After many UK revivals of Arthur Miller’s most popular plays, such All My Sons, A View from the Bridge and The Crucible, is it refreshing to see  a lesser known work, The Price, from 1968, brought to explosive life in Jonathan Church’s excellent production. Inspired by events from his own life, this family drama looks at the price one pays in life for the decisions that one makes.

Middle-aged policeman Vic has come to his father’s old New York brownstone before it is torn down to meet a used furniture dealer, hoping to sell everything off as one lot. His father died sixteen years ago and the place is full of memories: a fencing blade that Vic used to compete with, his mother’s old harp, a bizarre record of laughing, as well as old furniture literally piled up the wall. Vic’s glamorous and slightly drunk wife Esther joins him, demanding that he take whatever he can get and not share the proceeds with his wealthy surgeon brother, Walter. Esther, who is clearly unhappy in their marriage and doesn’t know what to do with her life, insists that Vic needs to sort out his own plans after retirement. Both appear to be stuck, disappointed with the paths their lives have taken; as Esther says “It’s like pushing against a door for twenty-five years and then it opens and we stand there, waiting to live.” Vic dropped out of studying science at university to look after his father who lost everything in the crash of 1929 while his brother Walter went to medical school. Esther used to write poetry and misses their son who is studying at MIT. She feels cheated but doesn’t seem to know what she wants other than money. When Gregory Solomon finally arrives to make an assessment, neither quite know what to make of the charming eighty-nine-year-old who claims to have once been an acrobat and had three, possibly four wives. Vic is inclined to trust his prognosis that the furniture is bulky and out of fashion and therefore worth far less. As Solomon says, it’s so well made, it cannot break, “today everything has to be disposable”. Esther is sceptical and thinks he’s cheating them so that he can sell it on for far more.

Just as Vic makes a deal with Solomon, who counts out hundred dollar bills, in walks Walter. Despite not having seen Vic since their father died nor even returned his phone calls about the possible sale, he has turned up with his own proposition. Walter treats Solomon like a figure of fun and the power dynamic switches as he and Esther openly laugh at him, completely dismissing any deal Vic may have already made.

The layers are soon peeled back on Walter’s seemingly perfect life and old resentments rise to the surface as the two brothers and Esther try to examine the past and decide on their futures.

This is a well-crafted play with complex characters and dialogue that rings true. The arguments between the brothers seem to go in circles in the second half – just when you think they’ve had a reconciliation, more past hurts and misunderstandings are dragged up. However, this is probably a reality in most sibling relationships so perhaps one can’t fault the playwright for not trimming the dialogue.

Brendan Coyle, familiar to many as Mr Bates in Downton Abbey, brings the right gruffness and bottled up emotion to Vic, a strong man who has had to carry others for so many years and is now at a breaking point. He beautifully conveys a character who is thoughtful yet not used to introspection, always doing what he thinks is morally right. Adrian Lukis (Mr Wickham from the 1995 BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice) hits just the right notes of a man who thought he had it all and now feels empty and confused. He veers from being impossibly full of himself to completely drained of any energy or direction. Sara Stewart as the passionate and impulsive Esther impresses from her first entrance as she shows off a new expensive suit she has just bought, looking like Marilyn Monroe. Although slightly one note in her despondency, she manages to maintain some sense of humour amidst her disappointment. One gets the feeling that all three of these characters are self-destructive while blaming their misfortunes on each other.

David Suchet gives the performance of a lifetime as Gregory Solomon, at once wily, warm hearted, highly intelligent and very funny. When he suddenly pulls a hard- boiled egg out of his pocket in the middle of negotiations and proceeds to calmly eat it, asking if there might be some salt somewhere, it is a priceless moment. Although he is in a back room for most of the second half, he still makes appearances, interceding in the middle of heated family battles to give advice.

It is no surprise that a well written family drama like The Price survives the test of time and still resonates today. Miller is a master playwright who was never afraid to ask the big questions about the paths we choose to follow in life and the responsibilities we choose to take. Don’t miss this brilliant production.

Image: Brendan Coyle and Sara Stewart in The Price. Photo credit Nobby Clark.

It can’t be easy to write a joyous and uplifting yet thought provoking play about 9/11, and yet Irene Sankoff and David Hein have done just that. This award- winning Canadian musical has already enjoyed hugely successful runs in Toronto, California and Seattle and on Broadway as well as six other productions around the world. It has hit the ground running in London with an audience reaction that can only be described as ecstatic.

