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| A Norwegian take on capitalist
peril |
PILLARS OF THE COMMUNITY
Lyttleton Theatre By Illtyd Harrington
HENRIK Ibsen had Pillars of the Community published and performed
in November 1877. It was the prelude to a canon of work, which poured
out until 1896 and continues to test our best actors. It is ably
adapted by Samuel Adamson.
It takes place in the home of Karsten Bernick (Damian Lewis, from
Band of Brothers), a ship builder and blooming entrepreneur, in
a small seaport in south Norway in the late 1870s.
He has two ships under repair in his yard and he is anxious they
should be on the high seas regardless of the risk. There is much
immigration to America and Bernick needs capital to invest in a
railway project.
He is a venture capitalist with a dark secret, namely that he squandered
or stole his mother-in-law’s money.
His wife Becky (Geraldine Alexander) presides over a sewing circle
of the other wives of the respectable. Suddenly, Lorna (Lesley Manville)
Betty’s half sister arrives back from America. Lorna is what
Ibsen and later Bernard Shaw called a New Woman. She is sexy, highly
intelligent, smokes and rekindles a passion in Bernik.
He plots and schemes but his reverence for the profit motive causes
him to intimidate the long serving Aune (Paul Moriaty). Aune, a
champion of his workmates and a man of ideals, warns him against
putting the unworthy vessel on the high seas.
Redemption eventually comes. Lewis moves and looks like Hamlet,
I half expected him to draw a sword.
The other peerless performance comes from Moriaty. He is the symbol
of principle, values and decency inherent in his class of skilled
workers. Unlike others he knows the stage is not a television studio.
Ibsen here was on the brink of world fame but his characters are
already curious passionate and vulnerable, as a new world order
comes on relentlessly.
Until February 4
020 7452 3000
Suburban anger
SUBURBIA
Pentameters By Ronan Murphy
SET in an American suburban wasteland, this production of writer
Eric Bogosian’s sketch of alienated modern youth is a dynamic
and absorbing affair.
The first thing that is striking about this performance is the impressive
stage set, a reconstructed front of a convenience mart. It serves
as the crucible in which the young characters drink copious amounts
of beer and spirits and lay bare their bitterness and frustrations
at the world, each other and the Pakistani owner of the store.
This situation is complicated by the return of an old school friend
who is now a rock star, driving their feelings of inadequacy to
the fore. Some would argue that the play’s driving preoccupation
with the suffocating and depressing nature of modern suburban life
is not especially original.
However, first time director Mark J Knight refuses to let the play
be consumed by its themes alone. This is a fascinating character
piece in its own right, thanks to an excellent cast that lend a
sense of authenticity in their portrayal of a group of young Americans
heading nowhere.
Stand-out performances include Sean-Paul Brown’s eerily convincing
stoner Buff and director Knight’s fantastically unpleasant
Tim, an alcoholic ex-soldier boiling under with impotent rage and
a penchant for racist rants.
A play of wit and black humour, there is a strongly bleak edge to
Suburbia.
Although characters talk of leaving the suburbs, there is a strong
sense that the characters are doomed to a life of frustration and
gloom. This play beautifully captures the inarticulate thought and
lack of purpose prevalent in the youth of a rich country that do
not see where their place in it is to be.
Until December 3
020 7435 3648
George W’s paranoia gets hold on
a docile Midwest
THE GOD OF HELL
Donmar Warehouse By Paschale Straiton
THE God of Hell, at the Donmar Warehouse, is a brilliant black
comedy set in a farmhouse in Wisconsin. This is rural, middle America,
where nothing ever happens.
There’s no tension here. This is where people come to get away
from it all – people like Greg Haynes, who has come to stay
for a few days. Frank and Emma are happy to have him and are intrigued
by his job as a scientist in a secret government research centre.
However, when an all-too forceful and aggressively patriotic suit
comes to call, the prospect of hell comes with him.
