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

The Shark Is Broken - Review

Ambassadors Theatre, London

****

Written by Ian Shaw and Joseph Nixon

Directed by Guy Masterson

Ian Shaw, Liam Murray Scott and Demetri Goritsas

I declare an interest. I saw Steven Spielberg's movie Jaws (for what was to be the first of countless times) in December 1975 on the day that it opened across the UK. I have read Peter Benchley’s book, devoured The Jaws Log by Carl Gottlieb (the movie’s screenwriter and whose book described the story’s journey from page to screen) and in 2015 I interviewed Gottlieb for this website. I know my Jaws...

The Shark Is Broken is an intriguing conceit. Actors have famously commented that while shooting a movie, most of the time is spent sat around doing nothing, waiting for the shot to be ready with only a fraction of time being spent in front of the camera. So it is that Ian Shaw, a son of Jaws star Robert Shaw (who played shark-hunter and fisherman Quint in the movie) together with Joseph Nixon, has created this one-act play set entirely on board Quint’s fishing boat Orca and featuring the interactions between the three actors who played the movie’s protagonists Roy Scheider (Police Chief Brody), Richard Dreyfuss (Oceanographer Matt Hooper) and Robert Shaw.

The show's dramatic structure works well, as with reference to his father’s diaries and stories, Gottlieb’s book and masses of additional research, Shaw Junior has constructed a very plausible narrative. Add to this the uncanny resemblance that Shaw bears to his illustrious dad and the evening is complete. To be fair Demetri Goritsas (Scheider) and Liam Murray Scott (Dreyfuss) both put in fine turns, Goritsas in particular, but – unlike Spielberg’s original, where the narrative was driven in equal measure by the trio – it is Shaw who delivers the piece's core energy, offering us a glimpse into his father's literary genius as well as a suggested dependance on the bottle. There's humour a'plenty too, with Shaw cleverly capturing his father's maverick brilliance.

Guy Masterson directs with an economic precision, the whole work being elegantly presented on Duncan Henderson’s cutaway Orca and Nina Dunn’s ingenious projections cleverly capturing the roll and sway of the New England seaboard. If there are criticisms, it is that some of Shaw & Nixon’s gags about the future are a tad too blatant, and Scott’s take on Dreyfuss’ anxieties errs too often towards a slapstick Leo Bloom – mental health should be no laughing matter.

But this is fine imaginative writing, and as the evening unwinds we see Shaw progressing through his development of Quint’s speech about the torpedoing of the USS Indianapolis, and the ensuing shark attack that befell those sailors who survived the sinking. While Jaws is a work of fiction, the tragedy of the Indianapolis is true – and as Ian Shaw recreates his father’s masterful telling of that terrible tale, he holds the audience spellbound.

Click here to read my interview with Jaws screenwriter Carl Gottlieb

Runs until 15th January 2022

Photo credit: Helen Maybanks

Nine to Five The Musical - Review

Savoy Theatre, London


****


Music & lyrics by Dolly Parton
Book by Patricia Resnick
Directed by Jeff Calhoun

Natalie McQueen, Caroline Sheen , Amber Davies

Musical theatre comedy done well is a blissful way to spend an evening. So it is with Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5, currently playing to packed houses at the Savoy Theatre.

Set in 1980s corporate America the plot is an unbelievable humbug that sees three focused, driven women kidnap their boorish, mysogninyst boss with everything leading to a deliriously happy ending. But while the story may be a fictional fable, the show’s themes are sadly timeless - and to that end, while Parton my have set Patricia Resnick’s book to music nearly 40 years ago, the show’s themes of workplace inequality and sexual harassment are as true today as they ever were.

So what turns this potentially grim scenario into quite such a banging night at the theatre? Parton’s cracking songs, delivered by a perfect cast. Caroline Sheen leads the line, as Violet, an overlooked female executive. In a tough role that doesn’t offer much comical caricature potential, Sheen is magnificent. Beautifully voiced as ever, she drives the story’s narrative.

Dolly Parton is as famous for her physique as for her country & western singer/songwriter talents - and it falls to Natalie McQueen as Doralee to capture the legendary statuesque Parton persona. McQueen rises to the challenge fabulously, never better than in her poignant solo Backwoods Barbie.

Third in the lineup is Amber Davies’ Judy playing a young dumped bride finding her way in the workplace. Both Davies and McQueen capture the comic essentials of their characters with an impressive avoidance of cliche - top work from all three.

The supporting roles are equally flawless in their delivery of cracking comedy. Brian Conley is the women’s monstrous employer turning in an assured performance as a man with no redeeming features whatsoever other than an awesome stage presence and impeccable comic timing. Opposite Conley, Bonnie Langford plays Roz, his harridan henchperson.  Langford’s talent is breathtaking as she transitions from brusque, bunned busybody to basque-clad temtptress in her sensational solo piece Heart To Hart, with an elegant litheness that has to be seen to be believed.

And all credit to the show’s creatives. Jeff Calhoun and choreographer Lisa Stevens pack the piece with colour and movement, while Howard Hudson’s lighting and Nina Dunn’s video projections make the stage itself as entertaining as the perfomances. Under Andrew Hilton’s baton, the eight piece band are an equal delight.

9 to 5 is perfectly played, unpretentious fun and one of the funniest feel-good shows in town.

Booking until 31st August