Based on a true story, Come from Away is about five days in 2001 when 38 planes were diverted to Newfoundland following the World Trade Centre bombing. Passengers were kept on the planes for over twenty-four hours, not told the truth of why they had landed. In the meantime, the 10,000 residents of Gander prepared to welcome these strangers into their homes, community centres, schools and anywhere they could fit them. Many passengers could not speak English, had different dietary requirements and health needs. Most were worried about friends who may have been flying that day or were desperate to let their families know they were okay. The residents wouldn’t accept any payment but just kept donating whatever was needed in terms of groceries, help or simply friendship.

In 2011, Sankoff and Hein spent a month in Gander collecting stories of residents, flight crew and passengers, many of whom had gathered there to commemorate the tenth anniversary of 9/11. Although some characters are combinations of various people, many are based on the actual person with their real names used. Amongst the passengers, we hear the stories of gay couple Kevin and Kevin who were worried what locals would think of them (they were unfazed, everyone knew someone gay), British oil executive Nick who falls in love with American Diane, New Yorker Hannah who is waiting for news of her firefighter son, and Ali, the world-famous hotel chef who just wants to help out in the kitchen.

The locals have their own fascinating stories: Bonnie who works in the animal shelter is concerned for the cats, dogs and two rare chimpanzees stuck in the holds. Beulah befriends Hannah as she also has a firefighting son. Claude, the mayor of Gander, is in charge of finding accommodation for the Come from Aways, as outsiders are known. The crew are represented by pilot Beverly who fears for her fellow pilots. Her story of her career as a female pilot raised a cheer from the audience on the night I saw the show.

All is not smooth sailing for the Muslim guests however, who are treated with suspicion despite being just as baffled and afraid as all the other passengers. Ali is subjected to a full body search when they re-board the planes. It is admirable that the writers do not shy away from the less than welcoming behaviour of some officials and residents. African American Bob, however, who has his own initial suspicion of the friendly residents, is amazed that he isn’t shot when he is told to go collect everyone’s barbecue grills from their front yards. He bonds with another local mayor who invites him to stay in his house and ends up sharing all of his whiskey.

There is a nice variety of stories told, although it would have been good to hear more from passengers from other countries. In any case, it is a story that warms the heart as this disparate group of people pulls together in a moment of crisis and ends up forming lasting friendships. The creation of the musical has in turn brought everyone together repeatedly as they have seen themselves portrayed on stage in the many incarnations of Come from Away.

The cast work as a true ensemble, having to change character, costume and accent frequently, from American to Newfoundland (which sounds a bit Irish), to British or Egyptian. Jonathan Andrew Hume was especially adept at transforming from one of the Kevins to Ali by just adding a hat and brought real depth to these two characters. Robert Hands as Nick, and Helen Hobson as Diane, beautifully played out a burgeoning love story between two middle aged people who were surprised to find their soul mate in such tragic circumstances. Hands also doubled as air traffic controller Doug whose wife Bonnie, the fine Mary Doherty, risks a bomb threat to rescue animals from the parked planes. Rachel Tucker as Beverly, Jenna Boyd as Beulah and Cat Simmons as Hannah all gave strong performances as strong women who have to deal with impossible situations.

The songs all have an authentic Newfoundland sound, with a flavour of Irish and Scottish folk music. The music is multi-layered and rich and the songs soar with emotion. The excellent onstage band included a fiddle, an accordion, whistles and an unusual hand drum, which the percussionist played with glee. Director Christopher Ashley and choreographer Kelly Devine also deserve mention for the smooth staging and clear delineation of all the many characters portrayed by this talented cast.

This is definitely a musical for the whole family, despite the difficult subject matter of 9/11. It is heart-warming, funny, sad and inspiring all at once. Come from Away will surely encourage mass tourism if not mass migration to Newfoundland.

Image: Come From Away at the Phoenix Theatre.  Photo credit Matthew Murphy.

The Royal Shakespeare Company’s Matilda the Musical opened in the West End over seven years ago and is still going strong today. On the  night I saw it at the Cambridge Theatre in London, there was a happy mixture of families, school groups, tourists and adults on their own who just enjoy a great musical. There is much in this show to appeal to people of all ages and despite the presence of so many children both on and off stage, it is a very dark tale indeed. Adapted from the book by Roald Dahl, who understood that children like scary fairy stories full of revenge and violence, the musical makes a bold statement about the strength and resilience of children. Matilda may be misunderstood and unloved by her family but still manages to triumph through sheer willpower.