Mr Welch is ingratiating, his face implanted with a noxious grin
as he tempts Emma with a star spangled cookie. But once inside,
a little like Dracula, his is hard to shake off and he won’t
leave until he’s drawn blood.
Sam Shephard calls his play “a take off on Republican fascism”.
It rings ear-splitting alarm bells as to the dangers posed by Bush’s
administration: the erosion of civil liberties in the name of national
security; disturbing interrogation techniques used in Guantanamo
and Abu Graib; and shady nuclear research projects. It is certainly
spine-chilling but it is also very funny.
Ewan Bremner is hilarious as Haynes – the poor, terrified scientist
– and executes an extraordinary feat of twitches and high tension.
Lesley Sharp (Emma) and Stuart McQuarrie (Frank) provide brilliant
portrayals of well-meaning citizens who may be a little naïve,
a little gullible, but are certainly undeserving of their distressing
treatment. Ben Daniels as Welch blazes just like the Devil himself.
The cast complement each other faultlessly and are a credit to director
Kathy Burke who makes the hysteria look effortless. This is a must-see,
but not if you’ve had a bad day.
Until December 3
020 7369 1732
Harmless fun at charity evening
THE BIG PINK FLUFFY BOUQUET VARIETY SHOW
Cockpit Theatre By Miranda Gavin
THE show promised to be big, pink and fluffy – and it was.
The brainchild of performer Heather Allen, who pulled the show together
in just two months, The Big Pink Fluffy Bouquet Variety Show took
over the stage for an evening of music and comedy as part of Breast
Cancer Care’s In the Pink campaign.
From accomplished performances by Baroque five-piece, My Lady’s
Chamber, and songs from operas by Mozart, Strauss and Puccini performed
by Night and Day duo (Sian-Elizabeth Rees and Joe Conway), to the
amusing ‘in-yer-face’ comedy sketch A Tale of Two Chavs
(Does Your Mother Know?) and The Dinner Date (Emma Reade Davies
and David Sayers), The BPFBVS was an eclectic mix of the old and
the new.
Showcasing a diverse line up of both emerging and established talent
– all of whom performed for free – the show was a feel-good
night out which raised more than £1,000 for the charity, as
well as a few eyebrows. But as with many variety shows, variety
was also evident in the quality of performances and some acts sadly
missed the mark.
Run finished
Trio of plays peak at zoo
ZOO STORY/WAITING FOR GOLDMAN SACHS/MERCUTIO RISING
Etcetera By Rebecca Omonira-Oyekanmi
PRIMROSE Hill Players present an interesting trio of theatrical
performances. Collectively, the two plays and the monologue resonate
with the inanity of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. Connected
only by a comic irrelevance, individually the plays are pointlessly
puzzling.
Adam Dahrouge plays Mercutio in Mercutio Rising, which sees Romeo’s
bawdry cousin relate the story of his life in a monologue. Dahrouge
gives a credible performance, attempting to engage the audience
with quick movement and charm. However, it has no real story, at
the end of his monologue the character is no more developed than
where we left him in Shakespeare’s play. Indeed he has become
slightly less attractive.
Slightly more engaging, Waiting for Goldman Sachs is satirical look
at the 1980s. It is full of gimmicky paraphernalia, the brick-like
mobile phones, the soulless city jobs, Rob Lowe…but like the
age it describes, it lacks a certain soul. So the first sigh of
relief when Skreedleejung (Maya Lubinsky) shoots Luccachinni (Kate
Hemmingway), is followed by another when Skreedleejung shoots himself.
The highlight of the evening was undoubtedly The Zoo Story. Mysterious
and seemingly sane Jerry (Warren Bradley) creates an intricate web
into which he lures the innocent and hapless Peter (David Sayers).
Peter sits on a park bench reading when Jerry approaches him. Jerry
proceeds to tell Peter about his trip to the zoo, leading to a tragic
and unexpected end.
Bradley and Sayers weave their own web of magic in which they enthral
the audience for the entire play. The Zoo Story is the diamond of
the production.
Until December 3
020 7482 4857
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