King Lear - Review

Wyndhams Theatre, London

****

Written by William Shakespeare

Directed by Kenneth Branagh

Kenneth Branagh and Jessica Revell

Kenneth Branagh’s take on King Lear is an intelligent interpretation of one of Shakespeare’s most powerful tragedies. Branagh’s treatment of the text is bold creating an amalgam of the play’s first published Folio and Quarto versions, then filleting out the narrative he considers superfluous. Not quite a King Lear Lite, but Branagh shaves a fair hour off the typical running time, bringing the show in at just under two hours with no interval.

For the most part the edits work. Amongst other clippings the courtroom scene in the hovel is chopped as is Lear’s comment on Cordelia’s quietly-spoken voice being “an excellent thing in woman”. But to be fair Branagh has trimmed wisely, maintaining the integrity of the narrative around Lear and his daughters, together with the sub-plot surrounding Gloucester and his sons. The play’s most famous quotes are (mostly) all there and in a time that has frequently seen the Bard’s prose butchered at Shakespeare’s Globe, Branagh treats the original with respect. 

On stage, Branagh is an excellent King Lear. There is weight and pathos to his words, with his curse of sterility on Goneril together with his grief in the final act, being fine examples of a well considered interpretation. His daughters are fun too. Melanie-Joyce Bermudez is a vicious Regan and Deborah Alli is an equally Ugly Sister as Goneril. There is a fine interpretation of Cordelia from Jessica Revell also doubling up as the Fool, who catches the complex sentiments of both her roles with a delightful accuracy. Doug Colling and Corey Mylchreest put in sound turns as Edgar and Edmund respectively, while Joseph Kloska’s Gloucester is deliciously done, vile jellies bouncing across the stage as his eyes are plucked out.

Jon Bausor’s designs together with Nina Dunn’s projections offer an original view of the Neolithic era in which the production is set, though the dancing and battling with staves is perhaps a little overplayed given the otherwise ruthless editing of the script.

Virtually sold out for the run, Branagh has delivered a King Lear for our times. 

Runs until 9th December

Photo credit: Johan Persson

Henry Goodman talks about bringing Hercule Poirot to the stage

 

Henry Goodman has received near universal acclaim for his portrayal of Belgian detective Hercule Poirot in Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express that opened in Chichester last week. Describing the Belgian sleuth as “a cop with a conscience, a detective with dignity”, earlier this month Goodman took a break from his hectic rehearsal schedule to speak with me about the production.

You can read my 5* review of Chichester's Murder on the Orient Express here

Henry Goodman returns to the Chichester stage this month, leading the cast on a newly-written version of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express. One of the crime-writer’s classic yarns, the story has been committed to screen numerous times. Now, for the first time, in Ken Ludwig’s adaptation, the murder mystery is to be performed live on stage, with Goodman waxing up his moustache to step into the role of famed detective Hercule Poirot. 

“What is so exciting about the challenge of this story is Poirot. We all know I’m standing on the shoulders of giants – Kenneth Branagh, David Suchet, Peter Ustinov, John Malkovich, Albert Finney and Alfred Molina have all played him on screen – but lockdown gave me the time to read quite a lot of the novels and look at all the films. I didn’t do this to nick ideas, although there might be the odd thing that inspired me, but to soak myself up in Poirot and try to understand why he is so important to people. Why did Christie fall in love with him? I see Poirot as a figure of hope and this adaptation enhances that. I’m in my 70s, so it’s an older man who is saying: ‘This was the case that really was unique in my life. Come back and have a look at it with me.’

“Why is Poirot so refreshing, and why is he able to say things about the British that the British can’t say about themselves? It’s not just that he’s got an odd walk, or that he’s slightly eccentric in his speech, or that he is a foreigner out of place amongst all these people because in this story there are a lot of foreigners all trapped on a train who are from Russia, Sweden and Hungary. No, the interesting, exotic thing is it that this blend of cultures makes him act differently to how he does when he is with the English. Ludwig has been very clever about keeping alive the whodunnit and the questioning, but also in allowing me to observe different nationalities and different presumed attitudes. He’s not just a cop with a conscience, he is a man with a moral strength, and that’s why this case is so important to him as he invites the audience to go back and explore it with him.”

