Macbeth – Harold Pinter Theatre – Saturday 30th November 2024

(Rated 5/5) Of all of Shakespeare’s best-known plays, ‘The Scottish Play’ is my least favourite, though, ironically, I realise I have seen it a few times and I know Lady M’s sleepwalking soliloquy off by heart, and hold it in my heart too. So, why did I go yet again?! I mean, of course, Mr. David Tennant is always a draw for me – I have never seen him be ‘rubbish’! But that alone was not enough, and I only half-heartedly tried to get tickets at the Donmar, and didn’t feel that disappointed that I didn’t succeed. But, when the opportunity arose again, and my sister-from-another-mister together with her blood sister wanted to go, I gave my attempts at ticket-acquiring more energy and got row B stalls, before it all sold out very rapidly. I joked with my SFAM that the three of could be his three witches. And, as it turned out maybe so, as they were not physically present! Before I go on, there will be spoilers in this review. Not of the play and plot itself really, but of the production, because, in a way, it all needs saying to try to convey the impact of the ways the audience experienced it.

Once in your seat, you’re invited to put on headphones and test to make sure you hear sounds in the correct ears – very important for later – and yes, you literally cannot hear the performances properly without them. I later met up with my ‘Three Boys’ and A commented it was 8D sound – actually yes – noises of all varieties come at you from all directions, and in some cases it’s pretty crucial to be able to identify from whence they emanate 😉 Macbeth opens with the ‘Weird Sisters’ – no, not me, my SFAM and her sister lol – voiced by the ensemble directly into our ears, as though coming from everywhere and internally at one and the same time. Together with the smoke and candle-lighting you immediately feel like you’re in an other ethereal world, and that together with a minimal black set and a simple glass box at the back trapping at different points many of the cast, who are all – besides one – dressed in dark colours, provides a powerful sense of the sinister and feeling that you’re deep into the darkness of the psychology of this play. Being so immersed, and with tremendous performances hitting me, I genuinely felt more connected with this Macbeth than any other. When Shakespeare is performed with such perfect awareness of the meaning and skill at expressing the emotion of it by the actors, the audience cannot fail to ‘receive it’. David Tennant is certainly a master of the bard. He, and Cush Jumbo as Lady Macbeth, had me so fully engaged. And there is an interesting ‘twist’ in this particular production – He is all in black, She is all in white – unusually and unexpectedly, she is the light to his dark. David’s Macbeth put me in mind of him playing cold psychopath Dennis Nilsen in ‘Des’, and the pace of his delivery and character development too, reminded me of the way he gave us the fast-thinking 10th Doctor becoming all too power-obsessed in the ’Doctor Who’ episode ‘The Waters of Mars’. As many will know, it is normally Lady M, who encourages and even manipulates the couple’s dastardly deeds, but here she is the humanity and conscience to his apparent total lack of guilt. That said the headphones add to the intimacy of the turmoil of their interactions – he can whisper into her and we hear every little murmur. We feel trapped in the game of crowns too, which has to be played by adults and children alike. The presence and absence of children is very keenly felt in this – and again Lady Cush Macbeth poignantly conveys her lack and pain at never being a mother. It also put me in mind of the Tudor World of Hilary Mantel’s ‘Wolf Hall’ and the story of Richard III’s nephews ‘The Princes in the Tower’ and the unsolved potential crime; were they murdered? – both very present on our TVs just at the moment. We’d hope we had become less barbaric, but tragically innocents and children are dying even today in places around the world, simply because of politics! Have we not learned??!! Yet, this is of course exactly what good theatre does for us – it’s past, it’s present, it’s future, it’s showing us ourselves in all our glory and utter tragic insanity.

Just as the darkness and devastation may be getting too much, Jatinder Singh Randhawa distracts us away from the stage by appearing to our right in one of the boxes and teases us about wearing headphones, ‘Are you expecting a radio play?’, argues with an usher who is supposedly trying to throw him out and get him to buy a very expensive programme, and then gives us a stand-up show! At first, I found this very contemporary sketch – mentioning the likes of Suella Braverman and Trump – out of place and distracting, but it later occurred to me this is actually a History play even though it wasn’t called one, and with kings in it, it also needs a fool. Jatinder was a superb fool and made me smile so much. ‘Knock, Knock…’ And after such not entirely frivolous jollity we are back to knocking at the gates of the court of Macbeth! The ensemble cast are like trapped shadow-figures at many points, yet also very front and actively present at others. Standing out for me was Rona Morrison as Lady Macduff – aside from excellent acting she also had excellent red hair! 😉 As also did Gemma Laurie as Ross – we noticed she got extra applause from the cast, then realising she was the cover for usual Ross – an impressive cover 😊

