Tuesday, 13 October 2009

Speaking in Tongues *** TNT

Tuesday 13 October 2009 12:59 GMT

Though the basic plot’s the same, this production of the stage original on which Australian playwright Andrew Bovell based his tantalising film Lantana proves a more claustrophobic – though not always more intense – affair. With synchronised and overlapping dialogue, and a cast of four playing nine characters, it calls for considerable concentration as the interwoven stories of betrayal, misunderstanding and emotional emptiness unfold.

John Simm is both policeman and suspect, Lucy Cohu a superficially confident wife and an insecure therapist, Kerry Fox her commitment-phobe client and a nervous adulteress, and Ian Hart conveys the inner torment of a trio of contrasting individuals.

The deceptively simple design adds a cinematic touch and the pieces of this ambiguous jigsaw gradually fall into place thanks to an intricate – if credibility-stretching – set of coincidences.

Duke of York’s, St Martin’s Lane, WC2N 4BG (0844 871 7623) until 12th December (£10.00 - £48.50)

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The Tobacco Merchant's Lawyer *** TNT
Tuesday 13 October 2009 13:06 GMT

At just under an hour long, Iain Heggie’s gentle satire of life in Glasgow in the 18th century and the present day has a pleasing circular structure which neatly wraps up all the ends and doesn’t outstay its welcome.

With the dulcet chamber music of James Oswald (1710-1769) to set the tone, widowed lawyer Enoch Dalmellington sits at his desk trying to reconcile his accounts in impoverished times. His daughter Euphemia is a constant but unseen presence – she’s plain, she’s a rotten housekeeper and she keeps on turning away suitors who might, possibly, rescue them both from their current financial plight.

Heggie interweaves the fate of her latest wooer (made to walk the plank as punishment for his fervent antislavery views), her father’s speculative dealings with an unscrupulous tobacco merchant (riding high on profits from transatlantic trade) and the predictions of a local fortune teller (who can see what life will be like in 2009) to create an amusing monologue of resignation and adaptability. And though not yet quite word perfect, Callum Cuthbertson’s sometimes wistful Dalmellington, invests it all with an unhurried acceptance modified by parental concern as he tries to be both mother and father to his worrisome offspring.

Finborough

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Wednesday, 7 October 2009

Talent ** TNT

Wednesday 07 October 2009 10:40 GMT

No matter how talented the writer, some early works deserve to be revisited whilst others should really be left sleeping. With a host of awards and a long and varied career, Victoria Wood has since become something of a national treasure but unfortunately her revised revival of her very first play, written in 1978, falls squarely into the latter category. Stuck somewhere between an extended skit, a cabaret performance and a one-acter with songs, it doesn’t really know what it’s trying to be or where it’s trying to go.

As an aspiring young hopeful herself, her knowledge of the sleazy world of small scale Northern talent competitions and variety clubs was first hand. And maybe when she performed alongside the now equally popular Julie Walters their unique chemistry added something special to the TV version which followed its Sheffield premiere.

New songs have been added and there are pleasant performances from Leanne Rowe as ambitious wannabe singer Julie and, especially, Suzie Toase’s chubby, dowdy Maureen, yet this backstage show never really takes off.

The always excellent Mark Hadfield is good value as both a fussy manageress and a third rate magician whilst Mark Curry is intentionally revolting as a randy compere. But some nifty one-liners can’t overcome the lack of content or the overall reliance on 70’s nostalgia and even though it’s not much over 90 minutes long, it still feels disappointingly overstretched.

Menier Chocolate Factory , 53 Southwark Street, SE1 1RU ( 020 7907 7060) Until 14th November ( £25 & Meal Deals available £34)

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Sunday, 4 October 2009

Breakfast at Tiffany's *** TNT

Saturday 03 October 2009 11:27 GMT

Anna Friel on stage is less the wide-eyed innocent than Audrey Hepburn on screen in Samuel Adamson’s new version which partially acknowledges the louche, more dangerous New York social scene depicted in Truman Capote’s 1958 novella.

