Othello at the National Theatre

Last year, I realised the Giles Terera, who I've seen, and been very impressed by, in his own play ' The Meaning of Zong', and as Aaron Burr in 'Hamilton'  was going to be appearing at the National Theatre, as 'Othello', so I wanted to go, and persuaded my friends, E and A to come with me. 

The Thames, and London Skyline

We all arrived in London early enough to meet up for a second breakfast,  before heading over to the South Bank for drinks and nibbles, then the show. It was a beautiful day, with lovely views along the THames, towards St Pauls, as we crossed to the South Bank.

It's a play I've only seen a few times before, I think, twice  at the Globe - once with Eammon Walker and TIm McInnerny, and once with Andre Holland and  Mark Rylance, and in Bath with Lenny Henry as Othello and Conrad Nelson as Iago. I think the last of those was on 2018, so it's been a while since I've seen the play.

Set, before the play started

In this production, the set is pretty minimalist - a series of tiers and staircases, which, before the play began were covered with projections of posters and playbills for older productions of Othello, and a cast member was cleaning the stage - cleaning away older iterations and assumptions about the play, perhaps?

This version of the play puts the inherent racism and misogyny of the characters front and centre - Iago (Paul Hilton) appears like a cut-price Moseley, all black shirt and pencil moustache, and there is a chorus (at times appearing as a literal mob with flaming torches) to back him up.  The Venetian nobility praise Othello's military prowess, and are, of course, quick to send him to defend them from the invading Ottoman navy, but will not shake his hand.

There's also a scene where Othello, called from his marital bed, is seen shirtless, his back showing the scars of beatings and giving us a very visceral reminder of his history of having been enslaved. 

NT Publicity Photo -
Rosy McEwan as Desdemona and Giles Terera as Othello

 As the play progresses, we also see Emilia, Iago's wife,(Tanya Franks) who (per the text) is used by her husband, to take the handkerchief which he uses to convince Othello that Desdemona has been unfaithful, performed explicitly as a victim of domestic abuse, both attracted to, and frightened of, her husband. It's a powerful performance, and provides a rationale for Emilia's sympathy towards Desdemona and her silence in the face of Othello's growing suspicions. It comes across particularly strongly in her speech in Act 4.

I thought it was a very interesting production, and one which gave a new perspective on the play, but not easy to watch.

After the play, we went to Mere where we enjoyed some wonderful cocktails and a fantastic meal, of which, for me, the highlight was the dessert - a beautiful sphere containing coconut Mousse, kumquat Marmalade, and coffee mousse, flavour which I didn't think sounded as though thy would work together, but which really, really, did!

Given the rather unreliable habits of GWR at the moment, I'd opted to stay overnight and come home on SUnday morning - I had thought I might go to the British Library's ALexander the Great exhibition, but in the end I was too tired and din't fancy hanging around until 11 for it to open, so instead, I got the first train home (delayed by half an hour!) 

Everywhere was covered in heavy hoar frost, and looked lovely, if rather cold! 

I believe tht Othello is going to be broadcast to cinemas via NTLive on 23rd February, and hopefully on NTatHome after tht. I think it's worth seeing. 

The Ocean At The End of the Lane - Duke of York's Theatre

Back in December 2019, I got to see the stage adaptation of Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane, at the Dorfman at the National Theatre, and it was extraordinarily good (I ended up seeing it 3 times), so when I heard that it was transferring for a longer London run I suggested to my cousin, A, that she and her boys might like it, and we arranged to go together. Then, of course, or tickets.

Since the tickets we originally had were for January 2021, ended up being a longer wait than anticipated, but we finally got to go, almost exactly a year to the day after our original date - and it was worth the wait.

The Duke of York's is larger than the Dorfman, but the play still manages to feel intimate, and immediate, and the Hunger Birds are still terrifying! 

And, even though I have seen it before, I was still almost in tears at the end.

It's beautifully staged, and the story is such a poignant , heartbreaking evocation of childhood loss and fears. 

It's on until 14th May, at the Duke of York's Theatre and I do recommend that you see it, if you can. Since it is a  National Theatre  production, and one which is getting excellent reviews, I hope that they may film it for NT Live. I know that there were plans or a touring production, too, although I am not sure whether, post Covid. that's still the plan. I hope so.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane

I was both excited and wary when I heard that the National Theatre would be doing a production based on Neil Gaiman's novel The Ocean at the End of the Lane excited because I love Neil's work, and Ocean is a book which speaks to me particularly deeply, and wary because it isn't a book which lends itself easily to being adapted.

I am seeing the play with friends next week, but also booked to see the first preview, as I feel that you get a different experience when you go to the theatre alone, and  can focus solely on the production, then you do when you are also enjoying a social experience. Plus, I thought that if the adaptation was good, I might well want to see it more than once!

