The Entertainer

The last in Kenneth Branagh's season of plays at the Garrick is John Osborne's 'The Entertainer' , and I went to see it at the weekend.

I booked it some time ago, as originally, John Hurt was due to appear, but sadly he had to withdraw for health reasons, which was a disappointment.

However, the cast still included Branagh (Archie Rice) Greta Scacchi (Phoebe Rice) Gawn Granger (Billy Rice) and Sophie McShera (Jean Rice) 

It's not a play I am familiar with, so I went in with a completely open mind.

And left a little disappointed - the play (for those unfamiliar with it) it set during the Suez crisis, with Britain's place in the world declining, and features Branagh as Archie Rice, fading and failing music hall entertainer and womaniser - I felt Branagh was more convincing as the music hall artiste than in conveying the despair and failure of Rice in his private life, and felt that Sophie McShera as his daughter Jean, visiting following her split from her fiance after attending a protest in Trafalgar square, made a somewhat unconvincing rebel.

Gawn Granger as Rice's father was very strong, as was Greta Scacchi as Rice's long-suffering wife, but over all I felt it it was weaker than some of the other productions in the season, and didn't quite achieve the sort of quiet desperation which a  lot of the script seem to require.

I wanted to enjoy it a lot more than I actually enjoyed it!

(The play is at the Garrick until 12th November)

Romeo & Juliet

Last week was a very busy one for me. After my trip to London on Thursday for the  Neil Gaiman's Likely Stories screening, I was back again on Saturday, for 2 shows, booked months ago.

The first of these was Romeo and Juliet, a production by the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company at the Garrick.

I booked it because Sir Derek Jacobi was appearing,and I will always show up to see him perform, given the chance. I was intrigued to learn he would be playing Mercutio, as of course, it's not a role with which one associates with a 77 year old man).

Mercution, Romeo and Benvolio
(Photo from Theatre website)

The Production is set in 1950s Italy, so the sets reference fascist  architecture, and the costumes are very much 'La Dolce Vita' : virtually monochrome and very stylish. Setting the play in this period, and this place, with undertones of Mafia corruption, and more that a little machismo, works well

Juliet is played by Lily James, (Downton Abbey's Lady Rose / War and Peace's Natasha Rostova), and Romeo by Richard Madden (Robb Stark in Game of Thrones) 

Juliet and Romeo

I was very impressed by James's performance as Juliet - she is entirely convincing as an emotional, intense teenager.

Madden I found a little disappointing, he didn't seem to project any passion, and unfortunately his diction was not always as clear as it could be, leading to some of the verse being lost. Friar Lawrence (Samuel Valentine) was a young man, a close friend of Romeo's, and his performance was excellent - his youth made the friendship, and Friar Lawrence's actions in assisting the young lovers entirely believable. 

Tybalt (Ansu Kabia) and Mercutio (Derek Jacobi)

Derek Jacobi's Mercutio is a high point in the show. He is wonderfully urbane, witty and more than a little camp, twirling his sword-stick and offering worldly advice and bon mots to his younger friends. His 'Queen Mab' speech was pitch-perfect, and his duel with Tybalt has an added poignancy, as he gives the impression, until the last moment, that he expects, as is his wont, to duel with words, not swords. 

In all, a good, but not great, production. I enjoyed it. (Although was somewhat irritated by the chap sitting behind me, and explaining the plot and characters in piercing whisper, to his children!)

In Which there is a lot of theatre!

At the end of November I had a further trip to London, to see the RSC Henry V at the Barbican, and the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company All on her own' / Harliquinade double-bill at the Garrick theatre.

Both were very good. 

The Henry V is part of the 'Great Cycle of Kings', directed by Gregory Doran, - Richard II, Henry IV parts I and II, and Henry V.

I saw Richard II (with David Tennant) in Stratford, in November 2013,and then saw Henry IV Pt. I as a live broadcast, and Henry IV Pt. II at Bath, last November, so when I saw that the RSC was reuniting the same cast and performing the pays at the Barbican in London I decided that I would go and fill in the gap, and see the last of the 4. 

Alex Hassell as Henry V - Photo (c) RSC

I enjoyed it a lot. It's pretty much uncut, and Hassell was a convincingly tough and aggressive Henry, and while I am not a fan of Shakespeare's 'comic' Scots / Welsh / Irish Captains, their scenes were done well.

I also found it interesting to be back at the Barbican and to see the contrast between the huge and ornate 'Hamlet' set, and the sparse Henry V one!

I then had the pleasure of meeting up with a friend for a meal and catch up, before heading to the Garrick theatre to see the first of the plays in Kenneth Branagh's company's run (I have ticket for a couple of the others, for next year)

It was a Terence Rattigan double bill - 'All on her Own', a monologue, performed by Zoë Wanamaker, as a widow returning home after a party, a  little the worse for wear, and starting a conversation with her late husband. Poignant and superbly performed. 

The second half of the double bill was 'Harlquinade', which is utterly hilarious. I never realised what a talent for comedy Branagh had! 

The play is set during a dress rehearsal of 'Romeo and Juliet' in 1946, and features Branagh as Arthur Gosport, an ageing actor-manager who, with his wife is touring the provinces as part of a government scheme to bring culture to the masses.

Both he and his wife, (Miranda Raison) are both utterly absorbed in the play, oblivious to their stage manager's attempts to tell them he will to be continuing the tour, and  the implications of the arrival of young Mrs Palmer and her baby... not to mention issues of bigamy, and farcical misunderstandings.

Hadley Fraser has a slight slight as the First Halberdier, and the whole thing is laugh-out-loud funny. There's something highly entertaining about watching very good actors pretending to be not-so-good actors.

It was a lot of fun.

And then on Sunday, before I went home, I got to meet up with a relative I haven't seen for ages which was great.