My Night with Reg, Donmar - London Sept 2014

"My Night with Reg" was a great evening out... feels weird to say this about a play that revolves for a big part about aids, but it was very funny, focussed on friendships and relationships as well as the never mentioned killing nightmare of the 80s.

Very hard to describe the plot without giving the entire thing away.

Reg is the central character that we never meet, a binding force of a circle of friends of gay men. We see 3 gatherings of friends in the flat belonging to Guy, who as far as we can tell is the complete opposite of Reg character-wise. Confidant of everybody, but somehow on the outside of the circle. The shadow of Aids hangs over all gatherings yet it is never mentioned by name. That sounds dark and gloomy, but really this play is written playful and witty, it's vibrant, full of energy and laughter yet dealing with a broad array of emotions.

The entire cast was excellent. Personally I adored Richard Cant's Bernie... billed as the most boring character but I loved him!

Kudos to the director Robert Hastie, Donmar stages it's plays with audience equally divided on 3 sides so you really need to play to them all, two guys briefly go full monty, beautiful bodies on display... it was nice to see Hastie made sure in his staging that all in the audience got the 360 view.

The play ran straight through without intermission, almost 2 hours, fully enjoyable, never boring.

Geoffrey Streatfeild (Daniel) and Jonathan Broadbent (Guy).
Photograph Johan Persson

Geoffrey Streatfeild (Daniel) and  Jullian Ovenden (John).
Photograph Johan Persson

Cast:
Jonathan Broadbent (Guy) 

Geoffrey Streatfeild (Daniel)
Julian Ovenden (John)
Lewis Reeves (Eric)
Richard Cant (Bernie)
Matt Bardock (Benny)

director: Robert Hastie

playwright: Kevin Elyot


review blurbs:

"The director Robert Hastie does the piece proud, capturing its constantly shifting moods with great elan and with the help of an outstanding cast."
Charles Spencer for Daily Telegraph

"I hope that Hastie and gang are taking pride in how this production pays the author's memory a huge and (in every respect) handsome tribute."
Paul Taylor for The Independent

"Played straight through at 110 minutes, Robert Hastie's production catches the secret fears and surface buoyancy of this group of companions and gets fine performances all round."
Michael Billington for The Guardian

"Robert Hastie’s revival triumphs through a smartly judged mixture of exuberance and delicate understatement, highlighting the cool precision of Elyot’s writing — an assured command of structure and a gift for incisive comedy."
Henry Hitchings for The Evening Standard

"A landmark production of a landmark play."
Patrick Marmion for The Daily Mail

Jonathan Broadbent (Guy) and Lewis Reeves (Eric).
Photograph Johan Persson

***

The Playwright Kevin Elyot died, aged 62, around the time this revival was going into rehearsal. It’s sad he’s not around to enjoy its success all over again.

Kevin Elyot obituary

Television scriptwriter and playwright who made his name with the smash hit tragicomedy My Night With Reg

• Michael Coveney
• theguardian.com, Monday 9 June 2014 18.19 BST

Kevin Elyot's attempts to 'jazz up' Agatha Christie had mixed results. But audiences loved his television adaptations

The playwright Kevin Elyot, who has died aged 62 after a long illness, is best remembered for his brilliantly written and imaginatively structured tragicomedy My Night With Reg (1994). It is often claimed as a "gay play", but although Elyot wrote often about gay relationships, his real subject was the longing for love and remembrance of loves lost.

Celebrity stunt casting - Lindsay Lohan's failed mission of taking away attention from being a celebrity name and draw attention to the fact that she's an actress

Casting Lindsay Lohan in Mamet's 'Speed the Plow' at London's West End I thought was a bold move... acting abilities aside if I were a producer the not-so-reliable reputation alone would make me nervous.

Lindsay Lohan as Karen and Nigel Lindsay as Charlie Fox in Speed-the-Plow.
Photograph: Tristram Kenton

That same reputation made many people expect a train wreck... even before rehearsals started rumors made it to Playbill.com saying Lohan was already "final warning" for her behavior during rehearsals for the upcoming London revival of Speed-the-Plow.

I've not seen the play, I will not see it because I'll not get to London during its run,  if I were I'd probably go see it, if not to see how this stunt casting worked out but because I was a huge fan of The West Wing - casting the accomplished Richard Schiff would have been enough reason for me to bag myself a ticket.

Because stunt casting this is...

‘I’m at a point when I want a diligent routine and I really want to get back into work. And I wanted to do something different: people have certain perceptions of me and I wanted to change them by doing something like a Mamet play,"she told Time Out London.

She went on to say: "I’m hoping it’ll take away attention from me as a celebrity name and draw attention to the fact that I’m an actress."

