Giant - Review

Harold Pinter Theatre, London

***

Written by Mark Rosenblatt

Directed by Nicholas Hytner

John Lithgow

.

Back in October 2024, when Giant premiered at the Royal Court, this website declared John Lithgow a likely Olivier contender for his world-class interpretation of Roald Dahl, in Mark Rosenblatt’s new play. And so it was that the Olivier award came to pass, together with numerous other gongs that have been bestowed upon this production. And while Giant's cast were impressive at the Court, they are equally impressive in the West End with all the key players remaining  other than Romola Garai who is stunningly replaced by Aya Cash in the role of Dahl’s American publisher, Jessie Stone.

While the production values remain exquisite and the acting world class and Rosenblatt’s words still pack a tightly constructed 2+ hours, the quality of the drama that he has created remains highly-debatable. As this website set out last year, Giant lacks a base objectivity. 

Rosenblatt (and Hytner?) rightly highlight Dahl’s vicious antisemitism and the evil of his appalling conflation of Israel’s actions as being the ultimate responsibility of the entire Jewish people. But for all that signalled virtue, there remains a failure to effectively posit or argue any explanation whatsoever (save for a brief passing nod by Stone in act one) for Israel’s military actions, with the play remaining an unbalanced soapbox for anti-Israel tropes. And from there it becomes all too easy for audiences to take the writer's evident Israel-sceptic stance and translate his comments, drawn from a 1982 conflict between Israel and Lebanon, onto a critique of today's current military action in Gaza.

Giant offers quite possibly the finest acting in town, matched only by a premise that is as deeply flawed.

Runs until 2nd August

Photo credit: Johan Persson

Richard II - Review

Bridge Theatre, London

*****

Written by William Shakespeare

Directed by Nicholas Hytner

Jonathan Bailey

There is brilliance at the Bridge with Nicholas Hytner’s modern-day staging of Richard II, in an interpretation that sees the politics of the play resonate strongly with England in 2025. The corrupt ineptitude of Richard’s government echoes the bumblings of Keir Starmer and his cabinet, and when the Bishop of Carlisle prophesies domestic strife and discord across the land she could well have been speaking of this sceptre’d isle today.

Jonathan Bailey is Richard in a masterful interpretation of the flawed monarch. His cocaine-powered court may only enhance the failings of his reign, but in both his rage and his sensitivities Bailey’s interpretation of the verse is exquisite. 

Hytner has cast his production well. Notable amongst a virtually flawless company is Royce Pierreson’s Henry Bullingbrook, a classy portrayal of ruthless cunning and political steel. Similarly, and following his outstanding turn in the recent Guys and Dolls, Michael Simkins again brings magnificence to the venue with his Duke of York, fusing avuncular wisdom with an unswerving loyalty to Crown and country. The ‘domestic’ between the Duke and his Duchess (Amanda Root) over the alleged treachery of their son Amerle is a scene that could have been lifted straight out of Albert Square such is the pair's dramatic excellence. Martin Carroll stepped up on press night to deliver a perfect cover of John of Gaunt, while Olivia Popica is a treat in her take on Queen Isabel’s emotional complexities. 

Amanda Root and Michael Simkins

The show’s production values are stunning. Bob Crowley’s stylish modern day scenery silently rises and falls from the Bridge’s bowels, while Bruno Poet’s interrogative lighting designs emphasise the story’s brutality. Grant Olding’s music adds a cinematic dimension to the evening that feels entirely appropriate.

This is a stunning play that cements the Bridge’s reputation as possibly the finest Shakespearean stage on London’s South Bank. Coming out of Richard II and seeing the Tower of London just across the river only adds to the theatre's magic.

Runs until 10th May

Photo credit: Manuel Harlan

Giant - Review

Royal Court Theatre, London

***

Written by Mark Rosenblatt

Directed by Nicholas Hytner

John Lithgow

Set in a bucolic summer’s afternoon in Buckinghamshire in 1983, amidst the drilling and banging of a country residence that’s being lovingly restored, Giant is a drama loosely based on facts, about the antisemitic views and writings of that hero of children’s literature, Roald Dahl.

Bearing a striking resemblance to how we recall Dahl from his appearances in the media, with perhaps a nod to JR Hartley too, John Lithgow makes his Royal Court debut as the author. His foils across the lunch table are real life publisher Tom Maschler (played by Elliot Levey) and the fictional Jessie Stone (Romola Garai), an agent from Dahl’s US publishing company. Dahl has recently published a book review, widely seen as antisemitic, and the two publishing professionals are there, over glasses of Chablis, to coax him into drafting an apology.

