THE FORSYTE SAGA at Park Theatre

★★★★★

“flawlessly executed under Josh Roche’s stylish direction that adds a unique clarity to the sweeping story”

John Galsworthy’s “The Forsyte Saga” earned him the Nobel Prize for literature. Its epic chronicle of the leading members of an extended upper-middle-class Victorian family has understandably been adapted many times for cinema and television. It is a brave undertaking to adapt the extensive series of novels for the stage, especially for a society that, a century later, will undoubtedly balk at the societal norms embedded in the period. Shaun McKenna and Lin Coghlan have woven together the various strands of the story into a truly magnificent two-part stage play that presents the full meaning and intention of Galsworthy’s original with aesthetic truthfulness. While also allowing it to resonate with a thoroughly modern audience and still be relevant to the way we live our lives now.

First things first: the logistics. The two parts of the play are showing in rep. “Part 1: Irene” and “Part 2: Fleur”. On select days both parts can be seen back-to-back. The programme notes express the hope that ‘each play stands alone, but the experience is far richer if you see both’. More than a clever marketing ploy, the statement is partly true. Yes, they do stand alone (Part 1 more so than Part 2), but it’s not just a far richer experience – it is absolutely essential to see both. For the simple reason that they are both unmissable. What’s more – view them in the correct order. It’s a bit of a marathon coming in collectively at just under five hours, but every moment counts. The shift in the dynamics of the second part involves more investment from the audience, but the whole effect is one of a four act play rather than two independent two-act pieces (you’ll have a couple of hours in between so check out the delicious pizza they serve in the bar).

“The Forsyte Saga” is a male dominated story, yet from the outset this is subverted. The women are very much at its heart here. Pumping that heart is Fleur, played with a subversive passion by Flora Spencer-Longhurst. She introduces, narrates and guides us through the generations – initially the ghost of what is yet to come, but as the events catch up with her, she steps fully into the story. The device is flawlessly executed under Josh Roche’s stylish direction that adds a unique clarity to the sweeping story. Scenes overlap, and with little more than a turn of the head we are transported to a different time and location. Anna Yates’ set consists of nothing but a plush red carpet and matching velvet curtains that draw back to reveal the plain brickwork of the playing space. The vivid picture that the performers plant in our imaginations with such conviction ensures that the bare wall becomes a country house, the rolling countryside, a ballroom, a city street, the riverside… well, you get the picture.

Having got to grips with the multiplicity of characters, the main action follows Soames Forsyte (Joseph Millson). His newly acquired wealth and status give him a self-imposed right to want to own everything he sees, including his wife Irene (Fiona Hampton). Millson drags his character deeper and deeper into this delusional obsession with a remarkable performance that ultimately grabs our sympathy by the throat. Irene consistently gains the upper hand, resisting Soames’ grasping intention, and Hampton brilliantly draws us into her world of male entitlement that she refuses to submit to. The domesticity swiftly becomes uncomfortable to watch (remember that marital rape only became illegal in 1992). Yet everybody is a victim in their own way. Andy Rush as the tragic love interest of Irene encapsulates the snowballing effect of action and reaction.

Most of the cast multi-roll, and as the period shifts from the late nineteenth century to the nineteen-twenties in Part 2, the aging of the characters is passed on to other members of the company with a smoothness of transition that puts Doctor Who’s regenerations to shame. At times it is hard to reconcile the mind to the fact that only nine actors are portraying such a vast league of gentlemen and ladies. I would love to highlight each performance just as I would like to lay out each of the plot twists and turns, but in the interests of column-inches, I will instead simply urge you to discover it for yourself.

Except to say, though, that Spencer-Longhurst’s performance is the cornerstone. Barely offstage for five hours, her journey is epically moving. The daughter of Soames, she is a woman ahead of her time, childlike and mischievous but ultimately unable to escape her father’s gene pool. Forbidden love thwarted; she settles for Michael Mont (Jamie Wilkes in fine form as an escapee from P.G. Wodehouse). However, her love still lies with her cousin Jon (Andy Rush – unrecognisable from his other ill-fated characters). Here Spencer-Longhurst pulls out all the stops of her versatility as she crumples into a carbon copy of her father, with a desire to repossess Jon that borders on obsession and selfishness. The past is uncovered and tragically recycled. Roche’s staging again employs remarkable devices to enhance the poignancy, with Alex Musgrave’s lighting steering us towards a strikingly emotive climax. Likewise, Max Pappenheim’s compositions and sound design echo the journey made through time and through the characters’ swooping arcs.

We have travelled from 1886 to 1927 in the course of an afternoon and evening. Two plays, two generations. One company. To describe it as a period drama is a disservice. It crosses all ages. Within the Forsyte dynasty we see how each generation is the product of its time, but also the product of its predecessors. Watching it in 2024 we also get a sense of that indestructible link to our ancestors. We may like to think it is broken, but splinters still pierce the skin of our modern-day vulnerabilities. McKenna and Coghlan have skilfully and powerfully transposed an outdated and convoluted storyline into a modern and intimate theatre, finding both humour in the humourless and pathos in the unforgiving. In the hands of the excellent ensemble cast, it is a must see. You could get by on seeing just ‘Part 1: Irene’, or ‘Part 2: Fleur’. But don’t settle for merely ‘getting by’. Indulge yourself in the whole saga.

THE FORSYTE SAGA at Park Theatre

Reviewed on 19th October 2024

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Mitzi De Margary

Previously reviewed at this venue:

AUTUMN | ★★½ | October 2024

23.5 HOURS | ★★★ | September 2024

BITTER LEMONS | ★★★½ | August 2024

WHEN IT HAPPENS TO YOU | ★★★★★ | August 2024

THE MARILYN CONSPIRACY | ★★★★ | June 2024

IVO GRAHAM: CAROUSEL | ★★★★ | June 2024

A SINGLE MAN | ★★★★ | May 2024

SUN BEAR | ★★★ | April 2024

HIDE AND SEEK | ★★★★ | March 2024

COWBOYS AND LESBIANS | ★★★★ | February 2024

HIR | ★★★★ | February 2024

LEAVES OF GLASS | ★★★★ | January 2024

THE FORSYTE SAGA

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★★

“Milla Clarke’s slowly revolving set reflects a narrative going round in circles”

Set in the not-too-distant future, Takuya Kato’s “One Small Step” depicts a society where colonising the moon has become a practical reality. The scenario throws up many questions, some of which are touched upon in this short two-hander from Japan, but the focus of the story is very much rooted in present day, down-to-earth problems within the confines of a conventional marriage. The premise is a fascinating one, but ultimately it doesn’t really go anywhere. It’s all very well setting your sights on the moon, but you need to figure out the launchpad first.

Takashi (Mark Takeshi Ota) and Narumi (Susan Momoko Hingley) are a married couple working for a major company that is establishing a city on the moon. They share, with a touching yet naïve idealism, a wide-eyed enthusiasm at being part of humanity’s ‘fresh start’. Perhaps it’s because their own relationship needs a fresh start, as they spend the next hour bickering inconclusively. The mundane swiftly progresses to the central dilemma of the narrative. Narumi is pregnant, which puts her involvement in the forthcoming moon-shot in jeopardy. Cue the tried-and-tested, quasi-intellectual debates about abortion, the rights of women (and men), the right to life, corporate attitudes to maternity, careerism.

Narumi cannot seem to make up her mind about anything as Hingley plays tug-of-war with her character. We never really know whether she intends to keep her baby or not, but unfortunately, we cease to care. Little wonder then that Ota’s Takashi ends up in a whirl of schoolyard frustration. The discussions they repeat are pretty puerile given the subject matter. As the couple orbit around each other we expect them to gradually get closer, but there is little chemistry between the two and the inward spiralling of the script is claustrophobic. Milla Clarke’s slowly revolving set reflects a narrative going round in circles. At one point a robotic floor cleaner is seen surreptitiously scuttling around; presumably to sweep up dialogue that has fallen flat.

Somewhere in there is a gem of a story. It is the stuff of dreams, quite literally. Some may argue that the dream is closer than we think, but whatever way you look at it the textural landscape is a goldmine. “One Small Step” even has a cow on the moon (I wonder if it jumped over it first), which bizarrely mirrors the elephant in the room for the play’s protagonists. There are moments of humour in Kato’s script, which the actors do successfully seize upon. We want more of this – the lightness of touch lends more weight to the message, and we pay more attention.

A live camera feed projects the actors in close-up onto overhead screens. There is perhaps a reason for this beyond the bandwagon that Kato (who also directs) has jumped on. But, like the other choices made, it is lost in translation. We should be getting lost in the story but, as much as the pair’s fine performance draws us in, we are kept outside of their inner circle. Which is a shame as the issues are universal.

The moon belongs to nobody (despite the American flag up there). For now, at least, it belongs to anybody. The dreams, stories, ambitions and desires it has inspired belong to everybody. “One Small Step” has the potential to latch onto those visions, embracing the human problems inherent in mankind’s grand objectives. Yet it remains a small step, and needs more thrust to achieve lift off.

THE FORSYTE SAGA at Park Theatre

★★★★★

“flawlessly executed under Josh Roche’s stylish direction that adds a unique clarity to the sweeping story”

THE FORSYTE SAGA at Park Theatre

Reviewed on 19th October 2024

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Mitzi De Margary

Previously reviewed at this venue:

THE FORSYTE SAGA

THE FORSYTE SAGA

ONE SMALL STEP at the Charing Cross Theatre

★★

“Milla Clarke’s slowly revolving set reflects a narrative going round in circles”

ONE SMALL STEP at the Charing Cross Theatre

Reviewed on 1st October 2024

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Mark Senior

Previously reviewed at this venue:

ONE SMALL STEP

ONE SMALL STEP