Which made for a fun day.
The last thing I saw Damian Lewis in was the BBC's adaptation of Wolf Hall, in which he played King Henry VIII. His role here is very different.
The play is deceptively simple; three no-hopers, none of whom is as smart as they think they are, trying to plan a robbery to recover a rare and valuable coin (the titular American Buffalo (nickel) )
American Buffalo (photo from theatre site) |
In fact all three performances are great - Lewis is flashy (and so very 70s!) but also lets us see Teach's underlying insecurity, and Sturridge's Bob is both pathetic and oddly appealing.
It was a beautiful sunny day, so between plays I wandered along the embankment, through a pop up market, and visited Cleopatra's Needle. Which is nice, and has some only-slightly-shrapnel-damaged sphinxes flanking it, which I don't think I have ever seen up close before.
Everyman was very interesting. It's an updating (written by Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy) of a 15th Century mystery play in which 'Everyman' has to account to God for his actions in life.
Everyman (Image from National Theatre site) |
However, the staging seemed, at times, to overwhelm the play - I can't help but feel that a slightly more muted production might have allowed the acting, and the writing, more space!
I did, however, enjoy the specially printed banknotes, some of which were blown out into the auditorium, and loved Kate Duchene's cleaning lady/God)
Everyman and God (photo from National Theatre production gallery) |
2 comments:
I envy you, getting to see this American Buffalo. I sorta collect them. Saw Robert Duval (Godfather consigliore ) in the opening production on Broadway and then Al Pacino at Circle in the Square, Off-Broadway. Duval was excellent but Pacino was electrifying. Damion Lewis is one of my favourite working actors at the moment. He manages to combine physicality with cerebral intent in such a balanced ways. I would have loved to see his take on this play.
Sounds like the producers/directors chickened out on the Everyman and didn't trust what they had = from Euuu classic to Black lead, maybe we need to 'help' him along with a flashy production. Sad when that happens.
Real theatre is one of the things I miss most about no longer living in London.
I've never seen it before. I was really impressed with Lewis.
I know the National has a new director now Nicholas Hytner has left. - I just felt the play could have stood on it's own merits but was a little overshadowed. IS there a cinema near you that does the NTLive broadcasts? Maybe you could see what you think!
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