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The Glass Piano

Print Room at the Coronet

Reviewed – 30th April 2019

★★★★

“A uniquely atmospheric production; whimsical yet real, dark yet high-spirited, ‘piano’ and ‘forte’ together”

The phrase that comes to mind after witnessing “The Glass Piano” is that truth is stranger than fiction. Based on the real-life story of Princess Alexandra of Bavaria, Alix Sobler’s new play leads us through the corridors and chambers of her nineteenth century palace, and into the hearts of the characters trapped within its walls. The centrepiece is Alexandra herself who suffers from the delusion that as a child she had swallowed a grand piano made of glass, which remains inside her. Known as ‘the glass delusion’, this psychological malady was quite common amongst royals and nobles of the time, before dying out at the end of the century.

Sobler writes with a skilled hand, lacing the text with her dry humour yet still maintaining the element of fairy-tale. Beautifully crafted it touches on the absurd; occasionally jarring but always enchanting – like a piece of music that breaks the rules of harmony with unexpected notes. Conversely, the four characters of the play are very much bound by their laws, trapped by their situations and prevented from fulfilling their dreams – of love. Princess Alexandra, who thinks her life will never change, lives in the palace with her father, King Ludwig, a failed poet, and her maid, the wise Galstina. But when Lucien arrives, initially to assist the King with his writing, anything becomes possible as he challenges the status quo.

Grace Molony is quite magnificent as the princess who tiptoes sideways through doorways, terrified that the slightest disturbance would shatter the piano inside her. Combining an inner strength with the fragility of her condition, she is constantly watchable throughout, and ultimately heart-breaking when she finally finds her own way to be free. Timothy Walker’s formidable Ludwig only glimpses the love that might be before retreating again into his stubbornness, shattering the delicate dreams of those around him. Along with Suzan Sylvester as the maid who never truly knows her place, and Laurence Ubong Williams’ lovestruck Lucien, the cast of four give spellbinding performances.

However, the second act does, at times, threaten to break the spell; and as it meanders fleetingly off course, we are not entirely sure what is real or imagined. But director Max Key’s atmospheric staging continually rescues us from the inherent difficulties of the script that defies categorisation. The end result is clearly moving and magical. An experience heightened by the presence of concert pianist Elizabeth Rossiter who sits at the grand piano throughout, punctuating the play with Gabriel Prokofiev’s lyrical score. Like the text itself, the fragile underscore verges on dissonance with something beautiful underneath. Rossiter’s fingers move across the keyboard, careful not to shatter the melodies as the individual notes pierce like shards of glass. A more poignant soundtrack could not be hoped for.

A uniquely atmospheric production; whimsical yet real, dark yet high-spirited, ‘piano’ and ‘forte’ together. Small scale but grand, this is the perfect piece of theatre for the Coronet – arguably one of the finest off West End theatres in London – with unarguably the best bar.

Reviewed by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Tristram Kenton

The Glass Piano

Print Room at the Coronet until 25th May

Previously reviewed at this venue:

The Open House | ★★★★ | January 2018

The Comet | ★★★★ | March 2018

How It Is (Part One) | ★★½ | May 2018

Act & Terminal 3 | ★★★★ | June 2018

The Outsider | ★★★★★ | September 2018

Love Lies Bleeding | ★★★★ | November 2018

A Christmas Carol | ★★★★ | December 2018

The Dead | ★★★ | December 2018

The Lady From The Sea | ★★ | February 2019

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★★

“Ibsen’s work is full of discomfort and awkwardness, of course, but in order for the audience to feel it, the actors need to have an inner freedom and confidence on stage which is sadly lacking here”

The Lady from the Sea tells the story of Ellida, taken as a second wife by Wangel after the death of his first, and uprooted from her upbringing as a lighthouse-keeper’s daughter to live with him and his two daughters in a small town, away from the open sea. In common with Ibsen’s other work, the play is full of ghosts from the past – of Wangel’s first wife, of Ellida and Wangel’s dead infant son, and of Ellida’s mysterious seafaring lover, who eventually appears to try to claim her. In keeping with the other great theme running through the plays, Ellida and the two girls all yearn for freedom and self-determination, and struggle against the various stifling forces ranged against them. It is unusual in one respect however: in that, although the future for Wangel’s girls remains unclear, Ellida, at the play’s close, has exorcised her demons and come to a place of health, peace and inner freedom, in such a way that she is able to remain with her husband and they can begin truly to love one another, in a way that had previously been impossible.

This production is the second collaboration with Kåre Conradi, Artistic Director of The Norwegian Ibsen Company, and the first in which the cast speak in both English and Norwegian (the last, Little Eyolf, was entirely in Norwegian). The bilingual aspect is deftly handled, and, for the most part, the surtitles projected on to the backdrop work well and are strangely unintrusive. What is noticeable however, is that the company’s leading lady, Pia Tjelta, has a physical and vocal freedom in her native language which leave her when she is acting in English. This is perhaps understandable, but unfortunately, with the notable exception of Adrian Rawlins – wonderfully believable as the beleaguered Wangel – all the other actors in this production seem physically uncomfortable throughout, and totally disconnected from the truth of the material. This has the unfortunate effect of steering many of the play’s more intense moments into near farce. Ibsen’s work is full of discomfort and awkwardness, of course, but in order for the audience to feel it, the actors need to have an inner freedom and confidence on stage which is sadly lacking here. Similarly, vocal delivery is frequently stilted and mannered, and the characters’ actions on stage too often showed a directorial desire for a pleasing stage picture rather than stemming from the intent of the characters themselves.

Nils Petter Molvær’s stunning original music featured in strong underscoring throughout, but too often was entirely responsible for generating atmosphere that was lacking on stage. And despite his best efforts, and the highly charged nature of the script, this production remained at a distance from the mercurial and turbulent sea at its heart.

Reviewed by Rebecca Crankshaw

Photography by Tristram Kenton

Print Room at the Coronet

Reviewed – 30th April 2019

★★★★

“A uniquely atmospheric production; whimsical yet real, dark yet high-spirited, ‘piano’ and ‘forte’ together”

A uniquely atmospheric production; whimsical yet real, dark yet high-spirited, ‘piano’ and ‘forte’ together. Small scale but grand, this is the perfect piece of theatre for the Coronet – arguably one of the finest off West End theatres in London – with unarguably the best bar.

Reviewed by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Tristram Kenton

The Glass Piano

Print Room at the Coronet until 25th May

Previously reviewed at this venue:

Print Room at the Coronet

Reviewed – 13th February 2019

★★

“Ibsen’s work is full of discomfort and awkwardness, of course, but in order for the audience to feel it, the actors need to have an inner freedom and confidence on stage which is sadly lacking here”

Reviewed by Rebecca Crankshaw

Photography by Tristram Kenton

The Lady From the Sea

Print Room at the Coronet until 9th March

Previously reviewed at this venue: