Malik Nashad Sharpe Archives - thespyinthestalls.com

★★★

“There’s a panto energy too, especially in Rory Mullarkey’s script which is laden with one liners”

I leave the theatre feeling a little empty. A play that set out as a call to arms for class warfare has fallen strangely flat. For a while I struggle to put my finger on what didn’t work. How did a play that should be such an easy laugh not quite manage it?

The concept is strong, if straight out of a PG Wodehouse. In modern day London, Tug Bungay (Laurie Kynaston) is a professional viscount. He, along with his fabulously posh, fabulously camp best mate Charlie (an absolute standout George Fouracres) is a profligate wastrel, ambling through his charmed life without aim or purpose. Until his mother (scene stealer Fenella Woolgar) informs him that the money is gone and she’s selling his castle to a mysterious never-photographed Russian oligarch. Cue a series of farcical antics to keep the castle in Tug’s hands, how handy that Charlie has the phone number of a cultural costumer…

It’s pacey, and Act II has some really strong comic moments – mistaken identity and ridiculously over the top impressions are always a laugh. Sam Pritchard’s direction makes the plays feel like a Victorian parlour game, with people popping out at convenient moments, only to return for punchline reveals. There’s a panto energy too, especially in Rory Mullarkey’s script which is laden with one liners – every line is a joke, which can be fun, but does emphasise how few manage to land.

The trouble is – what’s the point? If it were a PG Wodehouse it wouldn’t matter. His genius was writing a satire which never acknowledged being a satire, and simply existed on one level – the farcical ridiculousness poked enough fun at the British upper class that there was no need for Bertie Wooster to make wry remarks about mortgages. Anthony Neilson wrote an excellent article in defence of story on stage, arguing that plays need not have ‘a message’. This is something I wholeheartedly agree with, and this play might have worked better if it had just tried to do one thing. While there are some strong farcical moments, it gets a bit lost in a convoluted socio-political commentary. It winds up too toothless for a satire yet too worthy for a farce.

“There are some moments of great, silly fun, and some interesting social comment.”

The cast are strong. Woolgar is wonderful, subtly treading the line between comic and tragic. Also, Amy Booth-Steel as Tug’s Leninist housekeeper is fabulous, albeit in a part which is at best uncomfortable and at worst feels like a revamping of the old stereotype of the idiotic help.

Milla Clarke’s design conjures the tone well, the first half is a minimalist Chelsea apartment, complete with pop art portrait of Tug. The second half takes place at Tug’s castle, which is designed like an ‘80s Tim Burton film – high hedges and a hanging pop horror sign welcoming us to Digby Grange. Perhaps a bit of a mixed visual metaphor but it is fun, and in keeping with the tone of the play.

The irony of this play being at the Royal Court, situated in the heart of Sloane Square cannot be ignored. The biggest laughs were knowing insider chuckles, rather than at targeted anti-aristocrat barbs. Throughout, it is not clear who the intended butt of the joke is.

There are some moments of great, silly fun, and some interesting social comment. But the whole thing feels weighed down with intention, and that makes it hard to relax into the comedy, or enjoy it as a satire.

Two Character Play

Hampstead Theatre

Reviewed – 27th July 2021

★★★★

“Occasionally melancholic, always mesmerising, totally memorable. A masterpiece of theatre”

“To play with fear is to play with fire. No, worse, much worse, than playing with fire. Fire has limits.”

Tennessee Williams knew the importance of opening lines, and in “The Two Character Play” he captures the essence of what is to come. It is simultaneously reassuring and unsettling. It’s a theme that runs through much of his earlier writing, but in this later work it is much less opaque; we know the flame won’t be held back by the yellowing parchment through which we see it flicker.

In a way Williams was playing with fire. Rather than relying on his critical and popular acclaim he wanted to experiment and expand his writing style. It met with a mixed reception at its world premiere at the Hampstead Theatre, disconcerting critics and audiences. But over half a century later it definitely bites with a sharper resonance than ever before. The timing is perfect. A two-hander, we are introduced to Felice and then his sister Clare. They are both “artists of the theatre. Long prepared for working under unexpected conditions”. They have been abandoned by the rest of the company but are nevertheless determined that the show must go on despite the “eccentricities of the time”. Suffocated by their isolation and afraid to go out, the characters’ only choices are to face each other or to face their demons.

The structure is a play within a play, and Sam Yates’ production has perfectly captured this concept. As Felice and Clare prepare for their performance the houselights remain lit, the lighting rig is at floor level and the space is littered with the props and unassembled pieces of scenery. We don’t quite know when the pre-show ends and the show begins. Just as we are never sure of the shifts between the actors and their characters; whether we are in reality or in the play. Or in the play within the play. The blurred lines are always intentional, reflecting the brother and sister losing their own grip on reality.

Zubin Varla, as Felice, and Kate O’Flynn, as Clare, are outstanding and unforgettable. The chemistry burns and crackles with an enforced intimacy and horrific backstory that keeps them forever entwined. The fire of their performance is fanned by the many refreshing waves of comedy that they bring to the roles. It’s a skill that is rarely seen in theatre and Varla and O’Flynn wield it mercilessly through their wonderful shifts in mood, without diminishing the desperation that motivates their characters.

The second act dips into a darker domain. Lee Curran’s shadowy lighting and Dan Balfour’s surround sound design heighten the mood. A false ending trips us up and unfortunately dispels the magic momentarily as we slip into a flash of Gothic Horror. But the poignancy returns as the siblings (are they the actors or are they the characters they are portraying?) start to re-enact the tragedy that befell their parents.

They are unable to see it through. It is as unresolved as the play itself, and as the couple pull the plug on proceedings they are again alone on the bare stage. Their (imagined?) audience has also abandoned them, while they are imprisoned in the theatre. Too tired to be frightened now, they realise that fear is limited. “Clare, your mind’s going out” whispers Felice. Tennessee Williams was haunted and inspired by his sister Rose who was plagued by mental illness. “You must never make fun of insanity” Rose once reproved her brother “It’s worth than death”. In “The Two Character Play” Felice is left a note by the company that abandoned them: ‘Your sister and you are… insane!’. Perhaps they are, perhaps they aren’t. Varla and O’Flynn portray the characters with a perfect mix of exaggeration and sensitivity of which Williams would be proud. There is no answer really, just as the play has no real conclusion. We can part with reality at times, but we can never part with each other.

MATES IN CHELSEA at the Royal Court Theatre

★★★

“There’s a panto energy too, especially in Rory Mullarkey’s script which is laden with one liners”

“There are some moments of great, silly fun, and some interesting social comment.”

MATES IN CHELSEA at the Royal Court Theatre

Reviewed on 14th November 2023

by Auriol Reddaway

Photography by Manuel Harlan

Previously reviewed at this venue:

MATES IN CHELSEA

MATES IN CHELSEA

Hampstead Theatre

Reviewed – 27th July 2021

★★★★

“Occasionally melancholic, always mesmerising, totally memorable. A masterpiece of theatre”

“To play with fear is to play with fire. No, worse, much worse, than playing with fire. Fire has limits.”

Occasionally melancholic, always mesmerising, totally memorable. A masterpiece of theatre.

Reviewed by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Marc Brenner

Two Character Play

Hampstead Theatre until 28th August

Reviewed by Jonathan this year: