Sandy Pritchard-Gordon

Sandy Pritchard-Gordon
Theatre Blog

Friday 20 June 2014

Fathers and Sons at The Donmar





When a story by a famous Russian is adapted into a play by a famous Irishman one would hope that the outcome is well worth seeing.  When the people in question are Turgenev and Friel that hope is fulfilled and can be currently viewed at The Donmar.  Fathers and Sons, the novel, written by Turgenev in 1862 centres around the nihilist Bazarov and his impressionable friend Arkady who also supports this new philosophy.  The two friends’ beliefs are in sharp contrast to the senior members of their families and thus cause disruption when they all come together.

The play opens with the two friends visiting Arkady’s father, Nikolai, who, it transpires, loves and has sired a son by the housemaid Fenichka.  The rather inept Nikolai is thrilled to see his recently graduated son but this is not a cosy homecoming.  Bazarov manages to unsettle the whole household with his radical views and rather hostile manner.  And Arkady’s uncle Pavel bitterly despises him.  The younger generation however are not so negative in their thoughts, with the plump maid, Dunyasha, reduced to a quivering wreck when in his company.  When the young men then visit Bazarov’s humble parents, we quickly discover how contemptible he is of their values and seemingly embarrassed by their self-evident adoration of him.  Like Turgenev, we’re not sure whether to love or hate Bazarov and it is only when, despite his hatred of love and any display of affection, he quickly succumbs to the charms of the young, wealthy widow, Anna, that we see any hint of warmth in his character.

Although one might argue that not much happens (shades of Chekhov here) during Fathers and Sons, emotions are running riot under the surface and the cast manage to capture this superbly well.  There is also a rich seam of comedy flowing throughout the two and a half hours, mostly supplied by the excellent Tim McMullan as the foppish uncle and Susan Engel as the dotty Princess Olga.  Alongside the humour are periods of painful sadness.  Karl Johnson as Vassily, Bazarov’s father is particularly affecting.  Every one of his lines hit the spot and the lyricism of the writing is oh so safe in his capable hands. There actually isn’t a weak link with any of the cast, but Joshua James as Arkady and Anthony Calf as his father stand out.  Joshua is able to combine Arkady’s youthful idealism with a mature sensitivity and we believe every word he utters.  Anthony Calf, on the other hand, is amusing and utterly convincing as the benevolent ditherer.  The American actor Seth Numrich plays Bazarov, with no trace of an American accent and whilst suitably arrogant and insensitive is not quite as believable as his fellow actors.  Mind you his floppy hair does deserve a particular mention.

Nothing in this ensemble production is forced, thanks in no small measure to Lyndsey Turner’s brilliant direction.  Rob Howell’s clever design and James Farncombe’s superb lighting also help to enhance her work.

If tickets are still available, this production is well worth seeing.

Monday 9 June 2014

A View From The Bridge at The Young Vic





Praise has already been heaped upon Belgian director Ivo Van Hove’s production of Arthur Miller’s A View From The Bridge at The Young Vic and luckily I managed to get to see it before the run ended last night.  I can’t think of enough superlatives to describe how good a production this is and as practically the whole theatre stood to applaud at the end, they obviously agree with me.

In a three sided, see through empty box, akin to a boxing ring, the barefooted actors pad around and encircle one another often with Faure’s Requiem playing in the background.  There are practical reasons for Jan Versweyveld’s bare staging, all of which are revealed at the end of the mesmerising two hours, when the cast, enveloped in a rugger type scrum get rained upon by a torrent of red “blood”.  Such is the racked-up tension by director Ivo Van Hove that we all know (even those not familiar with Miller’s take on a Greek tragedy) that the denouement won’t be pretty.  And such is the brilliance of the whole cast, that we are caught up, carried along and left exhausted, emotionally spent and elated when the die is cast.

A View From The Bridge centres around Eddie Carbone, inhabited here by the magnificent Mark Strong, who works as a longshoreman in 1950’s Brooklyn.  He and his wife, Beatrice, the equally brilliant Nicola Walker, have brought up her orphaned niece, Catherine since childhood.  Now seventeen, Catherine is ready to spread her wings, but Eddie is not so keen.  Still treating her like the child she often appears to be, we realise that his is a suffocating, all consuming, unhealthy love.  A love which bothers his long suffering wife, Bea and also eventually threatens to alienate the doting niece.  Eddie’s jealousy knows no bounds when Bea’s two Sicilian cousins arrive to stay with them, unleashing a series of events that have terrible consequences.  For Catherine falls in the love with Rodolpho, the younger brother, the love is reciprocated and Eddie is unable to come to terms with it.  Add the fact that the cousins have entered the States illegally and you have a tinder box situation where betrayal, seething resentment and ultimately violence is the outcome.  We, the audience watch appalled as the tragedy unfolds, as does the lawyer who is narrating the story.

There are outstanding performances from the whole cast.  Mark Strong captures the pain and emotional breakdown of Eddie with such raw emotion that we feel for him whilst at the same time despairing of his actions.    Nicola Walker’s despair at what her husband is doing to the family is heartbreaking to watch, whilst Phoebe Fox manages to portray Catherine’s childishness whilst at the same time highlighting her metamorphosis into a young woman.  Michael Gould as Alfieri the anguished lawyer helps to build the tension and there is also excellent work from Luke Norris as Rudolpho and Emun Elliot as his brother Marco.  Marco’s lifting of the chair in order to show his muscular superiority over Eddie is so threatening that the spine tingles. 

Ivo van Hove has surely produced a superlative piece of theatre and I left the Young Vic feeling I had witnessed something very special indeed.