Previous Poirots have all been on film or TV where the camera can be close-up on every hair on his moustache. Here, we are in a 1300-seat auditorium, which Goodman last appeared at in 2010 when he played the role of Sir Humphrey Appleby in Yes, Prime Minister. “Live performance doesn’t necessarily mean melodrama, because it’s a wonderfully powerful and intimate space, but it’s theatre not film,” says Henry. “That means not ‘bigness’, but a different type of laser-focus on certain things that a camera can cheat on. The camera can suggest a little shot through a window or a lingering dolly shot or all sorts of things, but we have to make it happen in a different way.”

Speaking about the historical context of the story, Goodman continued: “I am very conscious that it’s set in the 1930s just after the Nazi rise of 1933. Although it’s a murder mystery, and Ken’s been very strong on the thriller element of working out what happens when and where, there are certain social attitudes built into Christie in her time. Some of these tend towards the colonial and imperialist. However, these people are trapped on a train in the ‘30s. I don’t want to give anything away, but towards the end of the play they are revealed to be acting in a particular light of current events. There are the attitudes of the thirties: of nobility, royalty, a Russian princess, an American actress. These are the characters in the novel, so they’re nothing new, but we have intensified the contrast between them, creating a strong insight into the attitudes of the time, which speak to us now because here we are with Russia invading Ukraine. In the ‘30s that’s exactly what was going on – an invasion of Europe.”

In 1997 Goodman brought Broadway’s Billy Flynn to London in Kander and Ebb’s Chicago. I ask if there are any parallels between playing a ruthless criminal defence lawyer and an investigating detective?

“I’ve played a lot of manipulative nasty people, but the reason these roles are so interesting to play, and why people enjoy reading criminal novels and dealing with dark stuff, is that there’s something charismatic about them. Flynn is manipulative, while Poirot discovers other people’s manipulation, and that is a joy to play. Poirot is passionate about his moral certitude in a world that is in danger.”

Goodman grew up in the East End and worked a pitch selling watches on Petticoat Lane. He landed his first role in 1960 in a film called Conspiracy of Hearts. He was 10. “The film was about little kids being rescued from a concentration camp by nuns. My picture was in Woman’s Weekly – the first image of myself on film was standing behind barbed wire as a little boy in a concentration camp. These things go very deep.

You can read my 5* review of Chichester's Murder on the Orient Express here

Runs until 4th June at Chichester, then tours to Theatre Royal, Bath

This interview was first published in the Jewish News

Photos of Henry Goodman by Johan Persson

Mack-beth : A Profile of Norman Bowman

Bearded and relaxed in shorts and t-shirt, it’s a pleasure to grab an afternoon with Norman Bowman as he takes a breather from the demands of Kenneth Branagh’s acclaimed production of Macbeth at the Manchester International Festival. From a career that started out in musical theatre and has been most frequently filled by work in that genre, no-one was more surprised than Bowman himself to have been cast in this Shakespearean masterpiece, but as our conversation unfolds it is clear that all that this actor has achieved to date has been nothing less than hard won and above all, richly deserved.

Bowman’s biography is a tribute to his talents. He is wise to what makes a commercial West End production work, acknowledging that a “star name” is often needed to sell tickets and in a charmingly self-deprecating comment he acknowledges that today he may well not be that “star” person. Star billing or not, the body of work that this talented performer has achieved speaks of his abilities. From being cast as Marius in Les Miserables early on in his career, he has gone on to play Carousel’s Billy Bigelow in Chichester, Danny in a Grease national tour, Tony in West Side Story, and a two year stretch as Sam Carmichael in Mamma Mia. Whilst these parts have been his commercial leads, with many other supporting roles along the way, off West End his Mack in Thom Southerland’s 2012 production of Mack & Mabel at the Southwark Playhouse, was one of London’s outstanding male musical performances of the year. 

