Tag Archives: Rebecca Collingwood

The Motive and the Cue

★★★★★

Noël Coward Theatre

THE MOTIVE AND THE CUE at the Noël Coward Theatre

★★★★★

“a stylish and stylised homage not just to a moment in time, but to theatre itself”

When Richard Burton and Peter O’Toole were filming the feature film ‘Becket’ in 1964, the two actors came to an agreement as a kind of joke. After the shoot was wrapped, they would each go on to play ‘Hamlet’ on the stage, either in London or New York. The London production would be directed by Laurence Olivier and the Broadway show by John Gielgud. To decide which, they tossed a coin. O’Toole won the toss and chose London and Olivier, leaving Burton to persuade Gielgud to fulfil his side of the wager. The production was a financial hit, achieving the longest running production of the play in Broadway history.

During rehearsals, the actor Richard L. Sterne decided to furtively record the conversations and the clashes as Burton (the modernist striving to be the classicist) squared up to Gielgud (the classicist striving to be the modernist). More than half a century later, the recordings of that ground-breaking moment in theatrical history were taken by Jack Thorne and moulded into an equally ground-breaking play; “The Motive and the Cue”. It is a stylish and stylised homage not just to a moment in time, but to theatre itself.

As the drama unfolds over a day-by-day account of the rehearsals, each scene is captioned with a surtitle lifted from Shakespeare’s text, some bearing a tenuous relevance to the action. The dynamic between Burton and Gielgud is established early on, simmering with electricity until later the sparks truly fly. In the middle ground is Elizabeth Taylor who foreshadows the confrontations, but also covertly and intricately smooths the way. Tuppence Middleton, as Taylor, wonderfully plays the outsider looking in, despite her own star status already. Johnny Flynn is the antagonist as a fiery yet vulnerable Burton. Often whisky-fuelled, he is forever on the verge of a fight, but in the verbal battles his mantle is torn to reveal hints of the fatherless boy seeking direction. Flynn harnesses the restless energy, while brilliantly capturing the rich tones of speech that still echo the valleys of South Wales.

“the overall feel is of a heartfelt tribute to a golden age of British Theatre”

It is Mark Gatiss, however, to whom the show truly belongs. We frequently catch ourselves believing the knight himself is up on the stage. Gatiss personifies Gielgud with a mix of intelligence, charm, pathos and acidity, coating his outstanding performance with mannerisms as detailed as they are emotionally revealing. Moments outside of the rehearsal room reveal the layers of self-doubt that plague these great players. One can assume that the original tape recordings were confined to the rehearsal room, so it is Thorne’s writing that powers these external, highly charged scenes. The power is beautiful and invariably moving, and Gatiss’ hold on the material is a master class in acting. Gielgud was in a fragile place at the time, aware that his position in the profession was precarious with a new kind of modern theatre creeping into the West End. He took the Broadway job because he wasn’t getting other offers.

There is much humour too in the piece, much of it aimed at theatre lovers (dare I use the term ‘luvvies’?). The ensemble cast supports the dominant trio tremendously. We often forget that these are actors in a play, playing actors playing roles in a play. Sarah Woodward as Eileen Herlie as Gertrude is particularly watchable, as is Luke Norris (playing William Redfield playing Guildenstern). Sam Mendes’ sophisticated production runs at close to three hours but not one moment is wasted, nor is our attention allowed to slip for one second. Excerpts from Shakespeare’s texts link the scenes on Es Devlin’s set that, with Jon Clark’s evocative lighting, switches from the harsh white light of the rehearsal room to the blood red hues of the Burton-Taylor lounge, to the cold blues of Gielgud’s hotel room.

The rehearsals are over, and the play reaches its conclusion as Burton prepares for opening night. The writers and performers alike are careful to avoid sentimentality. The result is an exceptionally moving finale. There is satire on the way, and some affectionate mocking of the key players, but the overall feel is of a heartfelt tribute to a golden age of British Theatre.

‘The Play is the Thing’. “The Motive and the Cue” is the thing: the play to see at the moment. Thoroughly modern. Instantly classic. No clash there at all.


