Sunday 24 June 2007

Kean - TNT

Nineteenth century actor Edmund Kean apparently had audiences queueing round the block to see him on stage. Sadly, after a critical mauling (of the play rather than the performances), this updated revival of Sartre's adaptation of Alexandre Dumas' 1836 original won't do the same for Antony Sher.This is doubly poignant as the play begins with Kean performing an extract from Richard III, a role in which Sher himself packed the Barbican to bursting point over 20 years ago. Sartre provides a tempting opportunity for a leading actor to reveal his virtuoso technique, but his analysis of the role of the performer in relation to the real world lacks originality, and the focus on Kean's love life is tedious. Sher gives his impressive all, switching accents, postures and disguises with lightning speed, but it's not enough to invigorate this Pirandellian piece — nor to fill a 21st century West End theatre.
Apollo Shaftesbury Ave, W1, 0870-890 1101. Until August 18
Into the Woods - TNT

It's not just Little Red Riding Hood who goes deep into the forest in Stephen Sondheim's wittily subversive musical take on a handful of familiar childhood fairy tales. Cinderella and her Prince, the childless Baker and his Wife — not to mention Jack (of Giant and the Beanstalk fame) and his dried-out, milk-white cow, plus a handful of others — all end up there in pursuit of their dreams. And, although Grimm's original stories are already pretty disturbing in themselves, he adds extra layers of cynicism — and a darker second half which puts wrong almost everything the first act seemed to have put right. It's a salutary reminder that, even if you get what you wish for, you still might find it's not quite enough. But it makes for an excellent evening's entertainment in which Beverley Klein's Witch morphs into a spell-free femme fatale and Suzanne Toase's knife-wielding Little Red Riding Hood, triumphantly flouncing in her new wolf-skin cape, almost steals the show.
Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, WC2, 020-7304 4000. Until June 30

LOUISE KINGSLEY

Monday 18 June 2007

Philistines - TNT

Set at the beginning of the 20th century, Maxim Gorky's first play, which premiered in 1902, is revitalised in Andrew Upton's new version. The performances are faultless, all the way from the ageing servant who (symbolically) can no longer lift the samovar unaided to Phil Davis' irate and bigoted paterfamilias. His children — Ruth Wilson's bored teacher and Rory Kinnear as the aimless son whose political activities got him kicked out of uni — are too educated to respect him, and only the lodgers bring the possibility of happiness into the lifeless gloom of the household. Focusing on the disintegration of one petit bourgeois family, Gorky anticipates the political changes in his homeland and, like his contemporary Chekhov, laces his writing with comic touches. But he lacks Chekhov's subtlety and what you get is a five-star production of a flawed three-star play.
Lyttelton at the National, South Bank, SE1, 020-7452 3000. Until August 18
Taking Care of Baby - TNT

Dennis Kelly is proving himself to be a consistently interesting playwright — and this mock docudrama intrigues and fascinates as it poses questions about what is real, what is imagined and what is (either intentionally or unintentionally) distorted by both the media and the individual. Constructed as a series of partially dramatised interviews in which events are recalled from different points of view and with changing emphasis, it tells the story of Donna, initially imprisoned for killing her two infant children but subsequently released. As in recent real-life cases, things aren't at all clear-cut, and Kelly clouds the issue further as the motivation of Donna's politically ambitious mother, a psychiatrist and a newshound come under the spotlight. Excellent performances all round, a clever, teasing structure, and Abigail Davies' troubling portrayal of the distraught young mother all contribute to an arresting and thought-provoking evening.
Hampstead, Eton Ave, NW3, 020-7722 9301. Until June 23

LOUISE KINGSLEY
Side by Side by Sondheim - TNT

The Venue's low-ceilinged space gives a cabaret feel to this enjoyable introduction to the work of multi-award-winning American Stephen Sondheim. The celebratory compilation dates from 1976, so there's no room for his later successes. But from his 1957 collaboration on West Side Story (only the lyrics were his) to Pacific Overtures (by way of, among others, A Little Night Music and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum) there's an impressive back catalogue to choose from. Whether waxing cynical about long-term relationships, carrying a torch for a lost love, or revealing his bitingly comic side, even out of context Sondheim is a master. The linking narration has dated, but the trio of talented and enthusiastic songsters deliver with panache. If you're already a fan of his wittily, wickedly sophisticated style, this revival is probably already in your diary — and if you're not, this "sampler" revue is a welcome opportunity to find out what you've been missing.
The Venue, Leicester Pl, Leicester Sq, WC2, 0870-899 3335. Until June 23

