This is transferring from the Cottesloe to the Olivier (the larger theatre in The National) and is well worth a trip to see. Go on, go and see a new play. It's by John Hodge (screenwriter of Trainspotting, Shallow Grave, The Beach).
I was surprised by how funny and surreal this play was, considering the content (in Moscow, 1938, writer Mikhail Bulgakov (Alex Jennings) is commissioned to write a play about Stalin to commemorate his 60th birthday).
The play is also more subtle than I expected. Yes, it has something to say about art controlled by the state. But it's also a skilful portrait of an artist who gets lost in his work.
It is worth seeing this just for the amazing darkly comic performance of Simon Russell Beale as Stalin. Initially affable and light hearted he offers to write scenes of Bulgakov's play for him, but in exchange Bulgakov should take over some of his own work; signing papers and making decisions. Things spiral into a nightmare as Bulgakov unwittingly agrees and inspires Stalin to commit more and more terrible atrocities on the people of Russia.
Go and see this, particularly if you enjoyed Every Good Boy Deserves Favour at the beginning of 2010 which was on a similar topic and was stunningly brilliant. And, of course, the White Guard in July 2010 which I missed because I am an idiot.
Showing posts with label National Theatre. Show all posts
Showing posts with label National Theatre. Show all posts
Wednesday, 28 December 2011
Sunday, 13 November 2011
47 - 13, National Theatre
I was very excited to see 13 because Earthquakes in London was one of my favourite plays of last year. However 13 did not quite have the emotional punch of Earthquakes. I think this was because Earthquakes concentrated on presenting a terrifying view of climate change, confronting us with a selfish present and a dystopian future that was very close to the bone. 13 on the other hand tried to represent a much wider issue of belief and apathy in today's society. Although the points about whether we can change our world in a big way or whether it is best to compromise to affect the changes we can were interesting, the issues were a bit too broad and therefore lacked impact. I didn't really like the way religious faith was associated with demanding political change through protest because I don't see a link between those things in real life people.
It was slightly unsatisfying to watch the idealist and symbol of hope in the play be confronted with the harsh reality. His protest, a result of his speeches in Hyde Park going viral on YouTube, arrives at Westminster and he is granted a meeting with the Prime minister. The PM is a popular liberal conservative who also happens to be the mother of his friend who died as a result of a drunken stunt a couple of years previously.
The resulting negotiations are too complicated for the audience to choose a side, these issues are not black and white. But while that might be very realistic, it doesn't make for the most satisfying play to watch.
What did make the play great to watch were the sparkling snappy clever dialogue you'd expect from Mike Bartlett and the colourful realistic characters who you just had to empathise with. The overarching metaphor of peeking inside the box was brilliantly realised with an enormous revolving box which made up the set in the first half which the characters would act around and inside. I felt a bit bereft when this box was removed in the interval because I liked it so much.
The touches of London that crept onto the stage made the production feel very contemporary, at one point a Barclays bike whizzed across the stage. However the play's claim to be set in a slightly alternative London where strange things happen did not make sense to me. There was nothing explicitly supernatural going on, many of the characters and events were certainly bizarre, like the brilliant old lady playing and singing a Rhianna song on the piano. But the real London is full of bizarre characters doing funny things, so the only reason to set the play in "a dark and magical landscape, a London both familiar and strange" was so the play could portray a realistic London but include a Prime Minister, US envoy etc without satirising real people. I thought this was a bit of a cop-out for the playwright.
Reading this post back, it seems a little negative. I actually loved this play, it was funny and deep and engaging and contemporary. I'm being a bit hard on it because I loved Earthqakes so much. And this is not quite as brilliant as Earthquakes.
It was slightly unsatisfying to watch the idealist and symbol of hope in the play be confronted with the harsh reality. His protest, a result of his speeches in Hyde Park going viral on YouTube, arrives at Westminster and he is granted a meeting with the Prime minister. The PM is a popular liberal conservative who also happens to be the mother of his friend who died as a result of a drunken stunt a couple of years previously.
The resulting negotiations are too complicated for the audience to choose a side, these issues are not black and white. But while that might be very realistic, it doesn't make for the most satisfying play to watch.
What did make the play great to watch were the sparkling snappy clever dialogue you'd expect from Mike Bartlett and the colourful realistic characters who you just had to empathise with. The overarching metaphor of peeking inside the box was brilliantly realised with an enormous revolving box which made up the set in the first half which the characters would act around and inside. I felt a bit bereft when this box was removed in the interval because I liked it so much.
The touches of London that crept onto the stage made the production feel very contemporary, at one point a Barclays bike whizzed across the stage. However the play's claim to be set in a slightly alternative London where strange things happen did not make sense to me. There was nothing explicitly supernatural going on, many of the characters and events were certainly bizarre, like the brilliant old lady playing and singing a Rhianna song on the piano. But the real London is full of bizarre characters doing funny things, so the only reason to set the play in "a dark and magical landscape, a London both familiar and strange" was so the play could portray a realistic London but include a Prime Minister, US envoy etc without satirising real people. I thought this was a bit of a cop-out for the playwright.
Reading this post back, it seems a little negative. I actually loved this play, it was funny and deep and engaging and contemporary. I'm being a bit hard on it because I loved Earthqakes so much. And this is not quite as brilliant as Earthquakes.
Monday, 8 August 2011
32 - Emperor and Galilean at the National
This play filled me with awe. It is awesome.
Ibsen tells the epic tale of emperor Julian, who struggles with his Christian faith and decides to overthrow his uncle as Emperor and return Rome to paganism.
