Tag Archives: Anna Fleischle

The Time Traveller's Wife

The Time Traveller’s Wife

★★★

Apollo Theatre

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THE TIME TRAVELLER’S WIFE at the Apollo Theatre

★★★

The Time Traveller's Wife

“the show is a feast for the eyes with plenty of jaw-dropping, ‘how-do-they-do-that’ moments”

As a species, the ability to conquer the fourth dimension has always fascinated us. Which is why it is so prevalent in literature and popular culture. Particularly as this year comes to an end with the highly anticipated 60th anniversary of Dr Who on the horizon. It is argued that Sophocles wrote the first time travel story over 2,500 years ago. The popularity of the concept has almost convinced us that time travel could, in fact, be possible. Most fantasies revolve around our ability to control our passage through time – from the past or to the future and back again. Audrey Niffenegger’s novel, “The Time Traveller’s Wife”, turned that around to tell the story of a man who has no control. It is not a gift but a curse, and questions of free will, fatalism or predeterminism give the novel a philosophical sheen. The success of the story, however, stemmed from the fact that it was perceived as a love story.

It is this aspect that informs the new musical, which premiered at Storyhouse, Chester last year before its West End run. Lauren Gunderson’s book, with Dave Stewart and Joss Stone’s music and lyrics, is a sugar-coated treat. More saccharin than the real deal raw stuff, there is a synthetic quality to the way it pulls at our heart strings. But once we get used to it, we allow ourselves to be drawn into the narrative. What undoubtedly helps is Bill Buckhurst’s magnificent staging. A collaborative effort, drawing on the skills of illusionist Chris Fisher, the show is a feast for the eyes with plenty of jaw-dropping, ‘how-do-they-do-that’ moments.

“Despite the captivating themes, the episodic nature of the piece leaves them dangling”

At the heart of the story are Henry and Clare – the time traveller and his wife (David Hunter and Joanna Woodward). Henry is a man with a genetic disorder that causes him to time travel unpredictably while his wife, Clare, is left behind to cope with his frequent absences. It is fitting that Woodward opens the show, introducing herself directly to the audience. After all; it’s in the title. Refreshingly told from the wife’s perspective, Woodward empowers her character in a finely balanced performance, practically stealing the show with the highlight musical number, ‘I’m In Control’. It is a rare moment when the emotional temperature lifts a few degrees. Elsewhere, however, the score laps around us in lukewarm waves of predictability.

The narrative is surprisingly easy to follow, given the complex nature of the storyline. Especially when put on paper. Henry and Clare first meet in the library where Henry works part time. Clare has already met Henry several times throughout her life when Henry was older and travelling back in time to visit her. But because Henry is younger than that now, he hasn’t yet built the memories of this, so he has no idea who Clare is. See what I mean? Henry has unwritten ‘rules’ of time travel that he can’t break. But of course, he does – particularly when it is in order to save his marriage. Woodward and Hunter both give polished performances that clearly pinpoint where, and when, we are in their romance. Fantastic support comes from Tim Mahendran and Hiba Elchikhe, as Gomez and Charisse, their best friends and conventional couple who mirror the ups and downs of matrimony without the added complications. Special mention must be made of Holly-Jade Roberts, who plays the young Clare with a fascinating, quirky and natural assuredness beyond her years.

Despite the captivating themes, the episodic nature of the piece leaves them dangling. Yet we also appreciate that this may be an essential part of it, as normal life is continually being torn apart by these uncontrolled fissures in time. And the numerous scene transitions are almost another character in itself. But the questions never dig too deep, hindered as they are by lyrical platitudes such as ‘time is nothing’. Perhaps there is too much to explore and, despite running at just over two and a half hours, there isn’t the time. We leave with a sense of being slightly underwhelmed, but thoroughly entertained, nonetheless. The question remains; will it stand the test of time? Well, there’s only one answer. Only time will tell.


