When We Have Sufficiently Tortured Each Other - National Theatre

Back in November, or thereabouts, I got an e-mail from the National Theatre to say that Cate Blanchett and Stephen Dillane would be appearing in a play, based upon Richardson's proto-novel, Pamela.   As the play was expected to be popular, and the Dorfman theatre is small, they held a ballot for the opportunity to buy tickets, and, as these are both actors I would be interested in seeing on stage, I entered, and was pleased to learn I'd been successful.

My tickets were booked for 2nd February, which turned out not be  be ideal, as we had 11 inches of snow on the 1st,  and my car had a flat, so getting there meant a  snowy walk, a long wait at the bus stop and a slow, snowy bus journey, just to get to the station. 

Sadly, I didn't really feel that the production was worth it.

For those not familiar with it, the original novel (published in 1740) tells the story , via a collection of letters, of the eponymous Pamela, a 16 year old maidservant, whose master, Mr B, makes advances towards her which she rejects. He attempts to bribe her , before moving on to intercepting her letters to her parents, and ultimately abducting and imprisoning her, and threatening to rape her, then finally marries her, despite the differences in their social statuses.

In the play, the action is moved to a modern double garage, containing a car (an Audi, I believe) a workbench, and various other bits and pieces. It's rather claustrophobic.

The play has no plot or progression, it is a set of scenes, interrupted by one or other of the characters turning the lights on or off. The scenes involved lots of talking, powers plays, as the main characters take it in turns to dominate or be dominated,  and there is a lot of dressing up - Cate Blanchett in a mans suit, or in a maid's outfit, Stephen Dillane in a suit, or maid's outfit and wig, or a negligee, but at the end of the day, it's all rather dull. I think it sets out to be shocking and provoking, but fails , and it left me feeling I'd been watching two amazing actors wasting their time, and mine. 

According to the reviews I read (after seeing the play ), at least one person fainted at the press preview. Having now see the play, I have a theory that they didn't faint. They were just trying to fake their own death in order to escape!.