Mark Rosenblatt’s drama is tightly written. In what feels like a slightly overlong 2hrs 20mins, the pace never falters, with Rosenblatt’s dialogue proving well-structured and his characters, credible. Garai and Rachael Stirling, as Dahl’s Mitford-like fiancée Felicity Crosland are both outstanding. Levey plays a recognisably luke-warm diaspora Jew, not too bothered by Dahl’s pronouncements and more concerned with trying to smooth things over at all costs. Of the three supporting characters, his is perhaps the least compelling.

Lithgow’s work however is tremendous - and under the direction of Nicholas Hytner, turns in an Olivier-worthy performance.

But other than some smug references to Ian McEwan and the literary world of that time, ultimately what is the point of this play other than to provide a platform for Dahl’s rabid ravings? Giant drips with Dahl’s criticism of Israel (the 1982 Lebanon War was raging), with clear echoes of criticisms that have been levelled at the Jewish state in more recent times during the Gaza conflict. Unsurprisingly for the Royal Court there is little offered by way of challenge to Israel’s actions, although it ultimately has to prove some comfort that Dahl’s rants against Israel are coming from the same mind and mouth that throughout the play utter the vilest antisemitic slurs. There remains of course the sad but realistic possibility that much of that irony may have soared over the heads of many of the Royal Court’s audience.

That this is brilliantly crafted theatre is unquestionable. That it also provides a soapbox for countless tropes makes for an evening that is ultimately deeply unsatisfying.

Runs until 16th November

Photo credit: Manuel Harlan

Guys & Dolls - Review

Bridge Theatre, London

*****

Music and lyrics by Frank Loesser

Book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows

Directed by Nicholas Hytner

Gina Beck and Michael Simkins

There can come a time in a show’s evolution when the chemistry of its casting leads to theatrical magic.

Chemistry? Yea, chemistry….

So it is with Nicholas Hytner’s Guys & Dolls that has been playing at the Bridge Theatre for the last 18 months but which now, with the latest luxurious additions to its company, sees this beautifully written show reach new heights of musical comedy alongside touchingly poignant humanity.

Playing Sarah Brown, Gina Beck is one of the new signings and she is simply sensational. Beck first displays her vocal magnificence in I’ll Know, a gorgeously crafted duet sung alongside George Ioannides’ Sky Masterson and a number that is rarely performed quite so powerfully. Beck goes on to hold that standard throughout the evening - even revealing a profound depth of tenderness in her connection with Arvide Abernathy (yet another recent star addition to the cast in the form of the always brilliant Michael Simkins) as he sings his worldly wisdom to her with More I Cannot Wish You. Ioannides is a masterful Masterson. Cooler than a Cuban Dulche De Leche it is clear to see why Sarah Brown falls for his charm – and his voice is a treat too. 

The show’s other two leads are Owain Arthur as Nathan Detroit, the hapless promoter of New York’s floating crap game and Timmika Ramsay as Miss Adelaide, his long-suffering fiancée. Arthur does a fine job, capturing Detroit’s wry and self-deprecating humour. Ramsay, with more mink than a mink and a bold, brazen, buxom sexuality to her performance is just terrific. Vocally outstanding, with a fine understanding of the frustrated complexities that make up her character, she’s a treat to watch – and in her duet with Sarah, Marry The Man Today, the essence of this show’s celebration of the frailties of the human character is delivered faultlessly by both women.

In short, this current iteration of the show’s four key roles, all replacements from the cast of 18 months ago, is quite possibly the best to have been performed in the UK this century.

Elsewhere Cameron Johnson has grown (if that was even possible) into the story’s lovable rogue Big Jule and if Jonathan Andrew Hume’s multiple encores for his Sit Down You’re Rocking The Boat may seem just a tad contrived, the infectious delight that Hume brings to the song is worth every repeated chorus.

Staged immersively, with platforms that rise and fall amidst the promenading audience, Bunny Christie’s design remains a sumptuous take on the Big Apple – while perched aloft, Tom Brady’s band is equally outstanding.

