Another sumptuous production of a superb Hare adaptation of an unwieldy and slightly schizophrenic early Chekhov work, made just that much more glorious by a committed cast and the undeniable star presence of James McArdle.
Mark Jagasia not only fails to carry that stick, but it’s too heavy for him to pick up in the first place. “Clarion,” now playing at the Arcola, is the broadest bit of anti-newspaper criticism that’s been on the stage in years, and that includes the National’s crack at phone hacking, Great Britain.
Honesty, as David Hare points out, is the dominating theme of Ivanov. It is also the dominating principle adopted by Jonathan Kent as the guiding light for his revival of Ivanov, now playing at the Chichester Festival Theatre as part of their Young Chekhov season. The performances he elicits from the specially formed repertory company are intensely honest, truly felt, and they create a theatrical tapestry which is rich in detail and unsparing in terms of vitality and verity.
There was a charming mix of reverence and irreverence as well, making the audience feel specially entertained and complicit with the in-jokes. The warm up prelude, People Who Like Sondheim (performed with zing by Kit and McConnel) was good fun and the duo appeared throughout as a kind of Sondheim Statler and Waldorf with witty and barbed repartee. In the second Act though, one of the unarguable surprise sensations of the evening was a five minute romp through 33 Sondheim compositions, “Ladies and gentlemen may we have your attention please…” presented with real style and panache by Martin Milnes and Dominic Ferris. These cabaret contributions provided some much needed innovative content.
There are two ways in which Karam’s work steps up to the mark: the dialogue is believable and genuine, splendidly touching in places; the narrative is uncompromising, as families so often are. There are no pat solutions or happy endings here – just a slice of suburban transitional life. This has the result that if the play is to achieve any momentum or purpose, it is the cast which must embellish the material with remarkable, penetrating and utterly believable performances. Happily, the cast with which Mantello animates Karam’s work is, without exception, first rate.
Biopics are not easy to get right, however despite two sterling efforts at The White Bear, neither of them really hit the mark. Whilst it will no doubt be of some interest to Kirby’s fans, it may be a less inspiring evening for anyone else.
Director Brandon Force and movement director Liam Steward-George deserve great credit for creating such a dynamic and detailed production with continual visual, choreographic and textual exploration at its heart.
Dames at Sea, the work of George Haimsohn and Robin Miller (Book and Lyrics) and Jim Wise (Score), is well known as the off-Broadway hit from 1968 which launched the star of one Bernadette Peters into the Broadway stratosphere. It has been surprisingly absent from Broadway stages and this revival is a timely one, coming, as it does, amongst a season where Broadway houses are playing host to very serious and intense works (plays and musicals).
