FESTEN. To 16 April
London
FESTEN
by David Eldridge Based on the film and play by Thomas Winterberg, Mogens Rukov and Bo Hr Hansen
Lyric Theatre To 16 April 2005
Mon-Sat 8pm Mat Wed 3pm Sat 4pm
Runs 2hr One interval
TICKETS: 0870 890 1107 (booking fee)
Review: Timothy Ramsden 22 January
Thrillingly theatrical account of an explosive family secret coming to light.It's the 60th birthday party from hell no, in hell, as successful businessman Helge gathers his grown-up children at his mansion for the pre-ordained celebration with its customary rituals. But though wild-child Michael is the barred one who gate-crashes, it's smoothly successful Christian who brings devastation to the event.
A good film, an impressive play in the Polish production which visited Sadlers Wells in 2002, it's better still in this version, originating last year at Islington's Almeida theatre (and nearly an hour shorter than the Poles at the Wells).
That's due to David Eldridge's beautifully-crafted adaptation, which beats cinema at fluid editing as 3 bedrooms' activity are shown simultaneously, the busy coupling and arguing of others heightening Christian's lonely brooding as he prepares to disrupt the ceremony.
And to a cast able to delve as required into any corner of human temperament with swiftness and flexibility. Lars' official reserve and quiet authority (silently leaving a suitcase for the rude Michael to carry) or Pia's youthful, sexually-charged energy are just two examples of the way background' detail is sharp-etched in Rufus Norris's sizzlingly paced, intense and exciting production.
Carol Royle's devoted wife, social dignity her criterion throughout, and Stephen Moore with the self-control of a man used to difficult situations, contrast the tearing, explosive angers that lead to violent outbreaks as the night wears on, while Sam Cox's Poul swings from sunken-chinned depression to manically leading a transformation of the formal birthday song into a wildly Dionysiac conga.
Concealed beneath all this is a truth from the past, about the suicide of Christian's sister Linda. With angry mockery Christian uses the choice between alternative speeches to detonate the secret (mocking, given Helge's cruel use of choice' with his children). Norris charts characters' progress through the subsequent explosion with the precision of slow-motion filming, though it's played at a hectic pace, almost to the final downbeat image.
By when every detail, including the child's voice making the pre-show mobile phone announcement, Ian MacNeil's sympathetically minimal setting (a long dinner-table its sole grand statement), the sound of flowing water, has played its part.
Christian: Paul Nicholls
Mette: Susannah Wise
Michael: William Beck
Lars: Andrew Maud
Helene: Lisa Palfrey
Else: Carol Royle
Helge: Stephen Moore
Pia: Morven Christie
Helmut: Michael Thomas
Grandfather: Sam Beazley
Poul: Sam Cox
Kim: Jason Baughan
Gbatokai: Patrick Robinson
Child: Sinead Goodall/Clemmie Hooton/Alice Knight
Director: Rufus Norris
Designer: Ian MacNeil
Lighting: Jean Kalman
Sound: Paul Arditti
Music: Orlando Gough
Costume: Joan Wadge
Fight director: Terry King
Assistant director: Tim Stark
Lighting associate: Fiona Simpson
2005-01-24 00:33:45