Richard Griffiths (1947-2013)

From Harry Potter to "The History Boys" and everything before, between and after, Richard Griffiths was a fantastic actor and it was always a pleasure to watch him.

Margaret Tyzack (1931-2011)

She was amazing as Claudius' mother Antonia in "I, Claudius" and got to see her at least twice on stage - although I missed her in "The Chalk Garden" (for which she won an Olivier), I got to see her in "Phèdre" along Helen Mirren.

I haven't seen that much of her elsewhere (there was also a "Miss Marple" BBC adaptation) but wherever she was, she was a pleasure to watch.

Bea Arthur (1922-2009)

Since I first knew of her through TV, I was wondering if I should go with some clip from "Maude" or "The Golden Girls", but in the end it was really a no-brainer. Here is the excellent Bea Arthur in a duel of words with the also excellent Angela Lansbury, the hilarious "Bosom Buddies" from "Mame" (since Angela Lansbury was not in the film, I prefer this one from the Tonys).

Private Lives (Hampstead Theatre revival)

In 1962, the Hampstead Theatre revived Noël Coward's "Private Lives". At the time, this was a rather interesting choice for the theatre, since Coward was seen as old-fashioned and dated. It was a hit, it transferred to the West End and began what the playwright himself dubbed "Dad's Renaissance" - a revaluation of his work, which included the 1964 revival of "Hayfever" at the National and his last stage appearance in 1965 in "Suite in Three Keys". As part of their 50th anniversary this year, the Hampstead theatre decided to produce it again. Tonight was the first preview and I went with a friend.

The play itself tells the events that follow the accidental meeting of a divorced couple, Amanda and Elyot, on the first night of their honeymoons with new spouses. The moment they see each other the old flame is back on and they escape leaving Amanda's new husband and Elyot's new wife somewhat bewildered. I love this play. It was the first of his I ever read, and I think Act I alone is one of the funniest things ever written, its symmetry reminding me of Wilde's Earnest. And this production doesn't disappoint. Actually the opposite. It surprised me. The director striped it of all the trappings of the cocktail parties and the stylisation of the art deco, placed a bed in the middle of Amanda's studio in Paris and made it something fresh and openly sexy that goes so well with the words, showing how truly modern they are.

The play is on until the end of February and I truly hope it goes to the West End.

Tennessee Williams' "Summer and Smoke"

Two years ago I saw a magnificent stage production of “Summer and Smoke” with Rosamund Pike that closed too early (after just six weeks, ten weeks earlier) and yesterday I went to see the film at the BFI Southbank, with Geraldine Page and Laurence Harvey. Like the play, the film broke my heart in many little pieces, but the stage version was so much better. Rosamund Pike is as good actress as Geraldine Page ever was (and she was truly genial in Sweet Bird of Youth), but the fact she is younger and prettier helped to create a sense of pointlessness of the character which in my view is essential – Page created part on stage ten years before the film, by which time she was approaching 40. Also Geraldine Page did something weird and affected with her face while she spoke, which irritated me slightly and didn't have the naturalness and grace of Rosamund Pike. However, I have to admit that I am comparing two different mediums and Geraldine Page might have surprised me in the stage production.

The story is deceptively simple, because its life comes from its characters. In 1912, in New Orleans (I think), Alma Winemiller is in love with her next door neighbour, who has recently return home a doctor and with a lust for life that no one seems to fulfil (and yes, he does sleep around). Alma on the other hand, is much more, in Hitchcock’s words, a “snow covered volcano” and a minister’s daughter – and a confrontation/seduction game starts between the two, where each tries to persuade the other to come to their way of thinking, and this is Tennessee Williams, there aren’t really any winners, just different types of losers.

Of all Tennessee Williams' plays and stories that I have read or seen as either a film or a play, this is by far my favourite. Maybe it helped that I hadn’t any contact with it prior to watching the stage version. And on stage, the only one who came near was "The Glass Menagerie" with Jessica Lange and Ed Stoppard, mostly because of the very good casting. I am truly sorry Rosamund Pike’s performance won’t be available except for those who saw her in those six weeks. It was one of my best nights out at the theatre.

The Circle

A year ago I wished for an opportunity to see Somerset Maugham’s The Circle on the stage and my wish came true last week. I had to go to Richmond during the evening rush hour (there are definitely better Tube lines at rush hour than the District Line) to see it, but I did.

I really like Somerset Maugham. He is unsentimental and cynic, but he can be incredibly funny and touching. “The Circle”, arguably the best of his comedies along with "The Constant Wife", is a play of history repeating itself. After deserting her husband and child 30 years prior for her husband’s best friend, Lady Kitty, played by Susan Hampshire in the version I saw, returns to her old home (with said lover) to finally meet her son. However, her daughter-in-law is also planning to run away with one of the house guests.

