★★★★

“a heart-warming story with an unexpected ending”

Three black walls, a black floor, a running machine and a giant exercise ball. One remarkable solo writer-performer. That’s what it takes to make one heck of a show at Reading Rep.

Harriet Madeley is an award-winning writer, actor, producer and co-director of the theatre company Crowded Room which ‘specialises in true stories that get people talking’. Mid-way through writing a new play about death – the subject no-one wants to talk about that we have all but airbrushed out of our lives – the wheel of fate took an unexpected turn. Madeley was diagnosed with a rare and chronic disease called Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC). The condition, which attacks the liver and bile ducts, affects around seven in every million in the UK. Life expectancy of sufferers can be as short as ten years and there is, as yet, no cure.

On stage Harriet Madeley becomes a ditsy journalist called Olive who must recruit interviewees for an article about terminal illness. When Olive finds herself similarly diagnosed, her own life unravels in a rapidly descending spiral of laugh out loud comic moments. She even wonders whether her own death could become her own best career break yet.

The show does not flag for a second as Madeley interacts with recordings and delivers a series of reflective monologues on her condition. As those around her struggle to accept her fate and she goes off at a very unexpected tangent, we get to know Olive’s fiancée, parents and friends in a heart-warming story with an unexpected ending.

With simple and effective video and lighting by Megan Lucas, sound by Bella Kear and some smart direction from Madelaine Moore, this thought provoking new play more than merits its Summerhall Lustrum Award for Unforgettable Theatre. It is a warm and life-enhancing version of the performer’s own terminal diagnosis story and deserves to run and run.

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING OSCAR at Reading Rep Theatre

★★★★★

“an elegant and electrifying revival”

Micheál Mac Liammóir (1899-1978) was a prodigiously talented actor, writer and director who founded the famous Gate Theatre in Dublin. In 1960 he wrote and performed a highly successful one-man show about Oscar Wilde which went on to tour the world. For many years the play was the only available theatrical presentation of the celebrated Irish writer and gay aesthete’s life.

Director Michael Fentiman, whose credits include the Watermill’s award winning musical Amélie, has delivered an elegant and electrifying revival of the show for this lively Reading theatre. It is performed by Alastair Whatley, the artistic director and founder of prize-winning Original Theatre which has made a name for itself for its pioneering work in digital theatre.

The play is delivered as a first person narrative, from a black box set by Madeleine Girling which consists of a circular daïs which is mirrored by a circle of light above. The highly effective lighting design by Chris Davey complements this satisfyingly simple design. It is matched by a subtle and highly effective sound design by composer Barnaby Race.

In a notable omission, the playwright glosses over the fact that Wilde arguably brought a criminal prosecution on himself by attempting to prove in court that he was libelled by the Marquess of Queensberry who had accused him of ‘posing as a somdomite’ (sic).

But Wilde’s brilliancy shines in extracts from ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ and ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’. Alastair Whatley’s performance is both very fine and a prodigious demonstration of his powers of recall. His version of Lady Bracknell’s cross-examination of Worthing (‘To lose one parent may be regarded as a misfortune – to lose both seems like carelessness’.) was an absolute delight.

There is a special poignancy in hearing extracts from Wilde’s landmark letter to his lover Lord Alfred Douglas performed in Reading, since Wilde wrote it in the town’s gaol during his two year incarceration following a conviction for gross indecency. ‘De Profundis’ or ‘from the depths’ was laboriously written on 80 sheets of prison paper. It begins with self-pity but in the second half turns to humble and spiritual reflection: ‘To those who are in prison tears are a part of every day’s experience. A day in prison on which one does not weep is a day on which one’s heart is hard, not a day on which one’s heart is happy.’

The highlight of this performance was a cleverly staged rendition of Wilde’s Ballad of Reading Gaol which tells the true story of a man hanged at Reading gaol for murdering his unfaithful wife: ‘Yet each man kills the thing he loves / By each let this be heard, / Some do it with a bitter look, / Some with a flattering word, / The coward does it with a kiss, / The brave man with a sword!’

In ‘De Profundis’ Wilde writes about ‘feasting with panthers’ – a reference to his fondness for sex with underage boys, an offence for which he would still be imprisoned today. At the time, his offence was seen as immeasurably worse because they were not of his class. None of that takes away from Oscar Wilde’s greatness, which is brought to vivid life in Reading in this compelling theatrical tour de force.

Tag Archives: Reading Rep Theatre

OUTPATIENT

★★★★

Reading Rep Theatre

OUTPATIENT at Reading Rep Theatre

★★★★

“a heart-warming story with an unexpected ending”

OUTPATIENT at Reading Rep Theatre

Reviewed on 17th October 2024

by David Woodward

Photography by Harry Elletson

Previously reviewed at this venue:

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING OSCAR | ★★★★★ | May 2024

IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE | ★★★★★ | December 2023

SHAKESPEARE’S R&J | ★★★★ | October 2023

HEDDA GABLER | ★★★★★ | February 2023

DORIAN | ★★★★ | October 2021

OUTPATIENT

OUTPATIENT

Click here to see our Recommended Shows page

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING OSCAR

★★★★★

Reading Rep Theatre

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING OSCAR at Reading Rep Theatre

★★★★★

“an elegant and electrifying revival”