Matilda is the black sheep of the Wormwood family, a highly intelligent girl who despite just starting school has already read Dostoevsky and Dickens. Her mother is far more interested in her competitive dancing partner Rudolpho than in her children. Mr Wormwood is busy scamming Russians in a faulty used car deal and wishes Matilda were more like her TV watching couch potato brother Michael, who can only speak in one word utterances. Matilda feels more at home in the library where she tells stories to the warm-hearted librarian, Mrs Phelps. As if her life couldn’t get any worse, her father enrols her in Crunchem Hall run by the fierce Miss Trunchbull who delights in calling children maggots and hanging them by their ears. Her abusive behaviour is constant, yet little Matilda somehow keeps finding the courage to stand up to this harridan because her punishments “are not fair!”. It is Matilda’s sense of justice which leads her to rebel and discover within herself mysterious powers which bring about the evil Miss Trunchbull’s downfall.

Aside from Mrs Phelps, the only adult who believes in and appreciates Matilda is the lovely Miss Honey who, despite her kindness is too meek to be of much help. In this story, the children are the only ones brave enough to make a difference and kindness is not going to cut it with the likes of Miss Trunchbull.

Unlike more contemporary children’s authors, Roald Dahl didn’t bother to look for psychological reasons why people are horrible, they just are. The only way to defeat them is with a strong sense of morality and a lot of pluck. Dahl revelled in showing the wicked, silly and stupid getting their comeuppance and many of his tales are revenge stories. In Matilda the Musical the baddies, Mr and Mrs Wormwood and Miss Trunchbull are cruel yet ridiculous figures, wildly entertaining in their outrageousness. Matilda’s parents scream and shout at her because they don’t understand her intelligence and find it a bit scary. They are cartoon characters who are too self-involved to notice their younger child is exceptional, seeing instead a threat to everything they know and love. A metaphor for our times?

The book by Dennis Kelly is brilliantly funny, full of witty dialogue but enough pathos to bring tears to your eyes at the end. The changes to the original story, such as Matilda’s ability to make up involving stories which turn out to be true, work well for the stage. Tim Minchin’s music and lyrics are all one would expect from this extraordinary comedian, full of surprising twists and turns. He has said Roald Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes were a great influence on his own work so this project was a dream job for him. In the first number, Miracle, where each child sings about the love they receive from their overly doting parents “My mummy says I’m a miracle!” poor Matilda sings “My mum says I’m a good case for population control”. It was difficult to catch all the lyrics in the group numbers which is a good reason to buy a cast album.

The performances are first-rate. Haydn Tee is hilarious as Miss Trunchbull who seems to truly believe that all children are horrible creatures out to get her and make her life a misery. She is in many ways a panto villain, so will make children laugh as much as she frightens them. Holly Dale Spencer and Rob Compton as the Wormwoods were also very enjoyable. I especially liked the father’s ode to television, Telly, which opened the second act. Malinda Parris as Mrs Phelps and Gina Beck as Miss Honey lent the production much needed warmth and sweetness. In the performance I attended, Olivia Wells played Matilda with just the right amount of determination and spirit to make her a complex character. She is not the loveable angel of so many children’s stories but a wilful, clever child who gives almost as good as she gets. All of the children were exceptional performers, Sadie Victoria Lim as Lavender and Archie Lewis as Bruce Bogtrotter were stand outs.

This is a show which is perfect for the entire family and deserves to be seen several times. It is currently touring the world as well as the UK, so wherever you are you have no excuse to not catch Matilda the Musical.

Photography: Manuel Harlan

After the excellent revival of Buried Child in 2016, it is heartening to see yet another Sam Shephard classic, True West, in the West End. This play, written in 1980, was apparently a box office failure when it debuted at the Public Theatre in New York. It only became a long running hit when staged with John Malkovich and Gary Sinise as warring brothers Lee and Austin. It is understandable as these two demanding roles need to be cast just right in this tricky work which veers wildly from kitchen sink realism to Beckettian absurdism. Johnny Flynn is perfectly comfortable in his role as the ne’re- do-well Lee, who, when he isn’t stealing TV’s from the neighbours is running dog fights to make a fast buck. At first glance Kit Harington, Jon Snow from Game of Thrones, may not seem ideal as the hardworking, studious screenwriter Austin. However, from the opening scene of this production he is virtually unrecognisable in his slicked back hair and aviator glasses, diligently typing away by candle light. I am happy to say both actors hold their own and have a fiery chemistry between them as well as great comic rapport.

