Travelling Light at The Lyttleton

I suppose disappointment with a production had to happen before long and such was the case with Travelling Light at The Lyttleton.  To my mind, the fault lies with the play itself, for although Act One is charming and entertaining, Act Two seems to lose its way.

The play by Nicholas Wright concerns Motl Mendl, who returns home to his remote village or Shtetl, after the death of his father, a Jewish photographer.  Whilst there he comes across his father’s 1896 Lumiere Brothers cinematograph and starts experimenting with the machine by filming life in the village.  Impressed with the youth’s talent, Jacob (a wealthy local timber merchant) becomes Motl’s backer.  Enter a pretty young girl assistant called Anna, add the stirring of the boy’s and Jacob’s heart strings and the scene is set for jealousy, a power struggle and the problems involved with making moving pictures on a budget.  Motl eventually tiring of these hindrances to making his beloved movies does a runner to Hollywood …. alone!  Anna, Motl’s muse and (it would seem) sexual plaything is abandoned.

May I mention a couple of niggles which start with the accent discrepencies between the older Motl, (now re-named Maurice Montgomery and played by Paul Jesson) and his younger version, the cold and rather usubtle, Damien Molony?  Can someone please explain to me why Motl has no accent at all and yet Maurice is full on Jewish in 1936?  In order to inform us (the audience) that he decided to embrace his Jewishness whilst in the US?  I don’t know, but it is irritating whatever the reason. Likewise, the usually wonderful Anthony Sher adopts a very over the top accent as Jacob.  Previous critics have likened his performance to an escapee from Fiddler on the Roof and I’m afraid I sadly have to agree.

The flickering black and white filmed sequences of the various villagers illuminated on the wall of the house are a charming and lovely touch, except that Maurice as the older and successful Hollywood film maker tends to be narrating at the same time, so the focus is lost.

For me the most believable character in a sea of Jewish stereotypes is Lauren O’Neil as Anna.  Her lovely face in close-up on the cinema screen is a perfect portrayal of a silent screen goddess and, although it stretches the imagination to believe that she should instinctively understand the process of cutting and editing film, it doesn’t really seem to matter.  What does is the schmaltzy scene in Act Two when Maurice discovers the identity of a young actor, Nate Dershowitz, also played by Damien Molony. 

I apologise if I’m sounding totally negative.  The play isn’t all doom and gloom and there are some clever and amusing touches, which is to be expected when Nicholas Hytner is directing.  I just feel that the amalgamation of film and theatre doesn’t quite work, with the filmed sequences upstaging the theatrical element at every turn.  I would prefer the play to be rooted in some kind of reality and have more dramatic depth.

The Recruiting Officer at The Donmar

Unusually, the second theatre trip for 2012 was another Restoration Comedy, this time The Recuiting Officer at The Donmar.  The draw for me was Mackenzie Crook playing Sergeant Kite, as I loved his performance in Jerusalem.  He doesn’t disappoint this time around either and his comic timing and wonderful expressions are a joy to behold.  He is, in essence, unforgettable.  The play is centred around Captain Plume, expertly played by Tobias Menzies and Captain Brazen, brought to life by the wonderful but hardly recognisable Mark Gatiss, recruiting for the Army in Shrewsbury.  Plume’s Sergeant Kite lies, cheats and dresses as a fortune teller in order to enlist gullible men as soldiers.  Confusion abounds when women come into the equation – the womanising Plume is smitten with Silvia, perfectly played by Nancy Carroll, who disguises herself as a man in order to get recruited by him, Capt Brazen is led up the garden path by Silvia’s bitchy cousin Melinda, a wonderfully funny Rachael Stirling who is actually in love with Mr. Worthy, an excellent Nicholas Burns and Rose, Aimee-Ffion Edwards’s adorable country wench.

This is Josie Rourke’s first offering as Artistic Director of The Donmar and if it’s a sign of what’s to come, I feel very confident that all will be well.  The pace of the production is spot on and I loved various members of the cast performimg as a folk band, especially the reprise of Over the Hills and Far Away at the show’s end, as one by one the musicians put down their instruments and head off to war.

Full praise, too, to Lucy Osborne, the designer.  The glow from all the flickering candles is very atmospheric and sets the scene right from the off.

It seems wrong to only highlight certain performances as everyone in this new production of Farquar’s hilarious play deserves praise.  Tobias Menzies switches from rake to monogamous lover with consummate ease and, oh my, what a wink this officer has.  The poodle wigged Mark Gatiss flounces, winks and smiles in hilarious fashion, which should be too over the top to work but isn’t and does.  Rachael Stirling is brilliantly comedic and perfects a wonderful faux posh accent, making “air” come out as “ear” before enacting a couple of brilliant “slapstick” manoeuvres.

It’s rare to find all round perfection even on the perfect Donmar stage but it’s there for all to see in this Recruiting Officer.  Sign me up Sergeant Kite.

