Man and Superman at The Lyttleton

There are two overriding factors regarding this revival of Bernard Shaw’s Man and Superman; it is extremely long and Ralph Fiennes is a brilliant John Tanner.  Written in 1903, this play is rarely revived, which is not surprising seeing its running time of three hours, forty minutes (the uncut version a whopping five hours) and the fact that there is very little action by the characters who all talk too much.  It is a preachy tome, which ultimately highlights Shaw’s disinterest in romance and obsession with putting forward his own philosophical views.  Only an actor of the calibre of Mr. Fiennes could begin to make this play not only watchable, but extremely funny.  And my oh my how difficult the script must have been to learn, for John Tanner spews forth endless swathes of repetitive dialogue. 

In a nutshell, the main plot of the story is that a wily woman gets her man in the end, despite him being a commitment phobe and totally opposed to the idea of being in love.  Tanner, the object of her affection, spends the play highlighting the reasons for this objection in the form of contradictory speeches.  Boring?  Mostly no, for Ralph Fiennes injects the part with so much light and shade and humour that really the only somewhat tedious bit is that which is often omitted from productions of this play.  This being the act that sees Fiennes’s Tanner turning into Don Juan and arguing with the Devil in Hell about willpower and idealism.  Strange?  Very.

The woman in question is Ann Whitefield (Indira Varma) who, on the death of her father, inherits two guardians.  One is the wealthy Tanner, author of The Revolutionist’s Handbook, whilst the other is Roebuck Ramsden (Nicholas Le Provost).  Ramsden, is a conservative, boring old hypocrite, totally disapproving of Tanner and his ideals.  On realising that his ward is out to “nab” him, Tanner and his chauffeur (Elliot Barnes-Worrell) escape to Spain, where they are captured by bandits, the leader of whom is the lovelorn Mendoza (Tim McMullan).  Needless to say, Ann catches up with them in Granada in the final act.

The Director, Simon Godwin, has set the play in modern day and his opening really makes one sit up and take notice, for the first words we hear spoken are by Kirsty Young.  She is introducing her castaway, the “provocateur protagonist and author of a handbook designed to “set a new direction” for society.  The strains of Mozart’s Don Giovanni then burst forth, this being Jack Tanner’s first choice on his Desert Island Discs.  The brilliant Designer Christopher Oram lives up to his high standard with an evocative set and there is excellent work from the large cast.

Particular mention must go to Indira Varma, who not only brings a strength of character to the role of Ana, but also a sexual frisson, so no-one is at all surprised when Mr. Tanner finally capitulates.  Tim McMullan is also excellent playing an exceptionally funny brigand and debonair Devil.  What a captivating voice this actor has.

This production may be a tad too long and yet another one I didn’t always totally understand (some of the speeches went totally over my head), but it is really worth seeing, not just for the perfomances mentioned, but to see Mr. Fiennes manoeuvre a superb white Jaguar soft top off the huge Lyttleton stage.  On the night I saw it, he very nearly took out part of Christopher Oram’s set.  Now that would have been interesting!