Really? A Mamet Play in London's West End is your idea of a good opportunity to get your toe in the water? and even more interesting, it's your attempt to draw away from being a celebrity name and going back to being an actress first?

I think the producer had a different idea and cast you because of the celebrity rep... but hey, who cares why you were cast, go for it!

First opinions were...  terrible:

Lindsay Lohan defends Speed-the-Plow West End debut after messing up lines
The Independent 

but honestly, this was after the first preview... and it's called previews for a reason. Yes I'd expect the cast to be off book even in the first preview, but they might still be tweaking, the show has not openend yet, you have no real expectation to the finished product...

Lohan going on the defense though... maybe not a great idea if the thought really was to shed celebrity and return to the basic of being an actress. Defense draws attention.

All in all what that first wave of critisism did was make me curious on the professional reviews... the critics that head to protocol and wait for opening night to watch the finished product and judge that.

To be honest I was surprised... the reviews are a bit of a mixed bag... my go-to critic is The Guardian's Michael Billington:  Speed-the-Plow review - Lindsay Lohan brings unusual naivety to tame revival... sure, he only gives it 2 stars (aka it's a bomb imo) but Lohan gets off pretty good, it's Schiff that amazingly apparently fell flat.

Lindsay Lohan (Karen) and Richard Schiff (Bobby Gould) in Speed-The-Plow. Photograph: Tristram Kenton

the Independent's headline:  Speed-the-Plow, theatre review: What a turn up! Lindsay Lohan silences the doubters with a deft performance

Paul Taylor gave it three stars, but ended his review with

A good but by no means a great night out whose value does not depend on the swirl of publicity occasioned by the female lead.

his headline is really all the positive he has to say about Lohan, both Schiff and Nigel Lindsay did work out well for him:

Richard Schiff and Nigel Lindsay are in fine, darkly frisky form as the pair of producers whose longstanding friendship she threatens to sunder.

Lindsay Lohan with Richard Schiff in rehearsal for 'Speed-the-Plow'

I would have liked to have seen this, to form my own opinion, but going by the peoples reactions to the previews and after reading the mixed bag of professional reviews, I think it's not a huge miss... I'll survive I think.

Kudos for the producers to take a chance, I hope it works well for them and their celebrity name doesn't fall back but sticks to her intention to leave her more troubled past behind at least for the entire planned run. Kudos to Lindsay Lohan for trying something new, stage work takes more bravery than movies or tv I think. The decision to do a play may have been easier than actually going out there and do it.  Great, good or bad, I'll never know for myself, but according to the critics... not too bad to say the least.

Skylight - London june 2014

by David Hare, performed at Wyndham's Theater, june 2014, cast Bill Nighy, Carey Mulligan and Matthew Beard

To keep it in Social Media terms 

OMG!

I had been looking forward to seeing this play very much.... the play itself was something I was on the lookout for if opportunity arose, but after casting was announced in february, including mr Bill Nighy I knew I'd pull out all stops to be in London sometime during it's run.

Of course timing was terrible, I'd just arranged for a London trip in May to coincide with the RAW wine fair  which was May 18-19 this year,  and Skylight was to open previews on June 6th.

It took some arranging and fixing to make this extra trip happening... work and private stuff aligned eventually, ticket narrowly secured and boy was it worth it!

Previews started June 6th, I got to see the June 11th Preview, the play already looked solid with one more week of previews to go. The house was packed, still in previews and already they had to sell some standing room only tickets.

The play was brilliant, penned in 1995 it could have been written this year, so much did it reflect society of today. I've never seen a production of this play before, so I don't know if it's usually like this, but there was a lot of humor instilled, especially by mr Nighy in Tom Sergeant's character. That man is bloody brilliant, he could have played this part on body language alone, and still got his points across.

Bill Nighy and Carey Mulligan

kudos to the set designer Bob Crowley

Carey Mulligan and Matthew Beard

Yes, I know he uses the same style, mimicry if you will, in his work a lot, but it works, it works on screen and it definitely works on stage.

The entire cast (of three) performed admirably, Nighy and Mulligan were believable as the odd couple... lovers who have practically nothing in common.

Mulligan's Kyra was at times too preaching, too full of her own righteousness and an over the top do-good teacher out to help those less fortunate while suffering in silence... but it worked most of the time. Nighy's Tom was brilliant, a conservative, not listening at all to any argument from Kyra, full of his own justifications, and yet getting the sympathy of the audience most of the time. I think it's Bill Nighy's intrinsic sympathetic way, enforced by Carey Mulligan's portrayal of Kyra's often rigid self-righteousness.