She Stoops To Conquer at The Olivier

It had been a few weeks since the last theatre visit, so I was very much looking forward to returning to one of my favourite “spaces” The Olivier Theatre at The National to see She Stoops to Conquer.  If my first theatre trip of the year is to be a bench mark of what’s to come, whoopee, for Oliver Goldsmith’s comedy of confusion and mistaken identity was an absolute delight – the best medicine for a dose of winter blues.

The plot of this joyous Restoration Comedy centres around two young blades, Marlowe and Hastings, who are tricked into mistaking a country house, belonging to Mr. & Mrs. Hardcastle, for an inn.  Hardcastle has high hopes of a match between his daughter, Kate and Marlowe, but begins to doubt his choice when the young man treats him as the inn keeper and all hell breaks loose.

A truly wonderful cast, ably abetted by a stunning set courtesy of designer Mark Thompson and expert direction by Jamie Lloyd, ensure that this production, whilst true to its origins, is bang up to date.  I particularly loved the chorus of singing servants who tumble on between acts banging kitchen utensils.

Restoration Comedy is, to my mind, a difficult genre to get right; each character is exaggerated but must not  tip over into overacting.  Here it works to perfection, most notably by the wonderful Sophie Thompson playing Mrs. Hardcastle.  Her hilarious accents and wonderful gurning face are enough to ensure the audience is kept amused throughout and I mustn't forget the excellent bit of business involving a curtesy. 

She is not alone, however.  Harry Hadden-Paton as Marlow, who is a nervous gibbering wreck when speaking to women of his own class but a rampant letch in the company of serving wenches, is superb.  He switches with consummate ease;  the painfully shy, inhibited young man unable to even look at Kate Hardcastle, to the pawing, sexual stallion in the company of Kate playing a barmaid;  hilarious.  Plus his pairing with John Heffernan’s Hastings is a magical piece of casting, a double act par excellence.  I particularly enjoyed his ecstacic delight when thinking of wearing a white and gold coat.  Much has been said about the casting of ex Coronation Street actress, Katherine Kelly, as Kate Hardcastle.  Her return to the stage is a triumph, as she hits just the right note, not only when playing Kate as the spirited daughter sussing out her father’s choice of husband, but also when turning on the sexual charm whilst posing as a barmaid.  David Flynn’s Tony Lumpkin, Mr. Hardcastle’s stepson who sets up the whole plot, is also spot on, as is Steve Pemberton as Mr. Hardcastle himself.

This is yet another riotous evening at the theatre.  Long may it continue!

Jerusalem at The Apollo

What can I say that hasn’t already been said about the wonderful Jerusalem?  It is a marvellous portrait of England’s green and pleasant land in the twenty first century and I can safely say that I enjoyed it even more the second time around, with tears welling up once more when Johnny ‘Rooster’ Byron finally has to give up his fight to stay in his mobile home in the wood.

Mark Rylance doesn’t act, he inhabits and it is impossible to imagine anyone else being the strutting, limping teller of implausible fairy tales to the young who frequently visit him for wild drug and alcohol fuelled parties.  On occasions he delivers lines directly at the audience enabling us to see dark eyes glinting with the heady mix of mischief and something dark and disturbing.  Yet he also manages to convey awkwardness when talking to his son and elicit our sympathy when really his character is often anything but sympathetic.  He is certainly the most exciting and real actor I have ever had the pleasure to watch.

The rest of the cast are also impeccable, from the excellent Mackenzie Crook as Ginger to Alan David as The Professor.  The Designer, Ultz has done the most wonderful job creating the Rooster’s ‘coop’, Ian Rickson, the Director is flawless and the play itself, written by Jez Butterworth is a modern classic, which mixes humour with tenderness, tragedy and violence.

For me and I’m sure for everyone else who has had the privilege of seeing Jerusalem, it is one of the best nights ever at the theatre and it makes me feel so proud to be British.

Noises Off at The Old Vic

I’ve seen several productions of Noises Off, including its first West End run at The Savoy Theatre in 1982, so you may have got the hint that I rather like this play by Michael Frayn.  This new production at The Old Vic, directed by Lindsay Posner more than does it justice.

Noises Off is a play within a play, where a third rate travelling theatre company are performing in a typically clichéd farce entitled Nothing On.  Each of the three acts of Noises Off contains a performance of the first act of Nothing On.  The first act is set during the dress rehearsal in Weston-super-Mare where a lot can and does go wrong, whilst the second act is seen from behind the stage during a performance in Goole and the third shows the play being performed a couple of months later in Stockton-on-Tees.  This time the script has been changed;  real life and farce have merged into a surreal variant on the original.  Add to this mix personal friction within the cast brought about by various sexual liaisons and the whole effect is hilarious, especially when performed by the excellent company of actors here at The Old Vic.