I was not disappointed. Going into the Dorfman foyer, there is a projection (complete with lightning) of the Boy in the storm, then going into the theatre there is the set, with a great arched backdrop of thorns and brambles.

In the opening scene we see the adult 'boy', standing at the grave of his father, and we are off!

I was really impressed with the production - despite my concerned, it really, really works, both as a stand alone piece of theatre and as an adaptation of the book. 

The production uses puppetry, with visible puppeteers, to bring the Skarthach and the Hunger Birds to life, and they do so magnificently - the Skarthach is huge, a spider-like creature of rags and rubbish, and the huger birds are terrifying creatures - more frightening than the Skarthach itself.

Samuel Blenkin and Marli Siu, as the boy, and Lettie Hempstock respectively, are both excellent, and Pippa Nixon makes a superb, scary Ursula Monkton.

Set (during the interval) - thorns and
part of the Hempstock's kitchen  

There are some changes to the novel - the Boy's father is a widower, and he is a little older, but in general it's very faithful to it's source, and the changes are mainly, I think to pare it down to fit a 2 hours play.

It's very good - heartbreaking and magical and frightening in all the right ways. The set and staging are very good - from the nostalgic warmth of the Hempstock's kitchen, to the frightening ubiquity of Ursula as she moves impossibly fast from door to door. 

I can't wait to see it again.  

The play i on at the National Theatre until 25th January. I believe it is almost sold out but there are a few tickets still on some days, and day tickets and returns are available - if you can, do go! 

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!.

Antony and Cleopatra, National Theatre

I was originally due to see this production, which stars Sophie Okonedo as Cleopatra, and Ralph Fiennes as Antony, early in its run, but I was unwell, so would up switching the ticket, and went at the weekend.  It's a long time since I have seen a production of the play, in fact I think I've only seen it once before, with my school as it was one of my A-Level English texts.

This production was at the National, and had a modern setting, which meant that Egypt was all sunken pool, soft velvet-upholstered seating and the occasional sun lounger, and Rome features lots of sleek modern furniture, sculpture and fashion, with, once battle is joined, hi-tech military surveillance kit. 


The production was very good,  Sophie Okonedo and Ralph Fiennes as the titular couple are excellent. At the outset, Antony appears to be in full mid-life crisis mode, barefoot, dressed in Hawaiian shirt with beads. He appears totally besotted with Cleopatra, understandably enough. If there is a weakness in the production, it is perhaps that Fiennes never really shakes off that image, to become the powerful and successful general his reputation suggests.

Set, at the end of Act 1

Agrippa is played by Katy Stephens and having the role played by a woman adds an interesting slant to the character's relationships with Enobarbus (Tim McMullen) and with Caesar.  And Caesar (Tunji Kasim) is presented as young, and inexperienced - very well done. 

I did, I admit, feel a little sorry for Enobarbus,remaining loyal to Antony when good sense would suggest otherwise, before dying of a broken heart when his eventual betrayal  is forgiven!

Oh, and a rel live snake. (although not, I think, and actual Asp. Method acting apparently has its limits! 

The production is on until 19th Jan, and it was filmed and broadcast for NT Live so there may be encore showings if you fancy seeing it.

Hadestown

I booked Hadestown on the recommendation of a friend, and a I knew going in was that it a musical based on the story of Orpheus and Euridice.

The music is a mix  of American Folk, and Jazz,and there are some excellent singers in the cast.,and it is set in what seems to be a New Orleans bar

Patrick Page is particularly memorable, as Hades. He is presented as a suave, and powerful industrialist, all sharp suit and snake-skin shoes, and he has a glorious, incredibly deep voice, it reminded me of Leonard Cohen!  Euridice (Eva Noblezada) and Amber Gray (Persephone) are also very impressive.. Euridice as a hungry, grungey young woman, and Persephone an ageing, sozzled, trophy wife.

I do think that there is a slight weakness, in that Orpheus is supposed to be able to charm the birds from the trees, and the gods themselves, and while that is never going to be possible to achieve on stage,  unfortunately it falls rather shorter than expected.

Having said that, it's an interesting and  thoroughly enjoyable experience, and I want to get the soundtrack and listen again. 

It's on at the National Theatre until 26th January.

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

Macbeth (National Theatre)

The RSC and National Theatre both have big productions of Macbeth this year, and originally, A and I were planning to see them almost back to back, with the RSC version on 17th March, and NT a week later, on 24th. However, I was ill and missed the NT one. I did, however,  finally  catch up.

The NT version features Rory Kinnear as Macbeth,and Anne-Marie Duff as Lady Macbeth, with Patrick O'Kane as Macduff and Kevin Harvey as Banquo.