The whole play only makes sense in a time where divorce was something hard to get, but still says a lot about loveless love affairs. While Lady Kitty’s husband divorced her quickly, her lover’s wife didn’t so they couldn’t get married and had to spend 30 years in exile, swallowing infidelities and committing some, growing indifferent and in her case, fearing that he would leave her and she would have no means to support herself. Above all seeing each other never truly forgiving the other for the sacrifices they made in the name of a love that has long disappeared – as Lady Kitty says to her ex-husband, if she had her time again, she would have been unfaithful but would have never ran away.

The production I saw was a good one. The performances, mostly by actors I have seen at some stage or another on the small screen, were excellent and it made me sad that such a good production with some good reviews is highly unlikely to make it to the West End.

The Deep Blue Sea (2008 Revival)

"To love with one's eyes open makes life very difficult"

Terence Rattigan, "The Deep Blue Sea" (1952)

This is a play that opens with an attempted suicide. A woman is found by her neighbours passed out next to a gas heater. The only reason why she isn't dead is because she forgot to put a shilling in the meter (I have to confess I love the touch). Soon we find that she did it because her lover can't reciprocate her love, and she knows it - the line above being something she is told.

It would be hardly a play I would recommend to young lovers. Its main theme is the disintegration of relationships, but it is a fantastic play, almost a British version of a Tennessee Williams drama. I have no words other than these to describe it, but it produced quite an impact on me, mainly because of the richness of the text and Greta Scacchi's wonderful performance as a woman who has sacrificed everything for a love affair with a man who can't give her what she needs. There's a moment (immortalised in the poster for the production) when her lover comes back, unaware she tried to kill herself, and he grabs her from behind and for a brief moment you can see why this woman left everything (including a very dull husband) for this younger former RAF pilot. And all without a word... Marvellous.

The Vortex and some other 1177 minutes of Noel Coward

As a birthday present, I treated myself to Peter Hall's production of Noël Coward's "The Vortex". First performed in 1924 it shocked at the time with references to toy boys and drugs. I read the play many moons ago and wasn't much impressed, but I never refuse an opportunity to see Coward, especially in the hands of a good director. And much to my surprised I found layers that I did not expect. The hint from the text that Nicky is mixed with drugs because he can't face his homosexuality was painfully evident in Dan Stevens' face. He gave a performance of someone who feels he's starting to waste his life but can't do anything to prevent it. But I think that the biggest revelation was the suggestion that Phoebe Nicholls character's friendship and loyalty to Florence may be hidding something else.

Dan Stevens was a pleasant surprise (saw him in "Hayfever" last year and wasn't very convinced). The same goes for Felicity Kendall (I spent most of "Amy's View" thinking what Judi Dench's performance might have been and her "Fallen Angels" did not impress a few years ago). Peter Hall lead the play and its cast very well, avoiding that any of them fall into the usually trappings of playing Coward. No winks to the audience, no excessive mannerisms. Just a play which can still shock.

Still on the subject of Coward, a recent voucher was translated into the 1177 minutes long (over 19h!), 7 DVD collection of his plays and short stories as done by the BBC. I still have many many hours to go but could not resist "Private Lives" with Penelope Keith. Every inch what I imagined and more, it was an hour and half of near-perfection.

The Importance of Being Earnest

On saturday went with a friend to the theatre. She was visiting London and we had arranged to see Oscar Wilde's Earnest at the Vaudeville Theatre. We are both fans of the play, and I am quite a big fan of Penelope Keith and after the BBC new version of "Sense and Sensibility" I can say the same about Daisy Haggard. Despite all this nothing had prepared us for such a great night out... in one word it was perfect!

Peter Gill's production (the fourth I saw of his) was spot on, playing the artificial of the play as if it was natural, magnificently suggesting a gay subtext but without damaging the core of the text. All actors were stupendous - even Miss Prism and the reverend, which I can't stand as characters, were charming and engaging. The actors playing Jack and Algernon were very funny, aided by the fact that they could indeed be brothers and had great chemistry together. Penelope Keith was fantastic and the more I see her doing comedy, the more I want to see her "Amanda" from the BBC production of "Private Lives" (pity she said no more Coward until "Waiting in the Wings"). But the star was Gwendoleen - and the best line was the excited "Jack" she utters when Jack as Ernest asks her what she thinks of the name. Her reaction was priceless.

I might just see this again... it really was marvellous.