Bill Nighy (Tom Sergeant) and Carey Mulligan (Kyra Hollis)
Skylight june 2014 © John Haynes 

In this play, they are actually cooking on stage, it smelled great. This scene connected to it was so good! What a great actor can do with a little lump of Parmesan cheese...

I had a FANTASTIC theater evening, and (pretty rare for me) after the play waited at stage door to have my program signed... the entire cast was great, and could not be nicer to the fans waiting outside, mr Nighy, a true gentleman was late out the door due to green-room guests, must have been tired but took all the time in the world to sign programs, have pictures taken and chat a little with the people waiting for him. 

One of the reasons I love previews is I get to see the play before the critics do, which gives me no choice but to make up my mind completely on my own observations... I generally try to do so of course, but it's hard to avoid reviews entirely.

Walked out of the theater thinking this was a true winner. For once the professional critics agreed with me.

review blurbs:

"Thrillingly revived by Stephen Daldry in a knockout production."
Charles Spencer for The Daily Telegraph

"How has it stood the test of time? Remarkably well is the answer to judge from this splendid revival..."
Paul Taylor for The Independent

"Everything about this production is finely judged, even down to the way the passage of time is denoted through the lights going on and off in the windows of Bob Crowley's tower-block set."
Michael Billington for The Guardian

"Skylight packs real emotional punch and is often at its funniest when most angry. Nighy is a study in nimble charisma, relishing Hare’s diatribes about the charlatans who clog up the modern world, and Mulligan is admirably measured — yet erupts startlingly during the play’s most explosive moment."
Henry Hitchings for The Evening Standard

Nighy, who’s so cool he’s like a rock ’n’ roll star

"David Hare told me it had taken ten years to assemble the production, which will run at Wyndham’s Theatre from June 6 for just 11 weeks."

just because of that kind of dedication... copying this article entirely on this blog...

(From the Daily Mail online)

BAZ BAMIGBOYE: Why Bill Nighy chose Carey Mulligan over cappuccino 

By BAZ BAMIGBOYE

PUBLISHED: 23:57 GMT, 13 February 2014 | UPDATED: 23:57 GMT, 13 February 2014

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2558966/BAZ-BAMIGBOYE-Why-Bill-Nighy-chose-Carey-Mulligan-cappuccino.html#ixzz35yNsljF3 

Carey Mulligan and Bill Nighy are to play former lovers in a West End revival of David Hare’s Skylight, directed by Stephen Daldry.

This looks set to be classy theatre at its best. The play concerns Kyra Hollis, a teacher living a thread- bare existence in North-West London, who is briefly reunited with Tom Sergeant, her much older ex, a restaurant entrepreneur. They were once united, but are now divided on just about every issue: class, politics, sex, privacy and money.

Matthew Beard, who played opposite Carey in the films When  Did You Last See  Your Father? and An Education, plays her lover’s son.

Co-stars: Carey Mulligan, pictured left, and Bill Nighy, pictured right, are set to play former lovers in a West End revival of David Hare's Skylight 

David Hare told me it had taken ten years to assemble the production, which will run at Wyndham’s Theatre from June 6 for just 11 weeks.

Nighy, who’s so cool he’s like a rock ’n’ roll star, played Tom in an earlier revival, and he and Hare have long been eager to give it another go. 

All manner of producers came after the rights and offered their own suggestions about who would play the leads. But Hare refused all overtures, arguing that it was difficult to find actors of the calibre of Michael Gambon  (the original Tom) and Nighy to be in the play. 

‘It’s too important to me to have it messed up,’ he said. He added that plenty of actresses had suggested themselves to play Kyra, but none were suitable. 

Several years ago, Nicole Kidman wanted to do a film version, but  Hare said no again, because he believes that screen versions of plays don’t work.

He got as far as discussing dates with Kate Winslet. ‘She would have been perfect,’ he said. ‘But she could only do four weeks because she wanted to be with her children.’

The playwright saw Carey play Nina in The Seagull and believed then that she would make a formidable Kyra. ‘She’s incredible on stage,’ he said, and went on to laud her powerful supporting performance on screen, opposite Oscar Isaac, in the much underrated Coen brothers’ gem Inside Llewyn Davis.

Several big-name directors were after Skylight, too. Hare said ‘one jealous director’ heard about Daldry’s involvement and hissed: ‘Tell him to check his brakes.’

Nighy, who was in London on a short break from filming The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel 2 with Judi Dench and Maggie Smith in India, said that his decision to do Skylight a second time ‘is an odd thing’. 

‘I could be sitting on a film set with people bringing me cappuccinos,’ he said. ‘But this is a role that I like and a play that I love.’

He called Skylight ‘funny, accessible and romantic’, adding that he enjoyed how it delved into aspects of civic responsibility. 