Austin has come to stay in his mother’s house while she is in Alaska, needing some quiet time alone to work on his latest screenplay. The appearance of his beer swilling older brother Lee, whom he hasn’t seen in five years, is more an annoyance than a surprise, despite Lee’s frequent physical threats, which he seems to take in his stride. Not much ruffles Austin’s feathers until Lee walks in on an important meeting he has set up with Hollywood producer Saul Kimmer and proceeds to hijack it, arranging an early morning golf game and pitching his own idea for a movie. Amazingly the producer likes Lee’s idea, a strange western, which Lee asks Austin to write up as an outline. Although Austin is initially happy to help, thinking Lee will finally stop burglarising the neighbourhood, he is furious when Saul says he prefers Lee’s idea, has sold it to a studio and secured a large advance.

By the second act, the tables have turned. The celebration champagne is gone and Austin is now blind drunk, swigging from a whiskey bottle. Lee works furiously at a typewriter that he pulls apart while trying to fix. He cannot put his words down and is getting increasingly frustrated. A hilarious scene in which Austin makes toast in a line-up of many toasters he has just stolen and then proceeds to butter each one, leads not into peace between the brothers but more competitive fighting which escalates in a nasty turn of events.

This play, like most of Shephard’s work, goes in unpredictable directions, keeping the audience constantly guessing. The play is almost over before Madeleine Potter makes an appearance as the mother, newly returned from her holiday to complete chaos. There have been several productions of True West where the actors playing the brothers have alternated the roles during the run. Although that is not the case here, it is clear that they are meant to be two aspects of the same person, perhaps even of Shephard himself; the hard-working intellectual vying with the wild renegade who is prone to disappearing into the desert.

Kit Harington is a revelation as Austin, a role which was clearly a challenge as the character goes through drastic changes. He is a fine actor and deserves to take on more great stage roles. Johnny Flynn has already made a name for himself in the West End in Martin McDonagh’s Hangmen, also directed by the talented Matthew Dunster, where he played another menacing trickster. Here he brilliantly inhabits Lee completely, bodily taking up space as he prowls about the house, looming intimidatingly over his brother and yet reigning in his volatility to manipulate and charm the Hollywood producer. Flynn, who also composed the music for this production and is a singer/songwriter, is clearly a force to be reckoned with. Donald Sage Mackay, an American actor who recently moved to the UK, is excellent as the amiable Saul as is Madeleine Potter who makes the most of a small but striking role as Mom. In her detached befuddlement and complete lack of caring for her grown children she makes it clear why her sons turned out as they did.

This exciting production runs only until 23 February so catch it while you can. It will probably sell out just on its star power to Game of Thrones fans but is an enervating evening at the theatre for admirers of this great American playwright.

Website 

Photos by Marc Brenner.

Review by Lydia Parker

The Jungle, which has transferred from The Young Vic to the West End, immerses its London audience in the middle of the refugee encampment which was built up near Calais from 2015 to 2016. Playwrights Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson created the Good Chance Theatre in The Jungle in 2015, offering entertainment, music and workshops for the residents of the camp, which at its height numbered over 8,000. Rather than focusing on the activities on their theatre, the playwrights have written a fictionalised account of the founding of the camp by a few enterprising refugees from Afghanistan, Syria and Sudan, amongst other countries, and its demise a year later by French police with bulldozers. In between, a handful of well- meaning British people arrive, ranging from fresh out of Eton Sam to friendly alcoholic Boxer. The playwrights wisely do not centre the story on them but instead have Safi, a Syrian migrant and English literature major, act as narrator.

The Playhouse Theatre is completely transformed with audience members sitting on wooden benches (thankfully with throw cushions) around the action. On one side is Salar’s Afghan Café and the tables that some of the audience sit at double as walkways for the actors. Televisions dotted around the place play Bollywood Films. Delicious smells emanate from the kitchen, cast members offer round sweet chai and fresh bread. As the play begins, its starts at the end: the French authorities have ordered a “soft eviction” of the camp, saying the environment is unsafe. They have offered only 1500 homes around France, most of which will go to women and children. Meantime, a boy has been killed on the motorway, trying to get a “Good Chance” by smuggling himself into the UK in a lorry. The police arrive with tear gas and the makeshift city is destroyed.