In Mack & Mabel with co-star Laura Pitt-Pulford

When Bowman reflects upon his journey to Macbeth, he does not hesitate in acknowledging the creative genius of Rob Ashford who, with Branagh, has co-directed the Scottish Play and who has creatively worked with the actor on three previous occasions. Bowman speaks warmly of being choreographed by Ashford in Michael Grandage’s 2005 Guys and Dolls, a show in which he played gambling gangster Harry the Horse, chuckling to learn in our conversation that the National Theatre’s 1982 version of that show opened with fellow gritty Scots countryman Bill Paterson, in the same role.

Ashford was to go on and cast Bowman as Tom Watson, the outspokenly racist publisher from the Deep South in Parade by Jason Robert Brown. Parade had had a difficult opening on Broadway and it was not until Ashford’s take on the work at London’s Donmar, that the show achieved the acclaim it deserved, an association with which Bowman is evidently proud. His next engagement under Ashford was to be directed by him in Finding Neverland at Leicester’s Curve. The production was controversial being movie mogul Harvey Weinstein’s first venture into staging an original piece of theatre and Bowman is nothing if not diplomatic in referring to the show’s journey. Notwithstanding the show’s challenges, Finding Neverland had provided a further opportunity for Bowman to work with the American, so when the opportunity for Macbeth arose and whilst there is no question that Bowman earned his place on merit, the established mutual respect between him and Ashford combined with his glorious Arbroath accent clearly stood him in good stead. Bowman is in fact one of only a handful of authentic Scots cast in this most Caledonian of texts. 

Bowman speaks as a man wise about his world and his profession. Even though he looks (enviably) damn good for his 43 years, he is all too aware that he is frequently auditioning for roles against fellow professionals some years his junior. His philosophy though is admirable, always respectful of competitor actors, yet focussing his energy on his own performance, rather than worrying over the potential strengths and weaknesses of others. He refers to the adage that once you mentally put yourself in a “race for a part”, the other actor is already in front of you and how he avoids that thought process.  It’s an attitude that speaks of immense personal strength, a pre-requisite in the glamorous but nonetheless harsh show-business world. He also speaks with a wry and realistic acknowledgment of the power of social media, the new lingua franca amongst performers and those who follow them, as an important component of an actor’s profile. He is savvy enough to recognise the increasing importance of media channels such as Twitter that can allow an audience to immediately express praise (or displeasure) for production or performer as they exit a theatre and like many around him, he conducts himself with measured professionalism in the online community. 

As sword wielding Ross in Macbeth

Bowman is that rare performer who is not only skilled enough to have amassed a respectable body of work to date, but is also open-minded enough to welcome development and improvement from acting legends. He speaks warmly of his time, again under Michael Grandage, in the director’s Twelfth Night that formed part of the Donmar at the Wyndhams season. Working with and occasionally opposite Sir Derek Jacobi was an experience that he acknowledges to have been rare and privileged and Bowman speaks with warmth and admiration of how he found Jacobi to be a source of inspiration. That some four years on he now finds himself selected to perform in a Branagh-led Shakespearean troupe is a further mark of the Scotsman’s talent.  As one might expect, he is at all times refreshingly respectful, but never fawning, to these giants of the English stage.

A father of two twins, Bowman speaks lovingly of his kids and it is clear that notwithstanding his recent separation from their mother and his long term partner, they remain vitally important to him and he remains focussed on being a significant part of their developing lives, living close by to them in London

Our conversation ends to allow Bowman time to return backstage, don his heavy garb as nobleman Ross and perform the daily pre-curtain up rehearsal that health & safety regulations demand of all fight scenes. For this production of Macbeth such compliance is an exhausting obligation as the stage combat of Ashford and Branagh’s vision is amongst the most ambitious ever presented in live Shakespeare. The physical effort that the actors put into their meticulously choreographed battle-work and swordplay is jaw dropping, as sparks literally fly from the clashes of heavy steel.

I bid farewell to this accomplished musical theatre performer and Shakespearean stalwart to boot and reflect that to describe Norman Bowman as “comfortable in his own skin” would actually be to understate. He is good at his job and, with all appropriate modesty, he knows that he is good at it too. Above all, the man is a committed actor who loves his work and it shows.