That’s one of the reasons I like it, too.

Nighy labelled himself ‘reckless’ for staying away from the stage for so long. He last trod the boards in Hare’s The Vertical Hour on Broadway nine years ago, and said he’d love to do Skylight in New York, if everybody was agreeable.

It’s hard to say when a Broadway transfer could happen, because Daldry, Mulligan and Nighy have pretty full dance cards.

Carey is rehearsing Sarah Gavron’s film Suffragette with Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Marie Duff and Brendan Gleeson, with filming due to start in ten days. Then she goes directly to work on Skylight.

I’m very excited to see her play Bathsheba Everdene in Thomas Vinterberg’s film of Far From The Madding Crowd, expected to be out in the autumn. ‘I have been looking for a play to do for such a long time,’ Carey exclaimed when we met. ‘And now I have found it.’

Skylight will be her official West End stage debut, because she did The Seagull at the Royal Court and on Broadway.

Playing Catch Up

It's been way too long since I posted here, so sorry to all that visited since my last post.

I will try to do better... It's been quite a busy time... had some invasive surgery which set my travel plans back a bit, but I'm back on track. Since my last post I've been on a few trips, I'm listing the plays I've seen here as a reminder to myself and will get back to them one by one.

In December 2013 London was the target, saw some beautiful things there:

The Next Room or the Vibrator Play (St James)

12 Angry Men (Garrick)

Mojo (Harold Pinter Theater)

Henry V (Noel Coward)

and Protest Song (NT shed)

Protest Song - Rhys Ifans

Caught Coriolanus in the NT Live broadcast in between trips

Next up was a combination trip to Chicago and Los Angeles in March 2014, wonderful stuff:

Chicago:

Gypsy (CST)

Seminar (theater Wit)

The How and the Why (Timeline)

Russian Transport (Steppenwolf)

Buzzer (Goodman)

LA:

Slowgirl (Geffen)

A Steady Rain (Odyssee)

The Pianist of Willesden Lane (Geffen)

Vanya Sonia Masha & Spike (Mark Taper Forum)

Daytrip to the Ruhrfestspiele in Germany, they do great work at that festival, many visiting companies, this time they included a Beckett combination of Eh Joe (with Michael Gambon) and I'll Go On (with Barry McGovern).... pinnacle of Beckett right there in a little theater in Marl.

I'll Go On - Barry McGovern

Back to London in May, the main reason I for this trip was to attend the RAW wine festival (organic wines, all the good stuff without the headaches!) but while there, why not catch some great work?!

King Lear (NT)

Handbagged (Vaudeville)

Good People(Noel Coward)

Other Desert Cities (Old Vic)

Let the Right One In (Apollo)

and last but not least, back to London again to attend a conference for work... perfect combination of work and pleasure:

Skylight (Wyndhams)

Fathers and Sons (Donmar)

Clarence Darrow (Old Vic)

There it is, many plays to catch up on in reviews in this Blog... real life has to go on as well, paychecks need to be earned to do more traveling, so it will probably be a while before I do get caught up.

Saved the best for last: Dr Glas (London april 2013 part 5)

By pure coincidence I had saved the best for last on this trip. I came to london with high expectations for a few plays, some lived up to it, some disappointed to a certain extent... I really didn't know what to expect from Dr Glas, a one man show, performed in Swedish with English subtitles projected to the top of the set.

It wasn't hard to get a ticket for this one, I guess the Swedish language part of this deal scared some people off, even with the raving reviews it had received in both the Swedish press on the original run and the UK press for this London run.


Krister Henriksson was absolutely marvelous in this one man show, he had all of us mesmerized from beginning to end with his narrative performance... not that it felt narrative at all, but as a one man show there is no escaping the soliloquy in having to take us by the hand and tell the story along with acting out the main characters part.

The set design was amazing, one big room, sparse furniture. It managed to transform into the few different places that Dr Glas was supposed to be during this performance with just a change of light and  placement of the character himself in the room... no set changes necessary to make us believe he was either in his office, or on a street-side terrace sipping his drink and contemplating what to do next, or walking on the bridge and seeing his abhorred patient walking by.

The story was gripping, the performance excellent, the subtitles not at all disturbing in the experience.
According to Hjalmar Söderberg's book the character is supposed to be in his thirties, and Krister Henrikson is definitely not, but it doesn't matter at all in this production. As the protagonist of this story Doktor Glas let's us follow him in his memories, we read his journal with him, age of the character has no meaning, we could be reading in real time or we could be remembering times long gone.
Definitely THE best play of this trip, and if mr Henriksson decides to take it somewhere else next I would strongly recommend going, you will not be disappointed!