The play then starts somewhere at the beginning, telling different story strands while still trying to move the whole cohesively forward as the refugees deal not only with their own dire situation but with the arrival of white British people who have decided to organise them. Young Sam plans to map out the city and build houses. Eighteen year old Beth starts a school and teaches English. Boxer is good at mending and building, while Paula looks after the children, many of whom are unaccompanied. It’s never clear exactly what Derek does other than bark orders and break up fights. Many of the young men are technically children but are looked after by the older men, such as fifteen year old Norullah, a cheerful trouble maker who works in Salar’s café and has become like a son to him. We hear the devastating story of Okot who escaped from Sudan only to be tortured in Libya as his captors demanded more money from his mother. Beth makes it her mission to help him get to the UK with the help of Kurdish smuggler Ali.

Crises small and large occur but, as Safi says, there is hope as well: the Muslims gather to pray together, no matter what their sect, Omid happily plays his guitar which he smuggled from Iran, everyone is learning English and every now and again there is good news from someone who has made it to the UK. Everyone has a mobile phone which they check constantly, searching for news from home and finding entertaining relief from their boredom of being in this limbo. We are reminded of how the British people can leave at any time when Sam suggests that he and Beth go to a hotel for night - just as friends of course – as they having been living in squalor for months and need a break. When Beth goes to rescue Okot from the police station, she takes both him and Safi to a hotel just to clean up the teenager who has been beaten by the police and needs a rest. It is illegal for refugees to be taken to a hotel as they have no passports, but Beth risks it anyway.

Although the play is happy to laugh at the sometimes misguided good intentions of the British, it is clear that they are there because their country is doing little for the refugees and they feel a need to help. Paula, most likely modelled on real life volunteer Liz Clegg, is the most effective in her clear intention to help the children. Sam takes on more than he can chew but although he comes from a privileged background, probably much like the Oxford educated playwrights, his heart is usually in the right place and he just wants to make a difference, as does Beth. The scene where she teaches the boys English by having them describe how they try to hide out in lorries is entertaining yet also drives home the point of how desperate and determined the migrants are.

There are outstanding performances that hold the play together and bring it authenticity. Chief among them is Ammar Haj Ahmad, a Syrian actor, who plays the kind hearted Safi. It is clear he will have a major career after this production and has already made a mark on the UK theatre scene. John Pfumojena, a Zimbabwean born actor, is brilliant as Okot. His monologue describing his perilous journey to Calais through which he says he “died many times” is delivered absolutely straight which makes it all the more moving. Mr Pfumojena is also the musical director and composer for the production, clearly an artist to be reckoned with. British-Iranian actor Ben Turner is excellent as the fiery but warm hearted Salar as is Mohammad Amiri as his young cheeky assistant Norullah. There is a nice mixture of trained, highly experienced British actors playing the migrants with performers who are actual refugees, such as singer Mohamad Sarrar and Kung Fu master Yasin Moradi.  Amongst the British characters, Rachel Redford as Beth and Jo McInnes as Paula stand out.

If I have one criticism it is that the play tries to do too much and may have benefited from telling the story from one person’s point of view. Although we do have sympathetic Safi at the centre, there is always lots of activity going on, actors running around and shouting in an attempt to depict the chaotic atmosphere of the camp, but it is sometimes too much. It seems petty to find fault when the creative team, directors Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin, along with the playwrights and the designer, Miriam Buether, have worked hard to recreate the experience of The Jungle to share with the world.

This is an important play which poses questions with no easy answers. Did the British volunteers help or make a situation worse? When refugees could have claimed asylum in mainland Europe, was it right to encourage them to risk their lives trying to get to the UK? The camp has now been destroyed but migrants still gather in the thousands in Calais, trying to cross to England. Although there is not much hope at the end of this play, the playwrights are still running their Good Chance Theatre for refugees in France. And hopefully audience members will feel moved after the performance to make a difference in their own way to help the refugee crisis by volunteering or donating.

www.goodchance.org.uk  

www.helprefugees.org

Image: The Jungle by Marc Brenner