With the Bridge having announced that the show will close in early 2025, it is unlikely that a production of Guys & Dolls of this imaginative genius will grace a UK stage for some time. Until then, do not wait, until then, get along… 

If you’ve never seen the show before then Hytner’s production, graced by Arlene Phillips’ choreography is a must-see – and if you’ve already seen this South Bank spectacular, go again! 

Runs until 4th January 2025

Photo credit: Manuel Harlan

Guys & Dolls - Review

Bridge Theatre, London

****

Music and lyrics by Frank Loesser

Book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows

Directed by Nicholas Hytner

Celinde Schoenmaker and Marisha Wallace

There comes a time in the life-cycle of a new build modern theatre on London’s South Bank, usually around six years after opening, that they put on their first musical, invariably settling on Guys and Dolls.

So it is right now at the Bridge Theatre with Nicholas Hytner’s production and so it was a couple of miles upstream at the National Theatre in 1982, when Richard Eyre put on the show that turned into the National’s first blockbuster hit. Six years is a theme here, for six years after Eyre’s moneyspinner opened he went on to become the venue’s artistic director and six years after he stood down from that role, Hytner took over. So clearly, Guys and Dolls is a great musical, much favoured by the nation’s great directors.

But do great musicals and great directors lead to great productions? 

Played immersively in the round and with New York-style neons rising and falling from the flies, Hytner’s Guys and Dolls sets out to be a distinctive interpretation of this classic show.  What is delivered however is a combination of the sensational but also the decidedly average that Hytner could have avoided. 

The female leads are both outstanding with Marisha Wallace as Miss Adelaide nailing the perpetual fiancée. In both spoken word and song, Wallace captures the frustrating, bittersweet predicament of Adelaide’s 14-year engagement. At her best in solo and duetted numbers Wallace is, as always, a joy to watch. Equally, Celinde Schoenmaker as Sarah Brown is another delight. Hers is a challenging character to pull off, the strait-laced Sergeant at the Save A Soul Mission falling for the roguish Sky Masterson. Schoenmaker however confidently captures Sarah’s complexities, and the vocal beauty of these two women singing together in Marry The Man Today proves to be the evening’s unexpected musical highlight.

The male leads are all competent but not memorable. Daniel Mays doesn’t quite get the New York shtick of Nathan Detroit and while Andrew Richardson smoulders as a very cool Sky Masterson, he fails to make the dramatic highs that his big number Luck Be A Lady requires. The programme notes suggest that neither Mays nor Richardson have significant experience in musical theatre and it shows.

Cedric Neal plays Nathan Detroit’s buddy Nicely-Nicely Johnson. Typically Guys and Dolls demands that the role is played as a groceries-gobbling, absent-minded slob albeit with a heart of gold, who in the prayer meeting at the show’s endgame metamorphoses into a show-stopping hero. Neal is a gifted performer, but struggles to convince as a slob. Big Jule (Cameron Johnson) calls him a “fat water buffalo” at the prayer meeting but in this production that description just does not ring true. If Hytner had thought to have had Nicely-Nicely Johnson’s brother Boris step up to the role, it may have proved a far more satisfying casting choice. 

And there are tiny gems in Loesser’s Runyon-esque dialogue that Hytner has steamrollered. Sky Masterson’s exclamation of “Cider!” after Nathan suckers him into taking Sarah to dinner, together with Lt Brannigan’s (Cornelius Clarke) wry wish that “I hope there’s nothing in heredity” are both tossed away with no attention paid to the lines’ comic potential. Loesser was a genius, with every word both of his lyrics and of Abe Burrows' libretto painstakingly crafted. Hytner and his cast need to pay more attention to the detail.

This may not be one of the great Guys and Dolls, but with Tom Brady’s 14-piece orchestra up in the circle, it does make for a night of fun theatre. Go and see it, for it’s a probable 12 to 7 that you’ll come out grinning.

Runs until 2nd September

Photo credit: Manuel Harlan

Carousel - Review

Cadogan Hall, London


*****


Music by Richard Rodgers
Book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
Based on Ferenc Molnar's play Liliom as adapted by Benjamin F Glazer

To read my recent interview with Janie Dee and Jo Riding, click here

The company of Carousel

Every now and then theatrical magic descends...

