A LIFE IN THE THEATRE. To 31 January.
Edinburgh
A LIFE IN THE THEATRE
by David Mamet
Royal Lyceum Theatre To 31 January 2004
Tue-Sat 7.45pm Mat Wed & Sat 2.30pm
Audio-described 22 January, 24 January 2.30pm
BSL Signed 27 January
Free playroom bookable 17 January 2.30pm
Post show discussion 14 January
TICKETS: 0131 248 4848
www.lyceum.org.uk
Review: Timothy Ramsden 10 January
A very funny evening in the theatre but that's hardly the whole point.A Life in the Theatre implies none outside the false light beams, fake hair and imaginary realities hastily erected then removed. It makes the point even in a production so cosseted in comedy the barbs often remain unexposed.
It's a 1977 play, but nothing in this hermetic world shows it. Robert's years onstage have left only anxiety covered by an assured veneer; worry over his appearance makes him refuse food till he blurts out he's famished. Concern for backstage etiquette is protection against unwelcome criticism.
Until the inevitable happens: an actor's final, crucial judgement is when to retire. Jimmy Chisholm exploits a powerful range of technique; a performer in full-flow showing apparent confidence and eventual alarm. But Tony Cownie's production is so relentlessly determined to mine humour, when the action's backstage and in the excerpts from these actors' joint repertoire, that Chisholm's volcanic eruptions of hilarity hide the action's parabola.
The careful shaping of Robert's old pro confidence as he advises the newcomer, that newcomer's initial respect gradually turning from apologetic acceptance through hesitant questioning to outright assertion culminating in the moment when John walks out on Robert's desperate antics covering a lapsed memory is lost.
And Chisholm's friendly persona should have been something the director worked against, rather than with. It's pitiable any actor should end this way, but Robert has an involvement in his own slow tragedy: here, we just feel the good guy's coming to a sad end. Shame, tears of a clown. We become complicit, rather than properly distanced.
Joe McFadden has the younger actor's politely ruthless measure, reserving his good sense, politely fending off Robert's self-assertion, disagreeing with increasingly ungentle assertion. It's precisely charted, but the production doesn't help; Robert's assault on critics is spectacularly handled, but risks overwhelming Mamet's irony: actually, John thinks, they've got a point.
Geoff Rose's settings accurately depict the theatre scene from many angles, but the time spent moving them around unhelpfully lengthens what should be a short, sharp action. There has to be something wrong when a two-actor play keeps featuring four visible scene-shifters.
Robert: Jimmy Chisholm
John: Joe McFadden
Director: Tony Cownie
Designer: Geoff Rose
Lighting: Jenny Kagan
Music: Iain Johnstone
2004-01-13 15:11:54