Collect Plays of Somerset Maugham, Volume 2

Here is my second post about the plays of Somerset Maugham. A few years ago I got two different sets of his plays. The first, had nine plays spread over two volumes and was a recent edition by Methuen. It was one of my first buys after my arrival in the UK. The second was bought on ebay, a complete set of the three volumes of the “Collected Plays”, originally published in the fifties. This didn't make the first set redundant, because of the omission of “The Letter” in it. It was certainly one of my most inspired buys.

I have just finished reading/re-reading the whole second volume, which has some of his better known comedies and farces, including “Our Betters”, “The Constant Wife”, “The Circle” and a hilarious farce “Home and Beauty”. All of these I have read at one time or another. There are also two further plays, “The Unattainable” and “The Breadwinner”, which I read for the first time and both far more interesting in themes than they are in reality. The first, is a three act exposé of how we always want what we can’t have, and that when we can we don’t want it anymore. It was funny in several moments, but not successful enough. However, it seems it was a hit in 1917. The second is one of the last few plays he wrote. It’s about a man who decides to abandon his family (who find him an absolute bore) and career (he has just ruined himself) and go and Live, but despite an interesting ending, it has some very dull scenes, especially in the beginning, and the most irritating portrait of 18-year olds ever put on paper. Neither of them really recommended, unless you’re already a fan.

The remaining four titles are altogether much better and I wonder why they aren’t staged more often in London. I guess they are perceived as too old fashioned, or perhaps the author has really gone out of fashion, or a bit of both. It’s really a pity – their themes of equality between women and men and society’s double standards, may not be as obvious as they were in the years after WWI but they still matter. Ok, divorce nowadays is easier to get, transforming the irony of the last act of “Home and Beauty” into just a silly scene, as most people won’t be fully aware how hard was to get a divorce in Britain in those days. But perhaps more important, is the fact that in these plays women misbehave as much as men. That was uncomfortable then and is uncomfortable now, despite the ninety years that have passed.

I had a chance of seeing two of them at their last West End incarnations – “The Constant Wife” with a wonderful Jenny Seagrove (who was the lead in the recent revival of “The Letter”) and “Home and Beauty” with a not so good Victoria Hamilton. I also saw and recommend George Cukor’s film version of “Our Betters” with a brilliant performance by Constance Bennett and which is quite high on my DVD wish list. I just hope that someone decides to bring it to London again. The same goes for “The Circle” which would be a great vehicle for Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Patricia Routledge or Penelope Keith.

Lady Frederick (1907)

This is the first of a couple of posts I intent to make on the subject of Somerset Maugham's plays that I am reading/re-reading after having abandoned a couple of books. I can' t say I have discovered new favourites, but "Lady Frederick" was a pleasant surprise. It was funny, clever, and kept me interested - something that its successor in volume one of the collected plays had not. A drawing-room comedy about money (or rather the lack of it) and a few marriages. Far less stylised than Oscar Wilde's, it keeps to the tradition and although less funny more is more real and interesting. To me, it's only drawback is the portrait of Captain Montgomerie, probably quite acceptable then but uncomfortably anti-semitic nowadays.

Originally performed in 1907, it catapulted the author to amazing heights - he became the first living playwright to have four plays simultaneously in the West End (Noël Coward would match that in the mid-twenties). Perhaps it remains known today only (and rather unjustly) because of the amazing scene in the beginning of the third act where Lady Frederick appears without make-up before a young man who is in love with her. Every actress of the day refused to play it because of it. Today I imagine that most actress would sink their teeth in it, but then again it might still be too raw.

I would love to get a chance to see this in London. Strangest things have happened, and as far as I know the recent revival of "The Letter" was fairly successful. Meanwhile, I would recommend it to anyone who has had an introduction to Mr Maugham.

Gaslight (Old Vic revival)

For the second time in less than a year I was fascinated by a stage performance by Rosamund Pike. First, in a magnificent but short lived revival of Tennessee Williams’ “Summer and Smoke”, now in the Old Vic's revival of “Gaslight”… She was absolutely perfect as the wife almost driven to madness by her husband – can’t remember his name but it was the most sadistic performance of that part I ever seen, even beating Anton Walbrook in the 1940 film.

All in all, I have to say that with the exception of the performances by Angela Lansbury as the maid and Joseph Cotton as policeman in the ’44 version, this was the best I have ever seen “Gaslight” – I wonder if that it has something to do with being the original text…

And to the American girl that was in the first row talking to her friends, in the small chance that you may read this, the melodrama with Rock Hudson and Lauren Bacall is “Written in the wind” directed by Douglas Sirk.