So it was at the Cadogan Hall this week where Alex Parker had assembled a starry cast and a magnificent 30-strong orchestra to perform, for one night only, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel. But this cast had something even more special, setting it apart from the throng of musicals currently playing in the West End and on Broadway. For back in 1992 Carousel had been staged at London's National Theatre in a production that featured Jo Riding and Janie Dee as female leads Julie Jordan and Carrie Pipperidge. Such was the excellence of director Nicholas Hytner’s show that not only did his revival win the Olivier for Best Musical Revival and Best Director, but Riding and Dee won the Oliviers for Best Leading Actress and Best Supporting Performer (both for in a Musical), respectively.

Riding and Dee had been recently reunited at the National as the leads in a revival of Follies and so it was an act of sheer vision that prompted Parker to invite the duo to reprise their Carousel magnificence in a concert performance of the Rodgers & Hammerstein classic.

Janie Dee and Jo Riding in Carousel, 1992

The pair’s contribution to the evening was a display, not only of continuing musical theatre excellence – but also of a sheer unbridled love for the show that they were singing. As the cast remained seated on stage when not called upon to perform, Dee’s passion for the piece was almost palpabke. When not performing herself she was absorbing the detail of the music and the occasion, almost in disbelief - not dissimilar to Billy Bigelow being granted the chance to descend from Heaven for a one day visit to Earth - that she had been granted a chance to reprise this heavenly score. Riding too was both entranced and enchanting and yet, in full keeping with the incredibly complex character that Julie is, maintained a sobriety that in no way diminished her evident love for the occasion.

Parker had rehearsed his musicians impeccably. From the opening bars of The Carousel Waltz, through to the closing strains of You’ll Never Walk Alone – not to mention the sheer brilliance of the demanding Act 2 Ballet, the music was a profound delight, accompanied by a vocal chorus of students from the Guildford School of Acting.

Alongside Riding and Dee, Hadley Fraser was  compelling and convincing as the violently troubled Billy Bigelow. Another character of deep complexity, Fraser imbued the errant husband with as much sympathy as could be afforded to his abusive nature. He also delivered a sensational Soliloquy.

Gavin Spokes captured Mr Snow’s comic pomposity perfectly, as Stewart Clarke’s Jigger was another deft turn from this talented young man, Clarke picking out his character’s malign opportunistic wickedness. Both men were vocally outstanding, with Matthew Kelly and Chizzy Akudolu complementing the set of supporting roles as The Starkeeper and Mrs Mullins respectively

As Nettie Fowler, Lucy Schaufer’s operatic background led to her spine-tingling take on You’ll Never Walk Alone. But back in 1992 it had been Patricia Routledge (not yet then a Dame) who played Nettie. Incredibly, and at the age of 90!, Routledge returned to this production as the narrator. For those in the audience who remembered the 1992 show, to see Dame Patricia singing along in the finale of the show’s totemic anthem was unforgettable.

Photo credit: Take Two Theatricals (2019) and Clive Barda (1992)

Julius Caesar - Review

Bridge Theatre, London


*****


Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by Nicholas Hytner

David Calder

An immersive and ever roaming production of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar should pique the interest of any Shakespeare sort-of-fan, but throw in a killer cast of some of TV’s most talented stars showing just why they’re reaching such successes and a stunning venue to boot and it becomes unmissable.

Nicholas Hytner’s production has an almost politically apocalyptic setting with its nods to the controversial leaders of today, complete with excessive red flags, branded red baseball caps and mist growing steadily as we stumble with the characters into chaos. This setting is completed by the standing audience staring up at the moving stages, bustled about by urgent stage managers and roaring insults, chants and CAESAR! with the cast members. 

The powerhouse cast includes Ben Whishaw as a complex and sometimes overwrought Brutus who is glorious to see so up close with his twitches and frowns as he contemplates the options and reads his Stalin biographies. Michelle Fairley is Cassius, Brutus’ cunning co-leader of the coup, subtly hysterical in her bid to execute the terrible deed. Fairley has an incredible presence, perfectly encapsulating both the seedy manipulator and the faithful friend, for so often can people be both.

Adjoa Andoh’s bad-ass of a Casca is as quick to wit as to draw a weapon. David Morrissey is Mark Anthony, here portrayed as a rebel rouser, joining the street band who open the play and encouraging the rise of Octavius at its end. Octavius was a pleasure to watch as Kit Young took the role after the majority of the play in the ensemble. He really comes into his own as this cocky nephew of Caesar, primed with balloons aplenty, as the metaphorical curtain falls, to become a similarly lauded leader (because it ended so well for his uncle).