Norman Bowman can be seen in Macbeth via NTLIve on Saturday 20 July 

My review of Macbeth can be found here

My review of Mack & Mabel can be found here

Macbeth

Manchester International Festival, Manchester, and via NT Live on July 20 ( see below)

*****

Written by William Shakespeare

Directed by Kenneth Branagh and Rob Ashford

Kenneth Branagh

In this baking summer heat, a de-consecrated church in Manchester has been converted into a veritable cauldron. No eye of newt or fenny snake fillet  in this pot though. Rather the most inspired and infernal combination of an almost medieval venue, floored with mud, drenched with (real) rain, equipped with basically brutal steel and wood scenery, yet also endowed with state of the art theatre-craft. Wrap this combination up in some of Shakespeare's most beautiful prose, have it performed by actor-director Kenneth Branagh's company, and the result is theatrical enchantment.

Branagh's impact upon this production is profound. The poetry of Macbeth is legendary, and the actor's considered interpretation of its rhythm and context reveals new depths to Macbeth's tortured soul. Branagh has a demonstrated love for and understanding of Shakespeare that is almost unique amongst his generation and rarely has each classic monologue or soliloquy from both Macbeth and his Lady been so longed for by the audience. Simply put, the acting talent within this Manchester International Festival offering is a privilege to witness. 

Alex Kingston

It is the cast of this play that are the jewels in Branagh's crown. Alex Kingston's Lady Macbeth is a masterclass in manipulative matrimony, sliding before our eyes into bleak suicidal madness. Her sleepwalking scene, free of all gimmicks and trickery harrows as the actress gives fresh depth and interpretation to this most complex of Shakespeare's women. John Shrapnel's Duncan defines majesty. Ray Fearon's Macduff is as menacing when he avenges his family's slaughter, as he is heartbreaking when told of their deaths and in the sweetest of cameos, Rosalie Craig's devotedly maternal Lady Macduff claws at our base emotions as we see her witness her son's murder. Norman Bowman's Scottish brogue makes his Ross a vocal treat, whilst Charlie Cameron, Laura Elsworthy and Anjana Vasan's Witches give these Shakespearean women a ghoulishly freakish twist that alarms as much as delights.

The venue is an inspired choice. Performed in the traverse, the beautifully restored building lends itself magnificently to suggesting a feudal kingdom, far removed from the modern day. Timbers groan, and when the portly Scottish Jimmy Yuill's Banquo is slaughtered, crashing into the wall (in front of this reviewer's row A seat), his dying, clutching grasps as he succumbed were haunting. Christopher Oram's costumes of the era add to the work's chronology and the magnificent swordplay literally sees sparks fly as the heavy steel blades collide under fight director Terry King's design.

It is a credit to the production that the cast are undetectably mic'd. The clarity is perfect throughout as Christopher Shutt's sound crew manage Patrick Doyle's beautiful music, along with the delivery of the spoken word, perfectly. Lit by Neil Austin, some effects are breathtaking. That a dagger can be suggested on the floor by a bright light shining through a chink in a timber wall is a neat touch - but when daylight suddenly illuminates the stage, streaming through the building's magnificent rose-window  and supplied as it turns out, by a massive floodlight set atop a cherry-picker OUTSIDE the church, one has to gasp at the ingenuity that can deploy modern technology to deliver such a beautifully conceived yet sweetly simple vision.

Alexander Vlahos as Malcolm, battles in the muddy, bloody rain

Rob Ashford co-directs and where this giant of Broadway and the West End's strengths can lie in conceiving the movement and choreography of the text, so Branagh is a world class authority on the Bard and an accomplished movie director. The union of these creative talents is far greater than the sum of their parts. They have imbued the story with a sense of authentic spectacle usually associated with gimmickry rather than the artistic brilliance that this production represents. They give a depth to the play that focuses on the simple raw beauty of the visual image as well as the splendid verse. The result is a rare, precious and undeniably definitive production.

Runs until July 21

Making the Unmissable unmissable, those wonderful people at NTLive will be broadcasting Macbeth live to cinemas across the country and also globally, on July 20 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.