As I'm only very slowing getting into the habit of trying to review a play, and this play deserves all the praise critics have lauded it with I want to leave you with these professional words:

Kate Kellaway

• theguardian.com
, Friday 19 April 2013

It might seem a doomed idea to turn Hjalmar Soderberg's 1905 novel Doktor Glas into a one-man show. It caused a scandal when first published because of its treatment of sex, death and suicide – but it is written in journal form. How to dramatise its internal quality? Krister Henriksson, whose initiative this is, knows exactly how. Familiar asHenning Mankell's Wallander in the TV series, Henriksson is one of Sweden's great actors, and this 90-minute soliloquy as Doktor Glas – much feted in Scandinavia – is a tour de force. He co-directs with Peder Bjurman, who is also the show's masterly designer. A stark Scandinavian consulting room becomes the manifestation of a tormented mind, its changing colours – brilliantly lit by Linus Fellbom – also suggestive of morning sun, blood and snow. Doktor Glas is testing the walls of his own life.

Unhappily dressed in a brown suit, he rubs a folded oblong of handkerchief on to a perspiring brow as he reveals his loathing for Reverend Gregorius, "a toadstool in the pulpit", and his longing for the Reverend's wife, who is having an adulterous affair elsewhere. What is riveting is the nuanced closework of Henriksson's performance. His countenance – its clearings, contortions and forced smile – holds us rapt. When he extends an arm, he has the air of a baffled host, a gesture that deepens our sense of his isolation. He has a voice for every character: his high, pitiful, feminine impersonation of Mrs Gregorius convinces you he was never cut out to be her lover.

Doktor Glas's loneliness continues to deepen. And even in translation, the integrity of the writing (performed in Swedish with subtitles) compels. The play is a hybrid: thriller, metaphysical essay with poetic moments and occasional bleak jokes. It makes you long to read a novel that has been bizarrely neglected in the UK.

and the info from the official website:

ABOUT DOKTOR GLAS

---

Krister Henriksson, who is best known as Wallander in Henning Mankell’s widely praised Swedish TV series, will make his West End debut in Doktor Glas, which transfers to London following its acclaimed run at Sweden’s National Theatre. Adapted from the classic novel by Hjalmar Söderberg and performed in its original Swedish with English surtitles, Doktor Glas will run at the Wyndham’s Theatre, a Delfont Macintosh Theatre, from 16 April to 11 May 2013.

Doktor Glas tells the story of a 19th century physician who falls madly in love with the beautiful young wife of a corrupt clergyman. When she confides in him that her marriage is making her miserable, he agrees to help in whatever way he can. Soon Doktor Glas finds himself torn between his passion and his morality, and drives the play towards its shocking climax.

CAST AND CREATIVES

---

KRISTER HENRIKSSON

Krister Henriksson is one of Sweden’s most highly respected and admired actors who made his breakthrough at the Stockholm City Theatre in the lead role of Peer Gynt. He has played a string of major roles on the world’s most respected stages, and has performed in plays by Shakespeare, Beckett, Strindberg, Ibsen, Miller, Pinter and Noren. He worked alongside Ingmar Bergman when he directed him in A Winter’s Tale at the Royal Dramatic Theatre (Kungliga Dramatiska Teatern). Later Bergman handpicked Henriksson for the role as the young Bergman in Liv Ullman’s film Faithless (Trolösa), which was based on Bergman’s manuscript.      

In his native Sweden and across the world, Krister is best known for his role in the TV adaptation of Henning Mankell’s police drama Wallander. The grittiness of his performance has won him plaudits from critics across the globe and has spawned the British remake starring Kenneth Branagh.He has also won rave reviews for his stage portrayal in Doktor Glas, which has toured extensively around Sweden and other Nordic countries.

---

DIRECTOR and SET DESIGNER - PEDER BJURMAN

Acclaimed director and writer, Peder Bjurman, works in the field of visual theatre, combining movement, imagery and music along with conceptually abstract or narrative texts. His performances often blend the tragic with either the poetic or the comic, and his stagings are  often shown in smaller, experimental venues as well as the larger theatres. Conscious of every feature of his productions, Bjurman gives equal importance to each separate element , including the lighting, sound, set and the actors’ performances, often employing cutting-edge stage technology and techniques. His work is frequently devised and developed in close collaboration with the ensemble cast or with other artists, composers, designers and stage tech companies.