Caesar himself is a perfect casting with David Calder encompassing a man who could be deemed both a strong, brave leader or an arrogant tyrant, depending on whose asides one is more inclined to listen to.

Hytner directs with as much blockbuster flair as he can muster from his incredible cast, as do the stage managers who direct the plebeian audience in the pit. Surrounded by those with seated tickets and lorded over by scene after scene of masterclasses in the craft, the cheap seats are without doubt the best, even if you’re very aware of your knees at the two hour finish.

Bunny Christie - known for her work on The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time with Finn Ross - uses the moving block set up of the gorgeous Bridge Theatre to take us from fancy pants villa to a bright and bustling Colosseum utilising the beauty of a big black box to somehow surpass the ornate West End proscenium theatres just up the river.

This epic show is worth every foot shuffle and slightly bad back, even if only to applaud the absolutely knackered stage managers who downplay their delight at the applause from these acting giants. And with day tickets available, the play is accessible to all. It’s just cool, man.

Reviewed by Heather Deacon

Runs until 15th April

Photo credit: Manuel Harlan

The Light Princess

National Theatre, London

***

Music & lyrics by Tori Amos

Book & lyrics by Samuel Adamson

Directed by Marianne Elliott

Rosalie Craig

It says much for Marianne Elliott that the National Theatre currently have three of her shows on in town. This visionary director confounds the conventional boundaries of theatre and in combining well crafted puppetry with slick animation and excellent actors continues to astonish her audiences. A George MacDonald 19th century fairy tale, The Light Princess has been transformed into a musical by Amos and Adamson and whilst the show is a visual treat, scratch the surface and the musical is found to be truly light indeed.

Amos’ melodies albeit with an occasional rock undertone, often blend into a ballad-fest, with lyrics that lack craftsmanship (one loses count of how often the clumsy phrase “H2O” appears in songs). The show has a strong message to deliver on female emancipation, but sets about bludgeoning its cause into the audience with the subtlelty of a suffragette protestor rather than a slickness of modern artistic debate. Lest the show’s message is lost, Amos and Adamson hammer it home with lengthy speeches for both prologue and epilogue and the good folk of the National (under the brilliant Lyn Haill) endorse the politics with a programme that includes 18 pages of (some political) commentary and lavish photographs, yet strangely omits a list of the show’s musical numbers. Extensive animations pepper the show, yet all this clever speech and vision do not make up for the singular failure of The Light Princess to convey its message through the genre of musical theatre. A good musical, even one with a political message, (think Kander and Ebb’s Cabaret and Kiss Of The Spider Woman or Jason Robert Brown’s Parade) should be able to tell its entire story through song and dance. Prologues, epilogues and fancy animations are tell-tale signs of writers who lack the depth or talent to fully argue their subject musically and who have taken an easy way out. The beautiful work of Macdonald’s original tale and Elliott’s stunning direction is cheapened by Amos' and Adamson’s feminist politicising, with a reference in the show to anorexia that is almost offensive. When Althea vomits through having been force-fed, should that really be a laughing point for the audience? Of course not and that moment is a (thankfully rare) episode of disappointing stagecraft.

Notwithstanding her minor flaws, it still remains Elliott’s treatment of the show that demands that this piece of theatre be given attention. Rosalie Craig is Althea, the Light Princess, onstage almost throughout and who through the devices of both beautiful human puppetry and state of the art flying technology, spends nearly the entire show with her feet off the ground. In Elliott’s War Horse, the human puppeteers “disappear” from conscious vision after about 5 minutes or so and we believe we are seeing horses on stage. In this show, the excellent Acrobats who manipulate Craig don’t quite disappear from our vision, but they do deliver an effect that surely is as enchanting as anything MacDonald could have wished for. Craig is a delight in her starring performance though she is supported by a sublime cast around her. Clive Rowe could not be a more majestic king and whilst his previous National roles have offered him better lyrics to work with, his singing in this show reminds us what a treasure of the London stage he truly is. Amy Booth-Steel’s Piper narrates and sings with flair, whilst Laura Pitt-Pulford’s gorgeously booted Falconer, gives a thrilling rock belt to a number early in the show that is one of the few musically exciting moments of the evening.

New theatre and especially musical theatre is always to be encouraged and bravo to the National and to Nick Hytner for getting behind such innovation. The show might not be the best of the bunch, but its performers certainly are.

