Sandy Pritchard-Gordon

Sandy Pritchard-Gordon
Theatre Blog

Friday 27 July 2012

Richard III at The Globe


I visited The Globe last night for the first time and it was a magical experience.  The sun shone, our Olympic city sparkled and Mark Rylance as Richard III shone, sparkled and sizzled.  The man is pure genius. Is he improvising - so fresh, clear and, yes, funny is his Richard?  His every speech can be totally understood and the King’s descent into madness is brilliantly portrayed.  I envied the audience in the pit with whom he interacts and got totally caught up in the magic that is The Globe Theatre.  So this is how Shakespeare should be played?  I’m experiencing the bard as did the theatregoers all those years ago.

The magic began on stepping into the auditorium itself.  The scene before me, and atmospheric music from the on-stage musicians, alongside the buzz from the assembled audience took my breath away.  No matter that the seats aren’t the most comfortable, I had a cushion and a back wall to lean against.  No matter that it was hot and sticky, the actors in their period costumes were feeling the heat much more.  It was going to be a great night and so it proved.

What do they say?  Grab the audience from the word go?  Mark Rylance does just that.  His “winter of discontent” has never felt so real and there were so many laugh out loud moments that I’m amazed it’s taken me until now to realise Shakespeare is some comedian.  The whole cast are faultless with some stand out performances, namely Samuel Barnett as Queen Elizabeth, Paul Chahidi as Hastings/Tyrrell and Roger Lloyd-Pack as Buckingham.  Such is the quality of acting from Barnett, Johnny Flynn as Lady Anne and James Garnon as The Duchess of York, that one totally forgets there are no women actors in the cast. There are no gimmicks.  Well just a minor one when the Duchess of York glides on as if on castors;  hilarious.  This is just rudimentary Shakespeare done to perfection. 

I particularly like the fact that the two young Princes are played by two young boys, Austin Moulton/Shanu Hazzan as Edward, Prince of Wales and Lorenzo Allchurch/Dylan Standen as Richard, Duke of York.  They brought an air of authenticity, although I don't know which of the four boys who perform the two roles were on stage last night.

The period dancing which brings the play to a close is a wonderful touch and if the audience reaction and number of curtain calls is anything to go by, I’m not the only one who will rave about this Richard III.

This is one hot ticket.  Roll on Twelfth Night and Mark Rylance as Olivia.  This is also to be directed by the excellent Tim Carroll and I can’t wait.

Timon of Athens at The Olivier


As a general rule I prefer Shakespeare productions to be set in the period, but his least performed play, Timon of Athens, works perfectly as a modern day piece.  Not his best work, but it hits the right note under the direction of Nicholas Hytner and starring Simon Russell Beale as Timon.  Obviously substituting Athens for London, Hytner litters the stage at the beginning with the Occupy protesters still encamped on the city’s fringe, whilst our first glimpse of the hero at the opening of the new Timon Room, named after him, is situated in the equivalent of The National Gallery.  We are being treated to a parable of today – the devastating affect of the power of money.

Timon is an extremely rich Athen’s philanthropist who lavishes gifts and treats on his so-called friends ad infinitum.  Artistic freeloaders constantly toady up to him and a poet, excellently portrayed by Nick Sampson, is particularly oily.  An insignificant man when not pressing gifts onto sweaty outstretched palms, Timon doesn’t appear to notice sycophants even when they’re right in his face;  surely anyone would pick out Ventidius, a coke-sniffing toff as loathsome (mind you, Tom Robertson does make him very funny).  But that is one of Timon’s problems.  He has no concept of the idea of true friendship.  Another flaw in his personality is his lack of moderation.  When the money runs out and his friends come up wanting, inventing one excuse after another for not dipping their hands in their pockets to help him, he gets back at them by throwing yet another dinner party.  Only this time the gourmet grub is exchanged for excrement.  Not a very subtle retaliation.

The only two people in Timon’s life who aren’t afraid to tell him the truth are Flavia (usually Flavius but interestingly played here by Deborah Findlay) his steward and the philosopher, Apemantus (an excellent Hilton McRae).  But their loyalty and truthfulness gets them nowhere.  In a slightly less satisfactory second half, when Timon is reduced to living in cardboard city with a shopping trolley full to the brim with his remaining worldly possessions, they are both sent packing.  Timon no longer trusts anyone and is eaten up with hatred and self-loathing.

Very few actors could make the character of Timon remotely appealing in Act Two, such is his penchant for ranting at anyone and everyone and forgetting any trace of the impeccable manners he had in the First Act.  But somehow the wonderful Simon Russell Beale makes his Timon a pitiable figure and we care about what will happen to him.  The light and shade in his wonderful voice and his expert delivery of the Shakespearian language makes this less well known Shakespeare play well worth a visit.

Sunday 15 July 2012

Birthday at The Royal Court


I don’t want to give the game away but something strange is going in on the Maternity Ward of the NHS Hospital on stage at The Royal Court.  Stephen Mangan’s Ed eventually appears to be the one about to give birth.  Joe Penhall’s latest play is looking at childbirth from the male perspective whilst simultaneously having a very large dig at the inadequacies of our National Health Service.

Stephen Mangan’s discomfort and concern is palpable and I found hidden memories of when I gave birth for the first time resurfacing.  His Ed has decided to take on the role of mother following the very difficult birth of his first child by his wife, Lisa, played by Lisa Dillon.  Whilst Mangan brings equal amounts of laugh out loud humour, panic and pathos to his role, Dillon never quite elicits much sympathy and remains rather cold and distant throughout.  She is by her husband’s side to offer advice and support;  after all there aren’t many men who would agree to be fitted with an artificial womb and suffer all the indignities we women suffer in order to produce the second child she is unable to deliver.  But there isn’t much sympathy on tap and she even forgets his f***ing raspberry leaf tea – a major sin when your hormones are all to pot!

One would be forgiven for thinking that Joe Penhall has had a pretty difficult time himself when it comes to babies being delivered within the NHS system if the behaviour of the alarmingly laid back nurse, beautifully played by Llewella Gideon is anything to go by.  

There are some sharp observations about human nature, especially when the couple rage at the medics when everything is going belly up, but praise them to the hilt when everything goes well.

Roger Mitchell’s direction is excellent and the revolving set perfectly shows us the passing of time;  poor old Ed’s labour is definitely laboured.