Since 1991, Peder Bjurman has collaborated with Swedish performance companies and artists such as Charlotte Engelkes, Bogdan Szyber and Carina Reich. His latest productions, including Slapstick at Rival, Enter Numan at The House of Dance in Stockholm, and Sisyphus at Södra teatern in Stockholm, were all much acclaimed by critics and audiences.
Bjurman also provided the original idea for The Far Side of the Moon, directed and performed by Robert Lepage, with music by Laurie Anderson. The play was turned into a feature film, which itself received a nomination during the 2002 Academy Awards. He co-wrote The Andersen Project, commissioned by the Andersen Jubilee, which opened in Copenhagen during June 2005. The plays tours continually to this day, around the world. The new collaboration with Robert Lepege in 2011-15, Cartes, is a 12-hour long epic following the Orient-Occident relations and divided into four parts.

The artistic collaboration with actor Krister Henriksson, Doktor Glas, at the Vasa theatre in Stockholm, premiered in 2006.

---

LIGHTING DESIGNER - LINUS FELLBOM

Since his debut as a lighting designer 1995 he has designed lighting for over 170
productions. He has worked at most of the bigger venues around Sweden and has also been engaged at theatres and opera houses in cities like Oldenburg, Göttingen, Stuttgart, Berlin, Innsbruck, Vienna, Riga, Lodz, Warsaw, Cape Town, New York, Edinburgh, Leeds, London,Nancy, Valencia, Oslo and Copenhagen. In 2005 Linus made his debut as a stage director with ”Sympathy for the Devil” by Lucas Svensson at Strindberg’s Intimate Theatre in Stockholm.

Recent credits as Lighting Designer includes:
“On – Emotion” by Mick Gordon (also director) and Paul Brooks at Soho Theatre in London. “Scorched” by Wajdi Mouawad at the Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen, directed by Rune David Grue. “Admeto” by Georg Friederich Händel at the Händel Festival, Deutsches Theater, Göttingen and at the Edinburgh International Festival of Theatre, directed by Doris Dörrie. “A Midsummer Nights Dream” by Felix Bartholdy Mendelssohn at Staatsoper Wien, choreography by Jorma Elo. “Kristina” by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Lars Rudolfsson (also director) at Royal Albert Hall. “The Portrait” by Mieczyslaw Weinberg at Opera North, Leeds and Opéra National de Lorraine, Nancy, directed by David Pountney. “Don Giovanni” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at Hamburger Staatsoper, directed by Doris Dörrie. “Kristina från Duvemåla” by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Lars Rudolfsson (also director) at Svenska Teatern in Helsinki. “Thaïs” by Jules Massenet at Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia, directed by Nicola Raab.

Credits as Set Designer includes:
“Sympathy for the Devil” by Lucas Svensson at Strindberg’s Intimate Theatre.
”Vi är Dom” at Orionteatern in Stockholm, Choreography by Camilla Ekelöf.
”A Year of Magical Thinking” by Joan Didion at Göteborgs Stadsteater, directed by Ronnie Hallgren. “Creditors“ by August Strindberg for Riksteatern in Sweden.
”Red in 3.” by Jorma Elo for the Stuttgarter Ballett.

Credits as Director includes:
William Shakespeare’s ”Richard III” for Riksteatern in Sweden.
Carl Maria von Weber’s “Freischütz” for the Swedish Folkopera in Stockholm.
August Strindberg’s “Creditors” for Riksteatern in Sweden.
Astrid Lindgren’s “Ronja Rövardotter” at Järnverket in Iggesund.
Lucas Svensson’s “Maria Callas – Unanswered Life” at Stockholms Stadsteater.

Upcoming work 2013:
”Don Giovanni” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at Teatro Del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence, directed by Lorenzo Marianni.
“Romeo & Juliet” a new ballet piece by Mats Ek with music by Pjotor Iljitj Tjajkovskij at the Royal Opera in Stockholm.
“Otello” by Giuseppe Verdi at the Royal Opera Copenhagen, directed by Nicola Raab.

Daytrip to Brighton: Passion Play (London april 2013 part 4)

Just before I left for London, I saw an add for Passion Play, with Zoe Wanamaker in the cast... Zoe Wanamaker has this certain something that makes me want to see whatever she is in, but at the same time annoys the hell out of me...

The add was very tempting (thumbs up for who ever created it)... sadly the play would open in London the week after I was to leave for home, But then I notice it would do out of town previews, with it hitting the Stage in Brighton in 'my' week.

Brighton... whenever I hear that word my mind wanders to Pride and Prejudice... yes, THAT special BBC version with Colin Firth, where there is that scene where Lydia (the obnoxious sister) yells out "I WANT TO GO TO BRIGHTON!!!" and then ends up making things more miserable for her family than ever.

so Brighton had a nice ring to it, Passion Play was tempting and Zoe Wanamaker  was in it... time for a day trip to Brighton.

