The Two-Character Play, at the Jermyn St Theatre October 26, 2010
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Reviews , add a commentTennesse Williams described this play as a cri de coeur, coming out of the pain of his sister, who was lobotomised after accusing their father of abusing her, and his own nervous breakdown. It’s a confusing, disturbing play within a play, where a brother and sister are actors in a play about an agorophobic brother and sister, and slip fluidly between the play, and the play within. Its about madness, fear, the love and ties between siblings and the barriers that insanity erects.
To play with fear is to play with fire. No, worse, much worse than playing with fire. Fire has limits. It comes to a river or sea and there it stops, it comes to a stone or bare earth that it can’t leap across and there is stopped, having nothing more to consume. But fear …
Catherine Cusack is excellent as the sister, nervous, tense but controlled, just this side of a breakdown. Paul McEwan as the brother is a little less convincing in the first half, where his accent makes his speech less clear, though he well and truly comes into his own in the second. There’s a palpable closeness and tension between the two of them, protecting each other, and, in the tiny, claustrophobic space of the Jermyn St Theatre, smothering each other as well.
It’s not a comfortable evening, but it’s well worth seeing. The Two-Character Play runs at the Jermyn St Theatre until 20 November. Tickets £18.
A Country Girl, at the Apollo October 19, 2010
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Reviews , add a commentIt’s a quiet Monday night and I have a very cheap ticket, so I find myself in the middle of the stalls at the Apollo, watching Martin Shaw and Jenny Seagrove in A Country Girl.  The reviews haven’t been great, the buzz on the theatre boards is of ‘care-home telly’ and a dated, woodenly-acted play more suited to provincial rep than the West End. And yet…
Martin Shaw’s Frank Elgin is an actor with flashes of brilliance between crises of confidence and alcoholic benders. He’s offered his last chance at a major part by an ambitious young director whose leading man has just fallen through. Jenny Seagrove’s Georgie Elgin is his wife and enabler, playing out a co-dependent role from which she doesn’t quite want to break free. Don’t most of us know a couple like that, though perhaps without the flashes of brilliance to relieve the desperation of it all? Seagrove is calm and dignified, sometimes talking the talk of leaving but, in an utterly believeable way, never quite walking.  Shaw gives us enough of the attraction of her husband, his need for her and his talent, to show why she puts up with his lies and self-destruction. The strength of the play is in the chemistry between these two powerful actors.
The play itself is fairly ordinary, and somewhat dated. Would any stage manager today call a leading actor ‘Nancikins’ and treat her like a schoolgirl? The American accents straight out of drama classes jar a little, and the sets are a bit clunky, with set changes staged as mini-scenes in themselves. As so often seems to be the case with West End plays, its not something I’d pay West End prices for, but if you can get a cheaper ticket (its on tkts), its a decent evening’s entertainment.
A Country Girl runs at the Apollo Theatre until February 2011 with ticket prices £20 to £65, though you should be able to do better elsewhere. J12 in the stalls was a very good seat.