Friday 15 June 2007


LANDSCAPE WITH WEAPON - This is London
Cottesloe Theatre

The moral responsibility of the scientist comes into question in Joe Penhall's latest play in which two brothers - Dan (a dentist with kids, a mortgage and dubious plans to augment his income with a Botox clinic) and Ned (a childless, recently separated, weapons engineer who is gagged by the official secrets act from discussing his work) - come into conflict. Though Ned is quick to criticise Dan's decision to branch out from the confines of his profession, it is his own choices which prove seriously problematic. Naively, he has assumed that he can maintain control over his ground-breaking invention (an unmanned air vehicle able to navigate with frightening precision) despite the fact that his employers want to do a deal with the Ministry of Defence.
The traverse staging emphasises the divergence between the brothers, as well as the battlefield between Ned and his employers who resort to calling in MI6 (in the shape of Jason Watkins' smiling Brooks, menacingly rolling up his sleeves to get down to business) to persuade him to relinquish the intellectual property rights.
Despite Tom Hollander's convincingly boffin-like performance, Ned's credulity is hard to swallow. One can accept that his fascination with the ‘beauty’ of his work might blinker him to some degree, but surely not to the extent that he could believe that – patent or not – he would be allowed to control the use to which his drones would ultimately be put. Julian Rhind-Tutt's Dan makes an entertaining foil, revealing precise comic timing as well as a growing concern for his disintegrating sibling. And although not quite in the same league as Penhall's earlier ‘Blue/Orange’, the excellent acting in Roger Michell's well-realised production ensures that the issues raised are consistently interesting.

Louise Kingsley

Monday 11 June 2007

Fiddler on the Roof - TNT

The beards are a bit ropey and some of the accents are all over the place, but this life-affirming revival of the hit 1964 musical boasts great songs and exuberant choreography. As Tevye, the poor orthodox Jewish milkman with five daughters in need of husbands (and a habit of talking directly to a god who often lets him down), Henry Goodman is simply magnificent. On the eve of the revolution in Tsarist Russia, Tevye and his family begin with a rousing celebration of the traditions observed in their shtetl, but end by either choosing — or being forced to embrace — a new way of life. Beverley Klein bosses amusingly as his nagging wife, and Alexandra Silber's Hodel (who, just like her older sister, defiantly chooses her own husband) sings like a dream. But it is Goodman — grizzled, twinkly-eyed, and humane — who is the undisputed star of the show.
Savoy, Strand, WC2, 0870-164 8787; www.savoy-theatre.co.uk. Until September 29. £30-£60
Alaska - TNT

This is a violent, twisted, unpleasant little play about a violent, twisted and brutally racist individual with a massive chip on his shoulder and a lying heart. It's young writer DC Moore's first work for the stage and (though promising) it shows — the dialogue doesn't quite ring true and it's difficult to see why university drop-out Frank (having been socially rejected by his fellow students) becomes the focus of so much sexual interest when he takes a dead-end job at the local cinema. As Frank, Rafe Spall bursts convincingly into viciously uncontrollable rage when he feels undermined. And there's a lovely understated performance from Thomas Morrison as the lovelorn Chris who, like the rest of his workmates, inexplicably finds this damaged, damaging and confused bigot irresistibly attractive.
Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, Sloane Sq, SW1, 020-7565 5000. Until June 23

LOUISE KINGSLEY

Monday 4 June 2007

Vernon God Little - TNT

I couldn't get to grips with DBC Pierre's 2003 Man Booker prize-winner, and it seems I wasn't alone — it topped a recent survey of "unfinishable" novels. But Tanya Ronder's stage adaptation grabs one's attention right from the start as 15-year-old Texan misfit schoolboy Vernon is questioned about his part in a mass shooting that wiped out his classmates. Wrongly accused of being an accomplice, Colin Morgan's Vernon battles against the preconceptions of a mother (Joanna Scanlan) who has more affection for her new fridge than for her son, a perverted psychiatrist, a police force determined to find him guilty, and the scoop-hungry media which (in the shape of Mark Lockyer's smarmy, manipulative Lally) twists the truth to gain a prime slot. The characters are straight out of Jerry Springer — larger than life and exaggerated to the point of parody — but there's such energy and underlying humanity in Rufus Norris's economically designed production of this biting, black, satirical comedy that I may just give the book another go.
Young Vic, The Cut, SE1, 020-7922 2922 Until 9th June

LOUISE KINGSLEY
Big White Fog - TNT

The writing comes from the heart and so does the acting in Michael Attenborough's hard-hitting revival of black American Theodore Ward's Depression-era drama (written in 1937) about the struggle of one extended black family to make it in Chicago. Only a generation away from slavery, they each see the possibilities for the future — or the lack of them — in their own ways. Yet at each step their ambitions and hopes are thwarted, not only by the fallout of the Wall Street Crash but also by a system of racial prejudice which would only tolerate them in predefined and menial roles. Powerful performances — including Danny Sapani's staunchly Garveyite paterfamilias, Jenny Jules as his wife (prematurely ageing as her husband sticks to his ideals) and Novella Nelson as the grandma sniping tellingly from the sidelines — make this a must-see.
Almeida, Almeida St, N1, 020-7359 4404. Until June 30. £6-£29.50