To say Brighton has the allure Lydia made it sound like... no, nothing of the sort. maybe it had more grandeur in Jane Austen's days but today, it's more mundane I'd say. Though the beach was nice enough, a good way to spend some time while waiting for the theater to open.

Brighton does have a nice theater, and it's in an easy area, shops, restaurants, walkable distance from both the train station and the beach. And as I found out while chatting to regular patrons it's often used as a pre-West-End venue, so I'll keep an eye on it for future reference for sure.

Now Passion Play, I liked it very much, apart from the unsatisfying ending (not having seen it before or having read it it could have gone either way for me) I liked it very much, it had a very modern set, that worked beautifully in creating different places of action without big set changes, both lead characters have an 'inner self' that is played by another actor, by duplicating costumes that worked very well. I've read that in a previous production those parts were not cast and the lead actors played both parts... not sure how that would work, but I guess you'd have to see it to judge. 

Here Zoe Wanamaker (Eleanor) and Owen Teale (James) are the stars of the show, their inner selves (Samantha Bond as 'Nell' and Oliver Cotton as 'Jim') did a great job in showing us the inner dialogue. Kate (Annabel Scholey) was less of a hit for me, a little harsh in performance, it was hard for me to understand why James would fall so hard for her.

First visit to Theatre Royal Brighton, was a nice outing, there will definitely be a next time!

Oliver Cotton (Jim), Samantha Bond (Nell), Zoe Wanamaker (Eleanor),
Annabel Scholey (Kate), Owen Teale (James), photo: John Swannell

from the official website:

Olivier Award-winner Zoë Wanamaker and Tony Award-winner Owen Teale star in PASSION PLAY, a provocative comedy about love, sex and infidelity.

Comfortably married for 25 years, Eleanor's world is turned upside down when her husband begins an affair with their young friend Kate. As the lies mount up, the marriage is stripped bare, revealing illicit desires and hidden passions.

A potent mix of desire, intimacy and deception, this modern classic by Peter Nichols (Privates on Parade, A Day in the Death of Joe Egg) and winner of the Evening Standard Award for Best Play makes a much-anticipated return to the West End, and is directed by David Leveaux (Arcadia, Betrayal, The Real Thing). Zoë Wanamaker (Harry Potter, My Family and Arthur Miller's All My Sons) and Owen Teale (West End and Broadway's A Doll's House, RSC's King Lear and Sky1's Stella) will be joined on stage by Samantha Bond (Downton Abbey, Outnumbered, Miss Moneypenny in James Bond), Oliver Cotton (BBC's Ripper Street, The Dark Knight Rises),Siân Thomas (Donmar's Richard II, Merlin, Harry Potter) and Annabel Scholey (Lady Anne opposite Kevin Spacey in Richard III, Eastenders, Jayne Eyre).

CREATIVES

PETER NICHOLS - WRITER

Peter Nichols was born in Bristol in 1927 and educated there at The Grammar School and Old Vic Theatre School. After National Service in India, Malaya and Hong Kong, he was an actor in repertory theatre and television for five years and then a teacher in London schools. His many original scripts and adaptations have appeared on television, film and radio.

His plays for theatre are: A DAY IN THE DEATH OF JOE EGG, THE NATIONAL HEALTH, FORGET-ME-NOT LANE, THE FREEWAY, CHEZ NOUS, PRIVATES ON PARADE, BORN IN THE GARDENS, PASSION PLAY, POPPY, BLUE MURDER (later FIG-LEAVES), SO LONG LIFE, A PIECE OF MY MIND and LINGUA FRANCA. These have won four Evening Standard Awards, a Society of West End Theatres Award for Best Comedy and two Ivor Novello Best Musical Awards. Details of the first and later productions are in his Plays One and Two which are published by Methuen. Five novels and another ten or so stage plays remain unproduced.

PRIVATES ON PARADE was revived by The Michael Grandage Company at the Noel Coward Theatre in December 2012 and starred Simon Russell Beale.

Peter was resident playwright at the Guthrie Theatre, Minneapolis where he co-directed THE NATIONAL HEALTH. He also directed revivals of A DAY IN THE DEATH OF JOE EGG andFORGET-ME-NOT LANE at Greenwich and the first productions of BORN IN THE GARDENS andBLUE MURDER at Bristol. In 2000 he wrote and directed NICHOLODEON, a miscellany of his scenes and songs for Show of Strength.

His original plays for television include an INSPECTOR MORSE. Small and big-screen versions of some of his stage plays, adapted by Peter , include A DAY IN THE DEATH OF JOE EGG, THE NATIONAL HEALTH and PRIVATES ON PARADE.