The wonderful Celia Imrie excels as Dolly Otley, whose ‘char’ character, Mrs. Clackett, has her work cut out remembering whether or not a plate of sardines should be on or off stage, whilst Robert Glenister hits just the right note playing the harassed director, Lloyd Dallas.  Every other member of the cast deserves a mention, especially Jamie Glover who as Garry Lejeune  is always stuttering and completing sentences with “you know” but whilst in character as Roger Trampleman has no such speech affectations, Jonathan Coy, playing Frederick Fellows an actor with a serious fear of violence and blood who constantly blames himself when things go wrong and Amy Nuttall who as Brooke Ashton, the inexperienced and dumb actress, is forever searching for her lost contact lenses.  I also particularly enjoyed Paul Ready’s Tim Allgood, the overworked Stage Manager and Understudy.

Noises Off is a perfect way to forget all life’s problems and have a bloody good laugh.

Richard II at The Donmar

Having seen Richard II in the West End once before and not being very inspired by it, I really only booked to see this production because of Michael Grandage.  He always delivers and, as this is his last play as Artistic Director at The Donmar, nothing would keep me away.  And am I glad I bought the tickets.  It bears no resemblance to the rather tedious interpretation I’d seen and the casting of Eddie Redmayne is a stroke of genius.  He is one of those luminous actors who keeps you focused on him whenever he’s on stage.  Plus he can act. 

I don’t know what it is about The Donmar but every production ( well every one that I’ve seen ) manages to create the right atmosphere and setting. This one was no exception.   The scene was immediately set when walking into the wonderful little theatre and seeing King Richard already in place, trance-like on his wooden throne and with the smell of incense in the air.  We were entering the medieval world of gothic arches, oak pillars and the amber glow of candlelight.  Perfect.  Full marks to Designer Richard Kent and David Plater, the Lighting Designer.

The play moves at a cracking pace and with no weak links.  The whole cast speak their Shakespearian dialogue as if it’s the most natural thing in the world and, as a result, one always understands what’s happening.  I’d seen many of the actors in Michael Grandage’s wonderful King Lear last December, so no wonder he is using them again.  Who wouldn’t?  It makes perfect sense.

As I mentioned earlier, Eddie Redmayne makes a wonderful Richard.  He portrays excellently the King’s hauteur whilst still on the throne and then the frailty when he’s usurped by Henry Bolingbroke, expertly played by Andrew Buchan.  In the scene where he is imprisoned Eddie’s Richard discovers emotional depth and self-realisation, which is very moving.  There are three performances which are particularly fine, namely Ron Cook as the bumbling Duke of York, who is torn between national duty and family loyalty, Sian Thomas, who is wonderfully moving as the Duchess of Gloucester and Michael Hadley’s raging John of Gaunt.

I’m sure even non Shakespeare-loving theatre goers would enjoy this production and I can’t wait to see what’s next on Michael Grandage’s agenda.

The Ladykillers at The Gielgud

I was so looking forward to seeing The Ladykillers, mostly because I’ve been hooked on watching Peter Capaldi ever since my first viewing of The Thick Of It. However, I hate to admit that I was slightly disappointed.  Not with his performance as Professor Marcus, for he “nails” playing comically sinister, but with various timing issues – it wasn’t “tight” and cues weren’t crisply picked up.  It’s true that it was only a second night preview but, bearing in mind the cast have been playing it in Liverpool, it could have been much sharper

I’m sure it was just an “off” night as it promised so much.  The set, comprising a gradually subsiding “lopsided” house in Kings Cross, built over the entrance to a railway tunnel and designed by Michael Taylor, is wonderful (must have cost a small fortune) and the comic touch of using toy cars is very ingenious.  There was a slight amateurish moment, when Professor Marcus could be spotted in the wings, climbing down the set, having supposedly fallen out of the window, but I mustn’t dwell on the negatives, as I really did enjoy the evening.

Marcia Warren as Mrs. Wilberforce, the unsuspecting octogenarian widow who rents out a room to the five oddball criminal types intent on planning a bank robbery, is a tour de force.  The criminals posing as classical musicians are well characterised, especially James Fleet, as Major Courtney and Stephen Wight as Harry Robinson.  I was a little disappointed with Ben Miller as Louis Harvey, although he did improve as the play got more into its stride.  The scene where they perform a concert for a bunch of elderly ladies, who are expecting much more than they are given, is hilarious, as is the running joke of Harry Robinson continually being banged on the head.  And the first time a train rumbled past, shaking everything on stage and rendering the conversation between Mrs. Wilberforce and Professor Marcus inaudible, was hilarious.  Full marks to the Sound Designers, Ben & Max Ringham and Special Effects Designer Scott Penrose.

The whole piece managed to convey the fifties very well and stayed true to the original movie, thanks to the writer Graham Linehan.  I so hope they manage to iron out the little niggles because it has the potential of being very funny indeed.