O GO MY MAN To 1 April.
London/Tour.
O GO MY MAN
by Stella Feehily.
Royal Court (Jerwood Theatre Downstairs) To 11 February then tour to 1 April 2006.
Mon-Sat 7.30pm mat Sat 3.30pm.
Runs 2hr 20min One interval.
TICKETS: 020 7565 5000.
www.royalcourrttheatre.com (Royal Court)
Review: Timothy Ramsden.
Very clever stuff, but the heart’s not in it.
Max Stafford-Clark is among this country’s finest theatre directors. His scrupulous, analytical method leaves no room for vagueness or empty theatricality. With a classic or a strong new script Stafford-Clark’s productions are invigorating, conveyed with vivid clarity. Wit fares better than broad comedy, but few directors in serious work attain his focused interplay of characters. And he’s one of the few directors who never let actors sink into generalised emotional shouting.
Flimsier scripts bend under the weight of his authoritative approach. Fine though his loyalty to playwright Stella Feehily is, sending her second play from the Court out on the road with his high-class Out of Joint Theatre Company (following her debut, Duck), this is a flimsy, if sharply clever, play. The production emphasises the thinness.
Relationships breakdown between partners, many of whom work in a spotlight. Photographer Ian’s tired of actor-partner Sarah; Neil, an alcoholic TV war-zone reporter walks out on wife Zoe, thinking it won’t affect his relation with teenage daughter Maggie. Go-getting producer Elsa will have a meaningless quickie with anyone she fancies, and in the small, shining world of Dublin’s media, everyone knows who you’ve come from and who you’re going with.
All this is played against a bare wood setting, flexible but anonymous and rarely suggesting more than an overall bland comfortlessness, despite a few inexplicable and irrelevant markings (the detritus lives leave?). The play leaves a similar impression. Every adult is so self-consciously expressive, the multi-character Alice (a foreigner cropping up in several location with a mouthful of assertive advice) so unreal, the patterning of events so deliberate – bite-sized life-crises – that reality and sympathy are hermetically sealed out.
Feehily contrasts private and professional lives. Sometimes unconvincing (how can a deserted wife find means of getting into her rival’s theatrical dressing-room and of locking its door?), it’s also increasingly schematic. In a season celebrating its 50 year existence, the English Stage Company – which began with heartfelt plays of social relevance – begins with a new piece skating skilfully over a segment of society, saying little and more full of dramaturgical craft than human heart or soul.
Neil: Ewan Stewart.
Sarah: Susan Lynch.
Ian: Paul Hickey.
Alice/Queen of Hearts: Mossie Smith.
Zoe: Aoife McMahon.
Director/White Rabbit/Reg/Jim/Freddy/Ex-Sertgeant: Sam Graham.
Elsa: Denise Gough.
Maggie: Gemma Reeves.
Director: Max Stafford-Clark.
Designer: Es Devlin.
Lighting: Johanna Town.
Sound: Gareth Fry.
Music: Felix Cross.
Dialect coach: Jeannette Nelson.
Assistant director: Naomi Jones.
2006-01-25 08:47:30