The programme tells me that the setting for the play is 'Now, after a civil war'  I'm going to venture a guess that it was a civil war which went very, very badly, as it appears to have left Scotland in a Mad Max style wasteland of gang wars, where noble soldiers such as Macbeth are forced to use parcel tape to attach their armour, and everyone is reduced to living in tiny concrete bunkers, in shanty towns. (I'm assuming that the civil war was with England, and that England came out of it better, as the English forces with Malcolm at the end of the play have proper battle dress and so on, although they are all fighting with machetes and kitchen knives, so presumably Scotland destroyed all the English arms manufacturers and military stockpiles...)

Set with corpse (pic from NT Twitter) 

I have to say that I found the whole post apocalyptic set and setting rather distracting, it left me wondering whether, and when, the plastic bags on poles would become significant. And I also did feel that someone really should have taken the director aside and told him that just because the National's Olivier stage has a big turntable in it so you can rotate the stage, doesn't mean that you have to use it all the time. 

However, despite these irritations, I did enjoy the play, and there were some excellent performances. Rory Kinnear was excellent, he comes across as practical and level-headed, and as such, his disintegration and visions of his victims have all the greater impact. 

Even though the set didn't appeal to me, it did have it's effective points. Macbeth standing, the only still figure as a rave took place celebrating Duncan's visit to their 'castle' for instance, and an early scene with Lady Macbeth washing her hands, long before the sleepwalking scene.

I enjoyed Kevin Harvey's performance as Banquo, (pre-murder). As the ghost, he is forced to appear as a shambling, zombie like figure, which for me didn't work well. 

The vision of Banquo's line of descendants was interesting, involving people wearing masks on the backs of their heads, walking up the sloping part of the set. 

Over all, I thought it was an interesting production, but a bit confused!

It's at the National until 23rd June, and is being shown at cinemas as part of NTLive on 10th May

Foodwork - Network at the National Theatre

I like going to the theatre, and I like eating out, so when I saw that the National Theatre was running a ballot for the chance to book tickets to their pop-up, on stage restaurant, where you would get to dine while attending a performance of 'Network', I entered, and was successful. (I don't know who many entries there were, but there was seating for 42 people on stage, so I was very pleasantly surprised when I got the e-mail to say I could book tickets! )

We had our own entrance, and were (after a short wait) then met by very cheerful serving staff (actors hired as servers for this production, from what Phillipe, our bartender, told us) met us, took our 'reservation' details and led us to the 'restaurant', which is stage left, with clusters of small tables, and then the bar (where we were sitting).

Not a view you get very often, when going to the theatre!

We were let in about 40 minutes before the play was due to start, so we were allowed  to wander out onto the stage (as long as we didn't stray of the shiny copper floor, onto the far side of  the stage, where there were props and fancy electronics, and actors preparing for their roles.

view of stage from the bar

view along the bar towards the kitchen ( featuring Phillipe)

Our seats were at the bar, with two rows of tables in front of us, so we had an excellent view of the stage, and of the big screens, and the auditorium (empty when we arrived, of course) 

Stage, pre-show - fellow diners exploring

When we arrived, we were offered wine or a cocktail, by lovely bar-tender Phillipe (sporting a superb 70's 'tache and mullet)  and, then, after having the chance to wander around on the stage,  the food was served  - we started with butternut squash, kale and shallots. (very tasty) 

As we dined, we could see the auditorium filling up with the rest of the audience, and the Big Clock counting down to the start of the play.

View from our seats!

The menu then took a 70s turn to fit with the play, and we were served with a portland crab cocktail (complete with iceberg lettuce and marie-rose sauce)

Not, I confess, my favourite part of the meal, but entirely appropriate for a play set in 1975!

Did I mention we could see members of the cast preparing on the opposite side of the stage? 

Phillipe, our bar-tender, and the view into the auditorium

As we finished our crab cocktails and waited for the main (Short Rib and Ox Cheek Bourguignon)   the countdown came to an end, the lights went down, and of course all our phones and cameras went off.

I knew that the play is based on the 1976 film, Network, but having not seen the film I didn't know what to expect. For those in the same position as me, the basic premise is that news anchor Howard Beale (Bryan Cranston) learns that he is being sacked, due to falling ratings. 

He responds by announcing, live on air, that he will kill himself on air at the end of his 2 weeks notice, resulting in the network taking him off air immediately. However, his manager Max Shumacher (Douglas Henshall) persuades the bosses to allow him one final appearance so he can retire with dignity. Which isn't quite how things pan out... Howard's broadcast is anything but a dignified exit, but it creates a huge ratings spike.