But an airy set and clunky staging do little to conjure the risqué lifestyle of Holly Golightly, reinvented goodtime girl from Texas who survives by fleecing older men.

Friel is cute, sometimes vulnerable and casually naked as the witty man-magnet, Joseph Cross is unremarkable as the aspiring young writer who falls under her spell and, with a few exceptions, the other characters are strictly one-dimensional.

But if you haven’t read the original, Sean Mathias’s production provides a serviceable if uninspired account of the plot – and a supporting role for an exceptionally laidback ginger tabby.

Theatre Royal Haymarket, Haymarket, SW1Y 4HT (0845 481 1870) to 9th January (£15-£49.50)

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The Fastest Clock in the Universe *** TNT

Saturday 03 October 2009 11:48 GMT

The second half of the Hampstead’s 50th anniversary season gets off to a striking start with Edward Dicks’ classy revival of Philip Ridley’s unsettling black comedy. With its East End setting, power games and mismatched homosexual couple, there are definite shades of Pinter and Orton in this cruel, confident early work which caused quite a stir when it premiered here back in 1992.

Fear of the inevitable passage of time underpins the text as Alec Newman’s taut Cougar prepares to celebrate his 19th birthday - yet again. Despite his ostentatiously tanned, perfectly ripped body it’s clear from his dyed dark hair that there are quite a few more years on this man’s clock.
He’s actually pushing 30, but no way is he prepared to admit to - or even let anyone else mention - his true age.

His older partner Captain Tock (Finbar Lynch, excellent) is only allowed to touch him wearing pink rubber Marigolds, and even then all he’s permitted is a barely tolerated hug as they wait for the sole party guest – a 15 year old schoolboy called Foxtrot Darling whom Cougar has been carefully grooming for the event.

Mini-skirted, ballsy and with bunched blonde hair, Jaime Winstone‘s uninvited Sherbet Gravel brings a breath of fresh air into their mausoleum of a flat with its morbid collection of stuffed birds. She knows Cougar’s game – and just how to needle him.

It’s a striking debut in a nasty, violent but also very entertaining play which set out to shock in the 90's and still succeeds in doing so today.


Hampstead, Eton Avenue, NW3 3EU (020 7722 9301) until 17th October (£15-£25) Under 26 - £10
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Mother Courage and Her Children **** - uneditied version

A sound-bomb machine, rock music and eye-catching pyrotechnics contrast vividly with the quieter, equally devastating scenes of Deborah Warner’s riveting 21st century production of Brecht’s 1939 anti-war epic, skilfully merging his sparsely evoked 17th century setting with modern technology. Punctuated by Duke Special’s haunting songs and veteran novelist Gore Vidal’s voiceover, this salutary account of a resourceful, money-motivated mother’s doomed attempts to protect her children grips throughout as – with her fortunes fluctuating along with her allegiance - she haggles her way across a violent, war-torn Europe. And from a triumphant entrance riding high on her merchandise-laden cart to her final, wearily resigned exit pulling the now almost empty vehicle behind her, Fiona Shaw’s indomitable profiteer commands the stage for the three hours plus of Tony Kushner’s punchy, modern translation.

Olivier at the National Theatre, South Bank, SE1 9PX (020 7452 3000) Waterloo tube www.nationaltheatre.org.uk In rep until 8th December (£10 - £30 -part of the Travelex £10 season)




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Mother Courage and Her Children **** TNT
Saturday 03 October 2009 13:27 GMT

A sound-bomb machine, rock music and eye-catching pyrotechnics contrast vividly with the quieter yet equally tragic scenes of Deborah Warner’s riveting production of Brecht’s 1939 anti-war epic – skilfully merging his sparsely evoked 17th-century setting with modern technology.

This salutary account of a resourceful, money-motivated mother’s doomed attempts to protect her children grips throughout.

The National Theatre, South Bank, SE1 9PX . Until Dec 8. £10-£30

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