Although an epic, this tragic Faustian tale is focussed on the internal struggle and destruction of one man. Andrew Scott gave a magnificently varied performance as Julian. A brilliantly rounded character he went from being a sad confused young man who we felt sorry for, to a mad tyrant blinding his friends and leading his soldiers to death. Watching him you recognise world leaders from the news, but you also recognise aspects of yourself. It was at times uncomfortable to watch but very realistic.
The use of projections of modern soldiers, helicopters and guns combined with the modern dress with hints at Roman armour gave the production a timeless quality. We could spot parallels with modern events but the play still felt like a classic tragedy.
A spectacular set with levels rising from the floor added to the grand scale of this production. I particularly liked an enormous gold ingot (representing the sun) hanging from the ceiling in Julian's palace which turned round for the next scene at the church to reveal the other side which was painted like a rock with a cross on it.
It is a brilliant play that makes you reconsider human relationships with each other and with their gods. And this is the UK première - a great Ibsen play and no-one has seen it before! I felt awe-struck and privileged to see it.
Ibsen tells the epic tale of emperor Julian, who struggles with his Christian faith and decides to overthrow his uncle as Emperor and return Rome to paganism.
Although an epic, this tragic Faustian tale is focussed on the internal struggle and destruction of one man. Andrew Scott gave a magnificently varied performance as Julian. A brilliantly rounded character he went from being a sad confused young man who we felt sorry for, to a mad tyrant blinding his friends and leading his soldiers to death. Watching him you recognise world leaders from the news, but you also recognise aspects of yourself. It was at times uncomfortable to watch but very realistic.
The use of projections of modern soldiers, helicopters and guns combined with the modern dress with hints at Roman armour gave the production a timeless quality. We could spot parallels with modern events but the play still felt like a classic tragedy.
A spectacular set with levels rising from the floor added to the grand scale of this production. I particularly liked an enormous gold ingot (representing the sun) hanging from the ceiling in Julian's palace which turned round for the next scene at the church to reveal the other side which was painted like a rock with a cross on it.
It is a brilliant play that makes you reconsider human relationships with each other and with their gods. And this is the UK première - a great Ibsen play and no-one has seen it before! I felt awe-struck and privileged to see it.
Monday, 16 May 2011
24 - London Road, National Theatre
I don't have a lot of time to write a review of this performance so here's a rushed one!
I was really lucky to get a last minute return ticket for this as it seems to be sold out forever and no wonder. It's so refreshing to see something unlike anything I've seen before. London Road is a musical but one presented entirely by a chorus without any specific main characters. The lyrics and all the lines are spoken in that very specific way of talking that a next door neighbour uses when you point a local news camera at them.
It's clever, funny and surprisingly for a production about prostitutes murdered in Ipswich, uplifting. That's because it's not really about the prostitutes who only feature briefly or the murderer Steve Wright who we don't see at all. It's about a very English community bonding over a tragedy, discovering pride they didn't know they had for their area until people on the news started calling it a red light district.
The songs feature catchy refrains including 'Everyone is very very nervous and very uncertain of everything, basically' or 'I've got 17 hanging baskets in this back garden believe it or not' or 'You automatically think 'it could be him' yeah, I'm just gonna, like, cry.' They are by turns hilarious and unsettling.
The characters that emerge are not stereotypes, but they are as recognisable as if they were. They are the bloke next door who dropped your post round, or that woman who Gordon Brown called a bigot on TV. The audience warms to them because they are so clearly people they know, even though we're not told any of their back story or even their names (until a few of them, right at the end when they are announced as the winners of a gardening competition.)
I thought the production would show an overly optimistic view of a community banding together, but it didn't. Some of the community were pleased that the murders had at least driven the prostitutes from the end of their road. Some of them enjoyed seeing their house on TV and followed the trial as if it were a soap opera. As their road is shut off by police, most quickly begin to feel more inconvenienced than shocked or depressed. The whole play is very real, and offers a snapshot into human existence. I love it.
Here's an interview with the playwright:
I was really lucky to get a last minute return ticket for this as it seems to be sold out forever and no wonder. It's so refreshing to see something unlike anything I've seen before. London Road is a musical but one presented entirely by a chorus without any specific main characters. The lyrics and all the lines are spoken in that very specific way of talking that a next door neighbour uses when you point a local news camera at them.
It's clever, funny and surprisingly for a production about prostitutes murdered in Ipswich, uplifting. That's because it's not really about the prostitutes who only feature briefly or the murderer Steve Wright who we don't see at all. It's about a very English community bonding over a tragedy, discovering pride they didn't know they had for their area until people on the news started calling it a red light district.
The songs feature catchy refrains including 'Everyone is very very nervous and very uncertain of everything, basically' or 'I've got 17 hanging baskets in this back garden believe it or not' or 'You automatically think 'it could be him' yeah, I'm just gonna, like, cry.' They are by turns hilarious and unsettling.
The characters that emerge are not stereotypes, but they are as recognisable as if they were. They are the bloke next door who dropped your post round, or that woman who Gordon Brown called a bigot on TV. The audience warms to them because they are so clearly people they know, even though we're not told any of their back story or even their names (until a few of them, right at the end when they are announced as the winners of a gardening competition.)
I thought the production would show an overly optimistic view of a community banding together, but it didn't. Some of the community were pleased that the murders had at least driven the prostitutes from the end of their road. Some of them enjoyed seeing their house on TV and followed the trial as if it were a soap opera. As their road is shut off by police, most quickly begin to feel more inconvenienced than shocked or depressed. The whole play is very real, and offers a snapshot into human existence. I love it.
Here's an interview with the playwright:
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