Which prompts Diana Christensen (Michelle Dockery) to successfully pitch the idea of giving him a show of his own, as the angry / insane man, raging against the world.

I thought it was very interesting, and that Bryan Cranston was excellent, particularly during the period Beale was suffering a breakdown. I also enjoyed Michelle Dockery's performance, although I did feel that her character was someone one-dimensional: Christensen is ambitious and intelligent, but is portrayed as very hard and unsympathetic, unlike the male characters who are all rather more rounded characters.

There's a lot of use of technology - 2 mobile cameras, their output shown on big screens behind the stage, as well a pre-recorded footage and original, 70's adverts and newsreel clips. There is a lot going on on stage, and it's very clever, but at the same time, it felt to me that this, like the whole concept of having the restaurant on stage, fell into the category of stuff which was fun, but unnecessary, as if the director is unwilling to trust that an audience can imagine that his characters are visiting a restaurant, even without importing 3 dozen members of the audience to dine on stage, or that the actors can convince us of the reality of their situation. I have more faith in both audiences and actors, I think it could have worked very well without those extras. But it was fun.

And I can, of course, now boast both that I have appeared live on stage at the National Theatre, and that I have a dining experience few can boast of!  I do think it would have been fun to see it again, without being part of the set, but as it sold out, and closes next Saturday, I won't have the chance.

TheThreepenny Opera

On Saturday, I saw The Threepenny Opera at the National Theatre. I've never seen the show before,although I am of course familiar with the song Mack the Knife.

I really enjoyed this production. The theatre's own website promises that it "Contains filthy language and immoral behaviour." and it does.

Rory Kinnear is Captain MacHeath, with Rosalie Craig as Polly Peachum, Peter de Jersey as Police chief 'Tiger' Brown (I kept thinking that he looked familiar, having looked him up when I got home I find he was Cominius in 'Coriolanus' at the Donmar, and Horatio in the David Tennant 'Hamlet', which would explain his familiarity!)

I thoroughly enjoyed the show. The staging is  almost cartoonish, with many props labelled - '"drugs", "loud" (on a megaphone) and so forth. My particular favourite was the newspaper with the huge headline "Mack Does Bad Things".

Rory Kinnear is convincingly amoral and scary, and he also has a surprisingly nice signing voice. 


And Rosalie Craig (Polly Peachum) was hugely impressive, both musically and and as an actor. As indeed were Jamie Beddard (stealing evey scene he was in) and Nick Holder's aimiable but terrifying Peachum.

Definitely worth seeing. I should like to go back and watch it all over again, if I could. 

Reader, She Married Him.

On Saturday evening, I went to Bristol, to visit the Old Vic Theatre to see their production of 'Jane Eyre', which is now back in Bristol (where it began) after a season in London.

It's a long time since I have been to the Old Vic. I used, with a friend, to go fairly regularly, and saw my first Hamlet (Iain Glen) there in 1991. 

It is a lovely little theatre, and has the distinction of being the longest continuously-running theatre in the country, having first opened in 1766 (and thus celebrating it's 250th anniversary this year), and has recently been renovated.

Although the theatre is old, this production of Jane Eyre is new - and very good.

It has a small cast, so everyone, except Madeleine Worrall (Jane) and Melanie Marshall (Bertha Rochester) plays multiple roles - this does lead to one or two distracting moments (Lowood Institute turns out to have several remarkably hirsute and deep-voiced orphan girls, for instance)



I thought it was a really imaginative adaptation. I had some reservations about the number of ladders involved in the set, and would have liked the sub-plot about Jane's inheritance to have been left in,as that does emphasise that Jane has a real choice, between returning to Mr Rochester, marrying St John, or remaining unmarried and financially independent, but of course there is a limit to how much you can squeeze in to a 3 hour play!

I shall be looking out for more work from Sally Cookson, the director,and from the cast. 

Two Plays

I had a ticket to see Damian Lewis, John Goodman and Tom Sturridge in Mamet's 'American Buffalo' at a matinee performance, and another to see Chiwetel Ejiofor in 'Everyman' at the National Theatre in the evening.

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)

John Goodman is excellent as the slow-thinking Don, roughly generous towards the young, vulnerable,  Bob (Sturridge), and guilty when Teach (Lewis) persuades him to exclude Bob from their heist.

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)

I had mixed feelings about it. Ejiofor is a superb actor, and I enjoyed the verse and the updating of the story, with Everyman starting the evening with an alcohol and cocaine fuelled birthday party, before being confronted with Death, the frailty of his relationships with friends and material possessions, and even with his family. 

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)

Despite some reservations about the over the top staging, I did really enjoy the play, and I'm glad I went.  I may even see the NTLive broadcast to give me a chance to see it again, and see what else I spot on a second viewing.