What’s On

Right best of what’s on now that I have seen is (in no particular order)

  • The Glass Menagerie at the Duke of York’s Theatre – make sure you are in a Tennessee Williams mindset though (whatever that is) but the production and performances are top notch. mind you the staging requires a close up view I think.
  • The Kid Stays in the Picture at the Royal Court – loved it – The Kid Stays in the Picture at the Royal Court Theatre review *****
  • Ugly Lies the Bone at the National Theatre – have to review this but worth a visit – it is a bit skeletal and needs a bit of meat to flesh it out (sorry this is getting overly carnivorous) but solid performances, sone good ideas and a cracking Es Devlin set.

Yet to see Twelfth Night and Consent at the NT but critics like ’em, same for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, The Goat and Don Juan in Soho in the West End but sounds like you could easily go a whim to any of these.

Cheers