VISIT FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN at Hampstead Theatre

★★

“Hampton is not a writer known for his humour, but the script is relentlessly grim”

Since Hampstead Theatre lost its Arts Council funding their programming has been shaped by the need for philanthropic donations. It seems a safe choice then, to programme the UK premiere of the latest Christopher Hampton adaptation, which will surely encourage audience attendance. Unfortunately, while this play explores many of Hampton’s favourite themes – memory and time, loss and obsession, seduction – it falls emotionally flat and is overwritten to the point of parody.

The story is moving, if slightly sentimental. It is based on a Zweig novella of the same name and is set against the building xenophobic tensions of 1930s Vienna. But this political context gets only the briefest of nods. Instead, the play focusses on two characters, a middle-aged writer, Stefan, whose biography seems curiously similar to Zweig’s own, and a mysterious young woman, Marianne, whose sexual enthusiasm is made disquieting by a peculiar familiarity with Stefan’s life. The story unravels into a personal tragedy, with sex and casual cruelty at its poignant heart.

Chelsea Walker’s direction shines in the passion between the two, but somehow fails to inject this verbose two hander with the necessary emotional depth to carry it.

Hampton is not a writer known for his humour, but the script is relentlessly grim. Marianne’s story in particular, is emotionally monotonal. Whether that’s the script, performance or direction is unclear, but there is a sore lack of light and shade.

The dynamic between the two should be fascinating, but Marianne’s unrelenting and unbelievable selflessness feels more like Zweig’s (or Hampton’s) own fantasy than a real woman.

James Corrigan, playing Stefan, has been brought on late into the process, only taking over the role after the first week of performances, and bearing that in mind his performance is impressive. He plays the writer as a Hugh Grant-esque bumbling charmer. It’s a good performance, but maybe lacks the magnetism which can birth the level of obsession which the play explores. Natalie Simpson’s performance is a little one note, but as discussed, that’s not entirely her fault. It would’ve been interesting to see this character unravel more, but there are a couple of moments where Simpson’s range is unleashed. Nigel Hastings has a walk on part of Johann the butler, which feels a little random, but he embodies it well. Jessie Gattward as a young Marianne is deeply sinister, with a moment of pained physical theatre which works well in balance with the naturalism.

The set (Rosanna Vize), sound (Peter Rice) music (Max Perryment) and lighting (Bethany Gupwell) are excellent. The set is an apartment, with a landing, and a huge pile of wilted white roses rotting in the darkened corner outside. The music, at one point echoed by Corrigan on the piano, provides a haunting refrain as the play shifts through time and memory. The lighting alters to play with shadow, building an excellent atmosphere which never quite comes to a climax.

Of all novellas ever written, or even all Zweig novellas, this is a strange one to choose to adapt. Perhaps the most interesting thing about it lies in the biographical hints of Zweig’s own life – he wrote it shortly before he left Vienna for South America where he committed suicide. Knowing that (or reading the programme) brings moving light onto the reaction of the writer, but without it, the play feels a little adrift, almost like a scene within a longer play to which the audience is not privy.

VISIT FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN at Hampstead Theatre

Reviewed on 11th July 2024

by Auriol Reddaway

Photography by Marc Brenner

Previously reviewed at this venue:

THE DIVINE MRS S | ★★★★ | March 2024

DOUBLE FEATURE | ★★★★ | February 2024

ROCK ‘N’ ROLL | ★★★★ | December 2023

ANTHROPOLOGY | ★★★★ | September 2023

STUMPED | ★★★★ | June 2023

LINCK & MÜLHAHN | ★★★★ | February 2023

THE ART OF ILLUSION | ★★★★★ | January 2023

SONS OF THE PROPHET | ★★★★ | December 2022

BLACKOUT SONGS | ★★★★ | November 2022

MARY | ★★★★ | October 2022

THE FELLOWSHIP | ★★★ | June 2022

THE BREACH | ★★★ | May 2022

VISIT FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN

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★★½

“George Renshaw as Harry Wotton gives a show stealing solo performance”

Oscar Wilde seems to be having a bit of a moment. There is a production of The Importance of Being Earnest upcoming at the National Theatre, and The Picture of Dorian Gray was recently staged with Succession star Sarah Snook bagging an Olivier for her performance. Now the Southwark Playhouse is putting on a musical adaptation of Dorian Gray.

In this version, with book and direction by Linnie Reedman and music & lyrics by Joe Evans, Dorian is an overnight online sensation, taken in by the music industry who promise him his youthful beauty can live forever through his music. There are some oblique references to the 27 club of famous musicians who died young and versions of Wilde’s original characters who inadvertently guide Dorian towards his eventual end.

The main challenge with this adaptation is that, conceptually, it just doesn’t work. A musical set in the modern era, that purports to explore how social media affects our perception of beauty can’t just throw in a couple of references to Dorian having gone viral on YouTube, cocaine fuelled industry parties, or things being ‘all over the newspapers… and also social media’. Equally the costume and set (Isabella Van Braeckel), are more Victorian gothic than modern, although the set is successfully reminiscent of a recording studio – multiple Moroccan carpets strewn across the floor, LPs and guitars on the walls and piled with books and bric-a-brac. The story needs greater integration of the contemporary themes it claims to explore in the adaptation to pull it off – or else a straight 19th century adaptation would do.

More heinously though, to evoke the spirits of some of rock and pops greatest talents – Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Amy Winehouse – the music and lyrics have got to attempt to match. At a minimum, the music has to lean more ‘pop’ than musical theatre. But all the music is drab and dull, seemingly inspired more by the gothic musicals Phantom of the Opera or Sweeney Todd, but without any of the musicality or lyricism of Lloyd-Weber or Sondheim.

The casting unfortunately doesn’t help matters. Alfie Friedman as Dorian Gray has a very musical theatre voice, with plenty of vibrato, opening the show with a number about living forever that has the potential for a pop-rock ballad inspired by Queen’s, but is instead memorable only in its blandness. There are some exceptions of course. George Renshaw as Harry Wotton gives a show stealing solo performance of Where the Yellow Roses Grow, a highlight of the second act with his intelligent interpretation of the tune. Gabrielle Lewis-Dodson and Megan Hill as Sybil/Fabian Vane are also strong vocalists and being much needed comic relief, particularly in the second act.

Overall, Dorian: The Musical gives sixth-form production energy due to the safe but bland musical numbers, some odd directorial choices, and the half-baked ‘contemporary’ setting. Saved from the abyss by some stand out performances, including a superb guitar solo from a member of the live band, this piece will most appeal to Wilde superfans rather than the masses.

VISIT FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN at Hampstead Theatre

★★

“Hampton is not a writer known for his humour, but the script is relentlessly grim”

VISIT FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN at Hampstead Theatre

Reviewed on 11th July 2024

by Auriol Reddaway

Photography by Marc Brenner

Previously reviewed at this venue:

VISIT FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN

VISIT FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN

DORIAN: THE MUSICAL at Southwark Playhouse Borough

★★½

“George Renshaw as Harry Wotton gives a show stealing solo performance”

DORIAN: THE MUSICAL at Southwark Playhouse Borough

Reviewed on 10th July 2024

by Amber Woodward

Photography by Danny Kaan

More shows reviewed at Southwark Playhouse venues:

DORIAN

DORIAN

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