PHÈDRE To 27 August.
London.
PHÈDRE
by Jean Racine translated by Ted Hughes.
Lyttelton Theatre South Bank SE1 9PX. In rep to 27 August 2009.
8.00 Mat 20,23 June, 4,18,19,21,29 July, 1,2,8,9,11, 20, 22,23,26 Aug. 3pm.
Audio-described 3 July, 4 July 3pm (+Touch Tour 1.30pm), 1 Aug 3pm (+Touch Tour 1.30pm).
Captioned 22 July, 11 Aug.
Runs: 2hr No interval.
TICKETS 020 7452 3000.
www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/tickets
Review: Carole Woddis 10 June.
Pushing the boundaries, with further to go.
How difficult it is to live up to the hype. Helen Mirren’s face, ambiguously angled to show disquiet and charisma in equal measure, adorns both poster and programme of Nick Hytner’s NT revival of Ted Hughes’ version of Racine’s Phèdre
.
The production is also to be the launchpad for the National’s NTLive experiment which will see selected productions broadcast live on cinema screens throughout the country. What a gamble. We’ve had live opera and ballet for some years now. But pushing the boat out into `live’ theatre is a whole other ballgame. With dance and opera, you have the music to lift you into another realm. With theatre, there is nothing but the words and the actor. Will the medium survive?
A baptism of fire, Phèdre, the play about monsters, taboos, the stepmother who lusts after her stepson, certainly throws the scheme – and Mirren - in at the deep end. A titan of a role, two hours of self-mortification; you have to admire the courage. Mirren could so easily have rested on her Queenly laurels. But there she is, cast loose on Bob Crowley’s Grecian set of rock, vivid blue and blinding light, lambasted by self-disgust, prey to Fate.
Last night, the whole production fell victim to unexpected forces – a spectator fainting, the show interrupted at a crucial stage. Phèdre’s nurse has told her lie; Theseus, Phèdre’s husband has returned and damned his son, Hippolytus, the object of Phedre’s love. Hippolytus has declared his love for Aricia – a Racine addition (giving Mirren her best line: “I have a rival,” spat out with lethal quiet). And Theseus has cursed Hippolytus believing him to have been the abuser of his wife. Death and destruction will follow.
Emotions expressed at the highest pitch, there are moments when Mirren is on the cusp of transcendence. Word perfect, she is still going through the motions. The stage is shared but not yet ignited by Dominic Cooper’s handsome, brooding Hippolytus, Margaret Tyzack’s nurse and Stanley Townsend’s Theseus. The surprise package is Ruth Negg’s Aricia whilst John Shrapnel carries off the play’s best speech – Hippolytus’s death – with bravura and due terror.
Hippolytus: Dominic Cooper.
Théramène: John Shrapnel.
Oenone: Margaret Tyzack.
Phèdre: Helen Mirren.
Panope: Wendy Morgan.
Aricia: Ruth Negga.
Ismène: Chipo Chung.
Theseus: Stanley Townsend.
Phèdre’s son: Christopher Ashley/Elliot Horne.
Director: Nicholas Hytner.
Designer: Bob Crowley.
Lighting: Paule Constable.
Sound: Adam Cork.
Company voice work: Jeannette Nelson, Kate Godfrey.
Design associate: Tim Blazdell.
Associate sound: Yvonne Gilbert.
Phèdre will also visit Epidaurus on 10, 11 July and Washington DC in Sept 2009.
2009-06-14 13:03:55