Recent work for radio includes SOMETHING IN THE AIR and JAM YESTERDAY, both about the Nazi Swing Band. FEELING YOU'RE BEHIND (a memoir published by Weidenfeld) appeared in 1984 and in 2000 Peter edited a selection from the diary he's kept on-and-off since he first left England aged eighteen (published by Nick Hern Books). Peter's 'papers' from 1945 to 2000 are now held in the British Library, He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He and his wife, to whom he has been married since 1960 now live in Oxford, previously in Devon, Bristol, Shropshire and (mostly) London. At the last count they have three surviving children and seven granchildren.

DAVID LEVEAUX - DIRECTOR

Recent productions include: RUDOLPH (Tokyo Japan), BACKBEAT (Toronto, Duke of York UK ),CQ/CX (Atlantic Theatre Co. NY), THE LATE MIDDLE CLASSES (Donmar),TALES OF BALLYCUMBER (Abbey Theatre, Dublin), ARCADIA (West End & Broadway), RUDOLPH (Vienna),A DOLL’S HOUSE (Tokyo Japan), THREE SISTERS (Abbey Theatre, Dublin).

Previous Broadway productions include: CYRANO with Kevin Kline and Jennifer Garner, THE GLASS MENAGERIE with Jessica Lange and FIDDLER ON THE ROOF. Tom Stoppard'sJUMPERS (Tony Award nom. for Outstanding Direction), NINE with Antonio Banderas (Tony Award for Best Revival and nom. for outstanding Direction), Stoppard's THE REAL THING (Tony Award for Best Revival), Harold Pinter's BETRAYAL with Juliette Binoche, ELECTRA with Zoë Wanamaker (Tony Award nom.), Eugene O'Neill's ANNA CHRISTIE with Liam Neeson and Natasha Richardson (Tony Award for Best Revival) and A MOON FOR THE MISBEGOTTEN with Kate Nelligan (Tony Award nom. for Outstanding Direction).

Other productions include: London’s West End SINATRA LIVE AT THE LONDON PALLADIUM andJUMPERS (Piccadilly). For the Almeida Theatre: Harold Pinter's NO MAN’S LAND, MOONLIGHTwith Ian Holm, BETRAYAL and Neil LaBute's THE DISTANCE FROM HERE.

For the RNT: Stoppard’s JUMPERS and Strindberg's THE FATHER.

For the RSC:’TIS PITY SHE’S A WHORE and ROMEO AND JULIET.

Opera includes: THE TURN OF THE SCREW and THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO (Scottish Opera, Tramway), and for the English National Opera, Strauss's SALOME.

In 1993, he formed Theatre Project Tokyo, an independent theatre company with executive producer Hitoshi Kadoi. His productions for TPT include: THERESE RAQUIN, BETRAYAL, ‘TIS PITY SHE’S A WHORE, HEDDA GABLER, ELLIDA, THE TWO HEADED EAGLE, THE IBSEN PROJECT, THE CHANGELING, THREE SISTERS, MACBETH (Saison Theatre and Kobe Oriental Theatre) and NINE ( the musical) plus two of Mishima’s MODERN Noh PLAYS.

HILDEGARD BECHTLER - SET DESIGNER

Theatre includes Old Times (currently at the Harold Pinter), Top Hat (currently at the Aldwych),The Sunshine Boys, Arcadia (also Broadway), Blithe pirit, The Misanthrope, The Lady from Dubuque, By the Bog of Cats, The Master Builder, Footfalls, Hedda Gabler (West End);Scenes from an Execution, After the Dance, Harper Regan, The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other, The Hothouse, Thérèse Raquin, Exiles, Primo, Iphigenia at Aulis, The Merchant of Venice, Richard II, King Lear (National Theatre); Farewell to the Theatre (Hampstead);Cause Célèbre, All About My Mother, Richard II (Old Vic); The Crucible (West End/RSC);Electra (RSC); Primo, Hedda Gabler, The Seagull (Broadway); Rosmersholm, The Goat or Who is Sylvia? (Almeida); The Jewish Wife (Young Vic); Now or Later, The Seagull, Krapp’s Last Tape, My Name is Rachel Corrie (Royal Court).

Opera includes The Makropulos Case at the 2012 Edinburgh International Festival and Opera North, The Damnation of Faust at English National Opera and productions at Santa Fe Opera, La Scala Milan, Royal Opera House, Glyndebourne, Opera North, Bayerische Staatsoper, Het Muziektheater Amsterdam, Sydney Opera House, Paris Opera and Scottish Opera’s The Ring Cycle. Television includes Primo, The Merchant of Venice, Richard II and The Waste Land.

Winner of 2011 Olivier Award for Best Design for After The Dance, 2009 Australian Green Room award for Best Opera Design Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk at Sydney Opera House.