“an amuse-bouche of eccentric characters and a soupçon of sheer preposterousness… expect a thoroughly entertaining, albeit bizarre, evening”
With performances being presented more frequently in unconventional spaces (later this week we see ‘Drinks’ taking place in an empty Victorian terraced house in Peckham), it didn’t seem too unusual to be invited to Latvian House (part Latvian cultural centre, part hotel in need of a visit from Alex Polizzi), a once grand early Victorian property located in leafy Bayswater, to attend a ‘Dinner at the Smiths’.
For all intents and purposes, we are guests at the dinner party of Mr & Mrs Smith. We are led to the dining room by the somewhat gushing butler (Jorge Laguardia), our coats are taken and we are seated around a long dining table. We are given our ‘menu’ (which is actually a clever little programme of sorts), and are taken through some etiquette by the butler and the maid (Sharlit Deyzac).
We then meet our hosts, Mr Smith (Sean Rees) at one end of the table and Mrs Smith (Lucy Russell) at the distant other end. Mr Smith is hidden behind his ‘English’ newspaper (we are enlightened by the staff as to how terribly ‘English’ everything is), whilst his wife talks at him. Once Mr Smith engages his wife, their conversation soon becomes a bizarre tongue twister dialogue involving commercial travellers and their relatives. Welcome to one unconventional evening.
Carriages arrive quite early at this dinner party (i.e. the performance is fairly short), so I won’t give away too much detail about what happens as this would spoil the surprises and enjoyment. And there are plenty of surprises, one perhaps hinted at when you’re met with no food on your plate, but an eye mask …
A lot of the rather clever comic dialogue depends on truisms; the hosts and guests relaying something so blindingly obvious in a way that it seems surprising. This is very much in the style of Ionesco (around whose words and works the evening is based). Indeed it’s reported that this style of his work came from the manner in which he learnt English, in a course that featured a … ‘Mr & Mrs Smith’ …
Well acted throughout, especially the delightfully silly extended conversation between the dinner party guests, Mr & Mrs Martin (David Mildon and Edith Vernes), where they finally realise they know each other as they are married and share the same bed.
From an absurdist playwright source, you’d expect the absurd and with ‘Dinner at the Smiths’ you certainly get it! Expect a good helping of witty French dialogue (translated in a manner as to be part of the play), an amuse-bouche of eccentric characters and a soupçon of sheer preposterousness.
Above all, expect a thoroughly entertaining, albeit bizarre, evening.
This March, Mr and Mrs Smith invite you to an immersive, bilingual (French/English) theatrical experience, based on the works and words of celebrated absurdist playwright Eugène Ionesco. At this unusual dinner party, sat around a long table amongst the performers and glasses of French wine, you will be introduced to unexpected guests, have your senses played with and be made to eat your own words!
After sell-out performances in June 2016 as a commission from In TRANSIT Festival of Arts in association with the French Institute, the show is back by popular demand. This production, frantic, unpredictable and liberating, will make you dive into the absurdist world of Ionesco, from his reflection on the world to his most hilarious scenes (The Bald Soprano, The Lesson and others).
Marianne Badrichani and the Company have been successfully creating site specific and installation performances in unconventional spaces for the last ten years, including Blue Beard (Old Brompton Cemetery), La Peau de Chagrin (Holland Park), The Show in A Shop Window (Kensington Church St) and Square Bubble (Royal National Theatre Watch This Space in 2014).
Director Marianne Badrichani has been directing French plays in new translations for the last fifteen years, in association with Nathalie Berrebi Productions and the French Institute. Her latest show was the hit production Trois Ruptures/Three Splits, a new play by Remi De Vos presented at the Chelsea Theatre, at the Print Room in Notting Hill Gate, and in Beijing, China. Marianne was nominated “Français of the year” in 2008.
Ionesco/Dinner at the Smiths features a company of six performers:
Edith Vernes, David Mildon, Lucy Russell, Sean Rees, Jorge Laguardia and Sharlit Dayzac.
Listing
March 3rd – April 1st 2017
Latvian House
72 Queensborough Terrace, London W2 3SH
Friday – Saturday, 7.30pm
Running Time 75 mins
Ticket Price £30 plus booking fee (incl. a glass of wine)
