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WATING FOR GODOT

★★★★

Theatre Royal Haymarket

WATING FOR GODOT at the Theatre Royal Haymarket

★★★★

“The partnership between Msamati and Whishaw is first rate”

The setting (Rae Smith) is a desolate stony landscape with no discerning features bar one sad leafless tree. Despite time references of the afternoon and evening there is no discriminating change in lighting (Bruno Poet). It appears to be permanently night-time, practically Nordic.

Two unkempt individuals are doing not very much. Estragon (Lucian Msamati) is seated, trying unsuccessfully to remove his boots. Vladimir (Ben Whishaw) stands idly under the tree. It transpires that they are waiting for Godot, a man of whom they know very little or seemingly even the reason why they are waiting for him. Both men are grungily dressed: Vladimir in a singlet, jogging pants and bobble hat; Estragon in grubby fatigues and a winter fur hat with earflaps. Both have slept rough, Estragon in a ditch after having been beaten up, he says. Vladimir appears to have internal pains. Life is clearly not sweet for this odd couple.

It’s been said that Samuel Beckett has written a great play in which nothing happens and as the second act very much mirrors the first, he has written a play in which nothing happens twice. And yet we are engrossed in what action there is. Director James Macdonald moves the pair around the stage slowly but naturally. Occasionally in moments of anxiety Vladimir breaks into a run but fundamentally they (and we) are waiting. The partnership between Msamati and Whishaw is first rate. The clarity of diction from both men is excellent bringing out all the nuances of Beckett’s text. Whishaw is high energy and highly pitched, Msamati sullen, sulky and velvety.

Beckett describes his work as a ‘tragicomedy’ and it is hard to place exactly where this production lands. The audience laughs at the scene involving the inscrutable landowner Pozzo (Jonathan Slinger) and his cruelty towards his ‘menial’ Lucky (Tom Edden) but it isn’t funny really, is it? Lucky is brilliantly portrayed by Edden with his perfect repetitive actions, his jaw gaping, eyeballs popping and drool flailing. Edden gets his own round of applause for his ‘thinking’ scene but his ‘dancing’ routine could have been extended if the director wished to maximise the comic intent.

For the tragic side of things, the pointlessness of it all is evident, and the silences speak volumes. The two waiting friends consider suicide, but for as much as to find something to do than for ending things forever, it seems. The lasting memory of this production is seeing the bond of friendship grow between Vladimir and Estragon; their discrete holding of hands, or a gentle touch on the shoulder giving a poignancy amidst all the blathering. But with that comes an overwhelming sadness.

It is near on seventy years since the first production of this play which is thought by many as one of the finest in the English language (despite the original being in French!) and certainly ground-breaking in terms of the history of theatre. Waiting for Godot is a play that every theatre lover should see on stage, and this is a very fine production indeed with strong performances throughout. Ben Whishaw and Lucian Msamati are both outstanding. Go see it!


WATING FOR GODOT at the Theatre Royal Haymarket

Reviewed on 19th September 2024

by Phillip Money

Photography by Marc Brenner

 

 

 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

FARM HALL | ★★★★ | August 2024
HEATHERS | ★★★ | July 2021

WATING FOR GODOT

WATING FOR GODOT

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Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre

★★★★★

Wilde Theatre

Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre

Wilde Theatre, South Hill Park Arts Centre, Bracknell

Reviewed – 3rd November 2020

★★★★★

 

“Kelsey Short’s Jane is a captivating and empowered northern lass with bags of inspiring grit”

 

How to compress a blockbuster three volume novel from 1847 into an engaging theatrical experience for audiences today? That’s the challenge that writer-director Nick Lane has risen to splendidly in this thrilling adaptation of Charlotte Brontë’s ‘Jane Eyre’.

It’s the work of South Hill Park’s resident company Black Eyed Theatre which has a deserved reputation for exciting and innovative theatre with minimal grant assistance.

Poor plain Jane. She’s the put-upon girl ‘whose capacity for love is seemingly limitless’ that’s at the giddying centre of this first person narrative. Her struggle for self-determination through the years from schoolgirl right through to motherhood is Brontë’s inspiring subject.

The cast are multi-instrumentalists and singers and take up to five roles each. The action takes place on a stark and impressively contemporary set by Victoria Spearing which is particularly well lit by Alan Valentine.

Kelsey Short’s Jane is a captivating and empowered northern lass with bags of inspiring grit. The splendid Ben Warwick is Mr Rochester, the mysterious owner of Thornfield Hall. In his high-waisted britches (costumes by Naomi Gibbs) he has a lean and hungry look and gives an energetic and winning performance.

This is the kind of rigorously honest production where all the cast are on stage almost all the time, even as they make their costume changes. Their tight ensemble work is the motor that keeps the energy up and drives the action forward. Camilla Simeon, Eleanor Toms and Oliver Hamilton are all compelling performers, deftly switching from role to role, and even instrument to instrument, mid-tune.

The story is something of a melodrama, albeit with plenty of humorous moments, so it’s appropriately broken up with plenty of folksy tunes and atmospheric musical mood-setting by composer George Jennings.

 

 

Reviewed by David Woodward

Photography by Alex Harvey-Brown

 


Jane Eyre

Wilde Theatre, South Hill Park Arts Centre, Bracknell until 4th November

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:
The Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde | ★★★★★ | September 2020

 

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