Now booking until 9th January 2014.

Othello

National Theatre, London

*****

Written by William Shakespeare

Directed by Nicholas Hytner

Rory Kinnear and Adrian Lester

Nicholas Hytner's Othello in the National Theatre's Olivier auditorium is a disturbing and brilliant reworking of the tale, setting it squarely amongst the complexities of our modern era. However, in modernising the fable and notwithstanding two outstanding performances, Hytner has highlighted how morally flawed the work is. A play famed for its take on deception and jealousy, this 2013 treatment throws the closing act's charnel-house of uxoricide, be it casual or passionate, into the spotlight of modern day unacceptability.

We first meet Iago, in civvies, outside a Venetian inn. The impression he creates of callous contemptuous envy of the Moor, with a heavy racist twist, could sadly be straight out of 1990s Eltham whilst the contempt that Brabantio, Desdemona's father shows to his new son in law, similarly drips racist vitriol that has a chillingly contemporary familiarity.

General Othello and his wife are posted to Cyprus where he is to command the fortress against Turkish attack. Under Vicki Mortimer's astonishing design, as the Venetian facades  fly up they reveal the full, gaping magnificent reach of the Olivier stage transformed into the island outpost. Barrack rooms are fabricated from steel containers, blast proof walls peppered with sterile fluorescent bulkhead lights are everywhere whilst around the perimeter a guarded wall serves as much to trap and foment trouble within its confines, as to keep marauding Turks out. If suburbia inspired the director's view of the civilian mainland, then it is Camp Bastion or maybe even Abbotabad that has provided the vision for this hellish garrison.

Rory Kinnear's Iago is a horribly plausible rendition of modern evil. Cynical and jealous, despising of his General and himself lusting for Desdemona, his is no pantomime villain. With words and manner that drip envy and contempt, Kinnear's exploration of the ordinariness of evil is a masterclass in classlessness.

As one of the leading black actors of his generation and working amidst a canon of literature that displays a shameful paucity of classic roles written for a black performer, one assumes that over the years Adrian Lester has been flooded with offers to play The Moor. If he has chosen to bide his time until the "right one" came along, he has chosen wisely . Under Hytner's direction and with Kinnear as his malevolent on-stage sparring partner, Lester's performance defines a nobility, that like the vapour trail of a rogue missile tumbling destructively out of control from the sky, is so horribly abused and manipulated by Iago.

Never forget however that both Iago and Othello are ultimately no more than wife-murderers who both wilfully kill their spouses. But because Othello was deceived about his wife's infidelity the murder that he commits, so swiftly followed followed by his guilt-ridden suicide, are seen as the actions of a tragic hero. This tacit acceptance that his jealousy-motivated murder of Desdemona is "acceptable" suggests that the violence of men against women that underlies this tale, is far more sinister than the age old textbook issues pertaining to race,  jealousy or what makes for a good General. There is almost an unwritten suggestion that if Desdemona had been unfaithful that Othello would have been justified in murdering her. This classic tale has such a mysogynist root that it arguably deserves outright condemnation, wherever it is staged.

Modernising the story puts Desdemona (Olivia Vinall in this production) in an invidious position. Shakespeare's words were penned long before women's emancipation, so whilst Hytner may have placed his Desdemona amongst a mess-room full of beer drinking squaddies and jealous violent men (gender traits that are sadly timeless), her response to Othello's accusations are out of kilter with our expectations of a modern woman. And that she finally tries to shield Othello from his guilt with her last dying breaths, proclaiming his innocence, is as sickeningly compliant with a patriarchal society as it is intended to be heartbreakingly romantic. Would a modern woman pardon her brutal murderer? It's actually a revolting question to even consider. To see and to celebrate a play that ends with two husbands murdering their wives in cold blood surely has to trouble our collective conscience.

Notwithstanding the play's amorality, rarely have two actors so magnificently embodied this infernal double-act . These performances will be discussed for years to come and for lovers of either Shakespeare or simply outstanding stagecraft, the production is unquestionably unmissable.

The play is sold out in the National Theatre repertory until 5 October 2013

Making the Unmissable unmissable, those wonderful people at NTLive will be broadcasting Othello live to cinemas across the country and also globally, on and from 26 September 2013 . The broadcast production values of the NTLive series are world class, bringing outstanding theatre to within not only the geographical reach, but also the budget, of all.