THE MOTIVE AND THE CUE at the Noël Coward Theatre

Reviewed on 18th December 2023

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Mark Douet

 

 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

The Ocean At The End Of The Lane | ★★★★★ | October 2023
The Great British Bake Off Musical | ★★★ | March 2023

The Motive and the Cue

The Motive and the Cue

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While the Sun Shines

While the Sun Shines

★★★★

Orange Tree Theatre

While the Sun Shines

While the Sun Shines

Orange Tree Theatre

Reviewed – 25th November 2021

★★★★

 

“Paul Miller’s direction is most assured in the fast-paced, boot-stamping physical moments”

 

An English sailor, American bombardier and French lieutenant walk into a room. Soon they are sleeping together, playing craps for a Duke’s daughter and arguing for cross-border consensus on that timeless question echoing across dancefloors: what is love. There are plenty of belly laughs, but the unique achievement of this production (a revival from 2019) is in pulling through the real emotional stakes of muddling through relationships in your twenties. Amidst designer Simon Daw’s period design, costumes, hair are characters pleading to know the difference between loving someone and being in love. Sally Rooney eat your heart out.

Philip Labey as the Earl of Harpenden – a wonderfully smarmy Algernon Moncrieff type – is the vehicle for much of this. Where most of writer Terence Rattigan’s characters are comic stocks of military bravado or sheltered naivete, Labey has to run the gamut from diminutive camp drollery to genuine insecurity and back to loving earnestness. He shares a clean sense of comedic timing with Michael Lumsden (his military father in law) and both – with the help of dialect coach Emma Woodvine – have delightfully aristocratic accents down pat.

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Conor Glean’s Mid-Atlantic is, unfortunately, not as effective. He has the hulking, rugby-player’s physicality for Lieutenant Mulvaney, but his dialogue proves a stumbling block. He is dealt a tough hand from Rattigan – a script chock-a-block with ‘gee’s ‘darn’s and ‘see ya’s – but Glean’s inflection comes off all too often like Goofy, not an irresistible love-interest. It’s not that When the Sun Shines is exactly a case-study in dramatic realism, but it feels like the accent becomes a distraction: to the audience and Glean himself.

It might not be so obvious if his foil – Jordan Mifsúd’s French lovebird – wasn’t so forcibly funny. His accent isn’t a masterpiece of authenticity either, but he masterfully paints the picture of trembling, white-hot, Parisian passion. It’s a wonderfully idiosyncratic performance, teasing out snickers from the audience even while he forms the background to dialogue he isn’t a part of.

Most importantly, Mifsúd is a key part of the gathering momentum which drives this production home. Paul Miller’s direction is most assured in the fast-paced, boot-stamping physical moments: when the men pile out Harpenden’s room like a clown car, or Mulvaney and Lady Elizabeth Randall (played with burbling naivete by Rebecca Collingwood) drunkenly dance in the living room. There is a general sense of acceleration, checked only by a few moments of romance; these are managed movingly and it is refreshing to see an Intimacy Director, Yarit Dor, on the list of creatives.

Daw’s set is a simple, effective vehicle for these changes of pace: between a drinks cabinet, sofa and table he leaves enough space for Miller to block actors so that the audience never loses sight in the round. Lighting by Mark Doublebay doesn’t have much to do in a sitting room setting, but he squeezes in a charming window effect, which has the stage pooling with sunlight convincingly.

It’s not exactly the radical subversion of gender promised in the programme notes, but it does achieve something unique for a farce. In the intimate Orange Tree Theatre, Miller’s pulls off meaningful relationships between characters who are not all stereotyped and at the same time delivers the frenetic, off-the-walls energy of West End mainstays like One Man, Two Guvnors. The only draw-back to squeezing that much energy into such a space? John Hudson (a quiet star as Harpenden’s butler) literally bounces off a wall as he runs offstage and misses the curtain call with a bloody nose.

 

 

Reviewed by Daniel Shailer

Photography by Ali Wright

 


While the Sun Shines

Orange Tree Theatre until 8th January

 

Other shows reviewed this month:
Abigail’s Party | ★★★★ | Park Theatre | November 2021
Brian and Roger | ★★★★★ | Menier Chocolate Factory | November 2021
Footfalls and Rockaby | ★★★★★ | Jermyn Street Theatre | November 2021
Hedda Gabler | ★★★ | The Maltings Theatre | November 2021
Indecent Proposal | ★★★★★ | Southwark Playhouse | November 2021
La Clique | ★★★★★ | Christmas in Leicester Square | November 2021
Le Petit Chaperon Rouge | ★★★★ | The Coronet Theatre | November 2021
Little Women | ★★★★ | Park Theatre | November 2021
Marlowe’s Fate | ★★★ | White Bear Theatre | November 2021
Six | ★★★★ | Vaudeville Theatre | November 2021
The Choir of Man | ★★★★★ | Arts Theatre | November 2021
The Good Life | ★★ | Cambridge Arts Theatre | November 2021
The Sugar House | ★★★★ | Finborough Theatre | November 2021
Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike | ★★★ | Charing Cross Theatre | November 2021
Blue / Orange | ★★★★★ | Royal & Derngate | November 2021

 

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