I had a strange experience of time in this production. Even though in many ways it was obvious where we were in the play, I felt Lady M’s presence much longer than I have in other productions. It’s like she was very much there even when she physically wasn’t. I guess that was in part the power of the character’s influence, but also a little like the witches, she could be present in spirit and not in body. The ghosts of other characters continually haunted Macbeth also as the actor playing them was always present even if their character was absent. This, I’ve only just fully engaged with as I write about it now. Clever choice and effect! Our headphones delivered a great deal more than simply actors’ voices, together with wildlife and witchcraft, there was music… and also, we had dancing worthy of places on Strictly! Very enjoyable to watch 😊

As I mentioned earlier, I talked with my ‘Three Boys’ about this production afterwards and A said he had to learn and deliver one of the soliloquys. I started ‘Is this a dagger…’ He said ‘No, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and Tomorrow…’ I asked him why. Apparently, because it was the shortest 😉 I’d witnessed David Tennant joking with Greg Doran about that speech, yet in performing it, of course, David was ever the professional and we felt Macbeth’s utter brokenness and devastation at the loss of his Lady wife.

This production has given me whole new insights into and appreciation of The Scottish Play. Thank you, David, Cush, Will, Director Max Webster and the whole cast and crew!! Macbeth – Review by TheRestrictedReviewer © 2024

Good – The Harold Pinter Theatre – Saturday 10th December 2022

 

(Rated 5/5)

I think the role David Tennant is best known for is The 10^th Doctor, and in that role for the main ‘Ten’ is ‘Good’ and all his actions are intended to be for the ‘Greatest Good’ of humanity or even to attempt to change the hearts and minds of the ‘Bad’ Aliens to do ‘Good’. In attempting to do ‘Good’ and save people from ‘Bad’, later in his regeneration Ten acts for the ‘Good’ of one particular person – saving the life of Lindsay Duncan’s character Adelaide Brooke in ‘The Waters of Mars’ – and she then proceeds to kill herself, knowing that her death will be for the ‘Greatest Good’ of humanity!

For me this illustrates the fine line there is sometimes between what could be judged as ‘Good’ and ‘Bad’ and how values and morals can be distorted leading us to question what is ‘Good’ or ‘Bad’?! This is pretty much the topic tackled by playwright C. P. Taylor in his stage play ‘Good’. An apparently ‘Good’ man, Halder – played by David Tennant – becomes drawn into circles and finds himself experiencing challenging situations involving his highly disabled mother and anxious wife, which lead to him being seduced by the now clearly terrifying thinking of the Nazis. The disturbing aspect of which is that within the words and arguments of Taylor’s characters, we as audience can start doubting ourselves and our own – we hope – clear distinction between ‘Good’ and ‘Bad’. For me the production of the play and use of just two actors to play the parts of all the other characters interacting with Halder, also adds to this blurry theme and in trying to distinguish and separate arguments and characters, we can go into a state of confusion. I confess that is what happened to me while watching Act1. I found myself trying to follow the points and views and becoming mixed up in my mind. As she will know, I asked my theatre companion for this show, if she had ‘understood’. I imagine that is deliberate by originally the writer and also director, Dominic Cooke.

For me the play comes across as a psychological stream of consciousness in the mind of Halder with little snippets of scenes of interactions/manipulations between him and the other ‘real life’ characters, chopping and changing all the while between his thoughts and actual conversations. The lack of clear distinction is supported by the supporting actors Elliot Levey and in this day’s production ‘1^st cover Helen’ Edie Newman playing Jewish friend to Halder, Maurice and other characters, and wife, girlfriend to Halder and other characters respectively. Important to pay attention – note to self as I didn’t as much as I wished I had – or you might get lost 😉 That said both Elliot and Edie were brilliant – as Ten might say – in switching between roles. I was actually particularly impressed by understudy Edie switching between anxious wife, seductive student/girlfriend, vulnerable needy mother and even a military man! I also enjoyed that Elliot used me at least twice as his audience focus. At one point in the play – and I should mention myself and theatre companion were front row stalls in the middle – Elliot and David were in discussion sitting at the very front of the stage – I could have reached out with my walking stick and easily touched them – and with me and companion both hands up to our chins thinking about the ‘debate’ they were having – Elliot looked right at me and I could see each individual tear coming from his eyes and down his face. So powerful! In fact, I also sensed and realised how in tune me and my theatre companion were in taking sips of our Harold Pinter Package champagne and adjusting position in our seats etc. At one point close to the end though, I was so relaxed down in my seat with feet far out in front of me. Thankfully, I noticed as an actor – who initially I thought was a member of the audience – walked from stage right to left, and I rapidly sat up again with feet under me lol! Just in time not to trip him up!

