Enter the King at the National Theatre

I've enjoyed previous adaptations by Patrick Marber, so I thought that Enter the King was likely to be worth seeing, and I didn't think I'd seen it before. (Once it began, I started to think it sounded familiar, and realised I did see it, at the Ustinov, a couple of years ago).

Pre-performance set

This production features Rhys Ifans as the King, with Adrian Scarborough as the Doctor and Indira Varma and Amy Morgan as his Queens.

For those unfamiliar with the play, the King is, after over 400 years of rule, dying, a fact he is reluctant to accept, and as his life ends, that of the his Kingdom does too. 


It's a dark, but often funny, look at the process of ageing and attempting to come to terms with it. 

While I enjoyed the play, I did feel that it could have done with a tightening up a bit , there were points, particularly in the second half of the play, when the King's musings became a little tedious rather than thought provoking, but it is worth seeing.

It runs until 6th October

Don Juan in SoHo

Watching David Tennant on stage is always a pleasure, and I really enjoyed '3 Days in the Country' which was written by Patrick Marber, so naturally, when I saw that Tennant  was going to be performing in Marber's play, 'Don Juan in SoHo'  I booked tickets!

The play is a re-working of Molière's 1665 play, set in contemporary SoHo, with David Tenant as Don Juan, Adrian Scarborough as his long-suffering servant, Stan.

I'm not familiar with the original play, so am unsure how much of the plot has been retained, but whatever liberties may have been taken, they seem to work! 

We meet the Don in a luxury hotel, where he is discovered by his brother in law, initially concerned for his safety, as he has not been seen for two days, although of course we quickly learn that it is simply that the amoral Don has abandoned his wife, to spend his nights with a supermodel in the penthouse suite... 

David Tennant as Don Juan. Production photo by Helen Maybanks

When we first meet him, he slumps into an armchair, apparently too exhausted even to reach the glass Stan has provided for him, and then proceeds to smoke a series of cigarettes, flirting outrageously with the hotel staff members who come to insist he puts it out..

Don Juan is sexy, charming, unscrupulous and almost entirely immoral. He shamelessly lies to his father (Gawn Gainger) to avoid being disinherited, but is cruelly, and ruthlessly, honest in admitting to his wronged wife that he married her as the only way of sleeping with her, and that he was cheating in her even on their wedding day.

As Stan says 'Please don't be charmed, he's not a lovable rogue' and he is absolutely right. He's not a lovable rogue. But he is very entertaining! 

Stan and Don Juan: Production photo by Helen Maybanks

And there are lots of little touches - the script includes contemporary references ("I'm not a rapist, I don't grab pussy") there are telling little vignettes - the woman in the hospital, filming Don Juan as he attempts to seduce a grieving bride while simultaneously enjoying fellatio from another woman, springs to mind - Don Juan is not the only member of this ensemble with dubious morals! 


The play is at Wyndham's Theatre until 10th June, and it definitely worth seeing, if you can!