NTLive booking details can be found here.

Hello, Janie! A profile of Janie Dee

Janie Dee

Janie Dee is one of this country’s treasures of the stage who this week makes a fleeting dash from Leicester’s Curve Theatre, where she has been playing Dolly Levi to rave reviews for the last few weeks, to a brief residence at one of the new London cabaret venues, the Crazy Coqs at Brasserie Zedel. I caught up with Janie shortly before she headed up the M1 for her final week in Leicester.

Dashing from gig to gig seems to be the current hallmark of this busy actress. Hello, Dolly! followed hard on the heels of her appearance in NSFW at the Royal Court, and whether it be in Shakespeare, modern drama or musical theatre, for more than twenty years, Dee has been delivering excellence in all of her stagecraft. Gaining a Best Supporting Actress Olivier Award as a sparkling and truly memorable Carrie Pipperidge in Nicholas Hytner’s 1992 Carousel at the National Theatre, a performance that is even today described by Wikipedia as amongst the top three ever to have been played of that role globally, defined her starry potential and also introduced her to Cameron Mackintosh who with a canny eye for transfer potential, was at that time adopting a wonderfully philanthropic approach to the National’s musicals. Mackintosh wanted Dee to transfer across the river with the box office smash that the show had become, but a combination of commitment and also professional choice, led her to decline the producer’s advances. Nonetheless, she speaks glowingly of Mackintosh’s commitment to the musical theatre genre and has nothing but sincere and considered praise for his recently released film of Les Miserables.

Dee is also a member of that select group of UK performers who has achieved recognised success on Broadway  (make it there and you can make it anywhere, so it is sung) with her creation of Jacie Triplethree (android JC 333)  in Alan Ayckbourn's Comic Potential, a multi-award winning performance in London that went on to achieve numerous New York nominations. She  has garnered critical acclaim for roles in regional theatre as well as London, with particularly strong working relationships being established with Paul Kerryson in Leicester (who also directed the most recent ‘ Dolly!)  and Jonathan Kent at Chichester.



Dee as Dolly Levi in Leicester Curve's recent Hello, Dolly!

When the role of Dolly Levi was offered to Dee she was hesitant, mindful not only of Streisand’s giant shadow but also of Samantha Spiro’s successful 2009 London turn in the role and initially was inclined to decline. Fate, however, had fortuitously intervened, with the complete coincidence of her father, for whom the show is a personal favourite, asking her  “So when are you going to play Dolly, Janie?”, just a week or so before Kerryson actually approached her with the part. Her father’s plea convinced the leading lady to accept and all who have seen the Leicester show are the richer for it.

Dee was already familiar with the work of ‘Dolly’s composer, Jerry Herman, having played the female lead in the most recent West End production of his Mack and Mabel. Herman made the trip to London to see the show for himself, establishing a distinct bond of mutual admiration between writer and performer and sharing with her his underlying philosophy of a strong musical theatre plot, that “people need to love and to be loved”, a writer’s note that Dee has evidently absorbed into her recent hilarious yet sensitive and intuitive performance as New York's professional matchmaker. Showbiz is of course not without its knocks and Dee, who made her Hello, Dolly! entry each night from a seat in row 8 of the stalls, talks anecdotally of an audience member in her 80’s, not recognising that the show's star was sat in front of her, commenting quietly to the actress that a friend (also elderly)  who had already seen the show thought it “really wasn’t very good at all“ ! With those words of criticism ringing in her ears, Dee then had to take the stage and launch into the show’s wonderful opening number Call on Dolly. Suffice to say, Dee was the consummate trouper and by the end of the performance, the 80 year old buttonholed her, to say how wonderful it all had been!

And thus to the West End, where today Miss Dee commences her residency. With pianist  Ben Atkinson who is fresh from musically directing her in Leicester, the two have had plenty of time to rehearse together and polish the set. She talks of a song list including a smattering of Fats Waller combined with other numbers from era and her take on some of the classics of the American Songbook is eagerly awaited. If you like your music like your bourbon, long slow and smooth with moments of dancing liveliness, then an evening in the intimate cabaret company of  this sublimely talented actress is likely to prove time wisely and wonderfully spent.

My review of Hello, Dolly! at Leicester's Curve can be found here.

Janie appears in cabaret at the Crazy Coqs at Brasserie Zedel until Saturday January 26th 2013, reviewed here.