David Tennant has become so ‘Good’ at playing ‘Bad’ – will that be the last time I use those terms – eg in ‘Des’ as serial killer Dennis Nilson - that it is no surprise whatsoever that he is excellent in this role. Disturbingly ‘Good’ – whoops no not the last – but it’s a testament to all three performers that for me there was absolutely no distinction – yep that word again too – in talent. I loved that at curtain call David and Elliot both indicated Eddie for specific applause. She was so ‘Good’ – lol – an understudy I wonder how ‘Good’ – okay maybe I need to stop – Sharon Small was. I’m unlikely never to know as I doubt I will see it again – even though I genuinely feel I missed a lot of specifics in dialogue that could be very interesting to read over and unpick. It’s for sure a highly thought-word-processy drama. I won’t say anything about the plot as even to say a little sort of gives things away, but suffice to say in the main it is set in a set looking like a prison in Frankfurt between 1933 and 1942. And the end is… chilling!

Excellent play, superb production, but maybe not for Christmas as such 😉

 

Good – Review by TheRestrictedReviewer © 2022

‘Don Juan in Soho’ – Wyndham’s Theatre – Saturday 3rd and Wednesday 7th June 2017

(Rated 5/5 ) 

It had to happen – DT as DJ – David Tennant as Don Juan ;) - a totally charming man playing a despicable seduction-crazed rogue – and his adorable long-suffering servant / companion / sidekick Stan - played delightfully by Adrian Scarborough – does warn us not to be charmed by him. And yet we completely are, whilst maybe feeling a little discomfort that we are watching the deplorable yet hilarious almost sexual exploitation – though as he says ‘I am not a pussy grabber’ – of many women, and a few men. DJ is eminently ‘fuckable’ yet ‘unhaveable’ and he celebrates that. He cares not a jot for anybody, being totally untouched by the pain he is causing his new wife Elvira – Danielle Vitalis.

Don Juan has appeared many times over in Operas, poems, plays, philosophical writings and other and there are lovely refs to Don Giovanni in this production. Yet this is a very deliberately contemporary version – ever so much a version for our times making multitudes of references to our experiences of today. In fact so much so that DJ’s rant speech in Act 2 was changed through the run to reflect current events – more on that later but for example including ‘climate change denial by an orange orangutan’ (actually an offence to orangutans ;)). I wish I’d seen it after the UK general election result to see what may have been added then.

David is Delicious as DJ!! And Hilarious and Wonderfully Vile too! He clearly thoroughly enjoyed playing a character so different to himself in behaviour and attitude. DJ is a very clever witty cynic. He loves seduction more than sex itself and will go to any lengths without worrying about who gets hurt – even killed along the way. Being attached won’t save you – in fact will make him want you even more – like the newlywed bride – of whom he hears about in the gents and tells Stan about whilst changing character from himself to the newlywed husband by respectively increasing and decreasing the space between his thumb and forefinger held down as his crotch! And there are so many similar hilarities – including a blanket covering yet another young lady satisfying him – and his responses in facial expressions and sounds - whilst he chats up the bride.

There’s dancing and singing too – most notably between DJ and Stan – DJ moves so sensually and naturally whilst Stan is both funnily awkward yet really good too.

The production is excellent and includes a moving statue of Charles II, staging of Soho itself and a flying bicycle J

This stage-play is by award-winning writer Patrick Marber - a radical entertaining adaptation of Molière’s original play - and was first performed at The Donmar Warehouse in 2006. I did not see that version – in which Rhys Ifans played DJ – but get the impression this one is more impressive. I also have a very strong suspicion that DT did some co-writing with his friend Patrick J I really enjoyed the whole show – especially on second seeing being much closer to the stage in stalls second row – so well worth it! – my favourite part of it is DJ’s rant speech on hypocrisy and the ‘development of man’. It’s highly amusing, clever, witty, scathing, cynical and in some ways self-deprecating eg. the ref to the insincere work of actors and doing the ‘ancestry show’. He comments how we have developed from the caveman drawing an animal on his wall – ‘Well Done’ – to Vlogging and telling each other ‘I bought a plum’. How we are obsessed by others ‘Follow Me, Follow Me, Like Me, Like Me’ – which he demonstrates with a thumbs up. How a ‘concrete block’ is now an iPhone! We just have ‘different tools’.

I’d highly recommend this except that I can’t because the final performance was yesterday! Whoops and apologies. Though selfishly it’s good to have my own experience of it to look back on and remind me of those feelings being an audience member for one of the shows I have found most enjoyable and entertaining J Sadly no DVD but the stage-play is available.

Wyndham’s is a lovely theatre in Louis XVI style from 1899. A more classic space in SOHO!

Don Juan in Soho – Review by TheRestrictedReviewer © 2017