THE TIME TRAVELLER’S WIFE at the Apollo Theatre

Reviewed on 2nd November 2023

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Johan Persson

 

 

 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

Potted Panto | ★★★★★ | December 2022
Cruise | ★★★★★ | August 2022

The Time Traveller’s Wife

The Time Traveller’s Wife

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The Forest

The Forest

★★★

Hampstead Theatre

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The Forest

The Forest

Hampstead Theatre

Reviewed – 15th February 20222

★★★

 

“By the end of the play, we are left with the feeling that our prize has somehow slipped through our fingers”

 

Hampstead Theatre’s production of Florian Zeller’s latest play The Forest is an intriguing work in its parts, but as a whole, adds up to something less than expected. It begins as a conventional drawing room drama. We meet a successful surgeon, Pierre, (Toby Stephens) and his conventional wife, Laurence, (Gina McKee) in their drawing room, as they attempt to comfort their daughter (Millie Brady) who is going through a messy break up with her boyfriend. The next scene opens in a bedsit with a man (Paul McGann) in bed with his lover, the much younger Sophie (Angel Coulby.) As the scenes progress, the audience realizes that the man in scenes one and two are actually the same character, played by two actors. We are witnessing the gradual disintegration of Pierre as the carefully constructed facade of the successful professional man that he has created, falls apart.

Why is this play called The Forest? At one point in the play a mysterious character called The Man in Black (Finbar Lynch) tells the story of a hunter who gets lured into the woods by a stag, the ultimate trophy. As the hunter goes deeper among the trees, he loses his way, and his prize. Did the stag even really exist? He does not know. This tale is, of course, a metaphor for the protagonist, Pierre, but also, sadly, for the audience of The Forest as well. By the end of the play, we are left with the feeling that our prize has somehow slipped through our fingers. On the plus side, The Forest provides lots to enjoy along the way.

Anna Fleischle’s complex set allows the audience to see all three spaces on stage at once. Thus the drawing room of Pierre and Laurence occupies the largest space, with Sophie’s bedsit above. Stage left is an office, where Pierre at various times confronts his daughter’s boyfriend (Eddie Toll); is interrogated by the Man in Black, and confesses to his best friend (Silas Carson) that he is having an affair. These spaces are used conventionally at first. Scene follows scene, lights go down on one space and then up on another. Then scenes repeat, but never in quite the same way, reality shifts, and the spaces merge. What seems like a very naturalistic drama to begin with turns into something dreamlike, surreal. We are now lost in the forest.

The Forest is clever, there is no doubt about that. There’s plenty for the audience to get its head around, and with a powerhouse cast to perform it, the evening is not unsatisfying. Christopher Hampton’s translation perfectly captures the mundane exchanges between characters, even when dealing with domestic tragedy, or love triangles. That is a hallmark of Zeller’s work. But the clever touches—the expressionistic Man in Black, and the nods to Pinter and Pirandello in the text, do not, when all is said and done, merge organically with the drama on stage. It never quite transcends its conventional drawing room drama roots. We fail to connect deeply with the characters, even as we enjoy the elegant theatrics. The most egregious error is placing an all too obviously fake dead stag on stage at the end of the play, with no preparation, other than the Man in Black’s allegorical tale. Strindberg could get away with placing symbols on stage, but then he lived in a more culturally groundbreaking age than our own. Perhaps the fault does not lie entirely with the playwright, however. Director Jonathan Kent plays it too safe by emphasizing the naturalistic, when perhaps he should have gone for broke and thrown the surrealistic elements of the play into sharper relief. The lighting (Hugh Vanstone) and sound (Isobel Waller-Bridge) could have done more in that respect, as well.

By all means visit this production of The Forest if you are up for a stylish evening in the always welcoming Hampstead Theatre. The terrific cast will make it more than worth your time. But Florian Zeller’s latest play may turn out to be a script that works better as a study piece than as a production. Then again, maybe it just needs to wait, like a fine wine, for the right moment to be decanted into a more adventurous age so that we can truly appreciate its flavour.

 

 

Reviewed by Dominica Plummer

Photography by The Other Richard

 


The Forest

Hampstead Theatre until 12th March

 

Recently reviewed at this venue:
Big Big Sky | ★★★★ | August 2021
Night Mother | ★★★★ | October 2021

 

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