LAST SONG OF THE NIGHTINGALE by Peter Quilter. New End Theatre, Hampstead.
London
LAST SONG OF THE NIGHTINGALE
By Peter Quilter
New End Theatre, Hampstead To 16 September 2001
Runs 2hrs 30 mins One interval
TICKETS 020 7749 0022
Review Timothy Ramsden 15 August
Songs brighten this tale of a career's end.
Drugs, drink and a West End show make up life for Martha Lewis right now. Audiences adore her, but back at her hotel the bill's unpaid, and there's friction between her gay pianist Anthony and her son and manager Michael.
For a time it's unclear whether Quilter is out to give us a play with songs or a concert with background characters. That's because rehearsal and concert numbers come pretty fast in the first scenes along with some sketchy action. Only after the interval when we see the diva bombing for sure do the parts properly connect.
Strangely, it's Anthony, hired just to play for her on stage, who shows concern for Martha, while her son's willing to overturn his policy of cleaning her system up and pump her with chemicals when it helps the show go on.Quilter puts his cliffhanger at the start, when Anthony discovers Martha on the ledge of her hotel room. But she never intended to jump. It's too convenient a shock opening, followed by other moments in Michael Gieleta's production where facts seem to drop in as plot boosts rather than character development.
Duncan Wisbey and Scott Neal settle better into the roles of Anthony and Michael as the evening wears on. But there's really one reason for the play, and to see the show. That's Tracie Bennett's Martha. In the desperate scorpion wit of her drugged-up high-voltage personality, or her later washed-up end of the road resignation, Bennett bears the soul of a woman whose life, as well as career, is effectively behind her.
And on song, she variously nurtures, cradles, caresses and assaults the microphone with a voice that belts, coaxes, purrs and soars through 20th century standards. If you don't go for the play, there's always the concert.
2001-08-18 01:15:05