BURNT BY THE SUN. To 21 May.
London.
BURNT BY THE SUN
by Peter Flannery from a screenplay by Nikita Mikhalkov and Rustam Ibragimbekov.
Lyttelton Theatre Upper Ground South Bank SE1 9PX In rep to 21 May 2009.
7.30 Mat 2.15 Tue, Sat, 25 March.
Audio-described 3 Apr, 4 Apr, 2.15pm.
Captioned 7 Apr 7.30pm.
Runs 2hr 25min One interval.
TICKETS 020 7452 3000.
www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/tickets
Review: Carole Woddis 4 March.
Light life grows darker during bravura staging.
If you haven’t seen Nikita Mikhalkov’s original award-winning 1994 film, you won’t quite know what to expect. Peter Flannery’s new play, based on Mikhalkov and Rustam Ibragimbekov’s filmscript, dominated by a large, slowly revolving timber-framed dacha, a tango band and silver birches, carries a definitely Chekhovian air. In a series of short scenes, a family of listless grandees sip coffee, sing snatches of Puccini, reminisce on the glories of old times and taunt the maid.
In the background a grizzled bear of an old Bolshevik General – Kotov (a pot-bellied Ciarán Hinds) - casts a sardonic eye. Smitten with his young wife, Maroussia (Michelle Dockery) and their daughter, Nadia (Skye Bennett), she in turn, `adores’ him.
So far so fluttery. And in the hands of Anna Carteret, Rowena Cooper, Duncan Bell Tim McMullan and Stephanie Jacob, much is made of nothing very much apart from hinting at the fevered political landscape beyond this apparent calm.
On film, one can imagine how this style would have worked, one scene eliding seamlessly into another. Here, Howard Davies’s expansive direction almost seems to stall in mid-sentence despite the action also including a state- sanctioned holiday, complete with eerily gorgonesque gas masks.
Then Mitia (Rory Kinnear) arrives, telling stories, bringing with him a waft of cosmopolitanism (he has lived in Paris), a hint of mystery.
Maroussia is clearly distressed by his presence. Gradually past and present collide. It is 1936, on the brink of the Stalin purges, with millions about to become `enemies’ of the state, executed and consigned to gulags. Mitia is not all he seems and Kotov’s charmed life is about to come to a shuddering end.
Burnt by the Sun – interestingly like Stoppard’s Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, also recently in the South Bank repertoire – is another reminder of the horrors of the Stalinist regime. In the process, it also shows us the death of hope. `You robbed me of everything. I wanted life’s journey, you gave me only destination,’ cries Mitia to Kotov.
In the end, Davies’ wonderful cast and the metaphorical simplicity of Flannery’s script bring great rewards. Common-place but surreal, everyday but historical.
Nadia: Skye Bennett/Holly Gibbs.
Maroussia, her mother: Michelle Dockery.
Kotov, her father: Ciarán Hinds.
Mokhova, the maid: Stephanie Jacob.
Vsevolod, Lidia’s son: Duncan Bell.
Olga, Maroussia’s mother: Pamela Merrick.
Lidia Stepanovna, Maroussia’s grandmother: Rowena Cooper.
Elena, Lidia’s friend: Anna Carteret.
Little girls: Anna Burnett, Floss Hoffman, Hattie Webb.
Kolya, tank officer: Stuart Martin.
Andrushya, tank officer: Michael Grady-Hall.
Kirik, Elena’s son: Tim McMullan.
Truck Driver: Tony Turner.
Mitia (Dmitri Andreevich): Rory Kinnear.
Blokhin: Roger Ringrose.
Mironov: Colin Haigh.
Aronin: Marcus Cunningham.
Ensemble: Anne Kavanagh, Victoria Lennox, Charlotte Pyke.
Young Pioneer Band drawn from: Bronwen Clemence, Sarah Davies, Rebekah Jones, Raymond Lim, James Lumsden, Krystian McInnes, Michaela Mangan, Lucy Norfield, James Parry-Crooke, David Pugh, Charlotte Stoddart.
Centre for Young Musicians Co-ordinator: Geoffrey Harniess.
The Tango Band: Ruth Elder (violin)
Richard Hart (bass)
Dan Jackson (accordion)
Singer: Harry Hepple.
Director: Howard Davies.
Designer: Vicki Mortimer.
Lighting Designer: Mark Henderson.
Sound: Christopher Shutt.
Music: Ilona Sekacz.
Music Director: Dan Jackson.
Choreographer: Scarlett Mackmin.
Company voice work: Kate Godfrey.
Fight director: Terry King.
2009-03-08 12:59:11