THE BIRTHDAY PARTY. Crucible to 2 March.
Sheffield
THE BIRTHDAY PARTY
by Harold Pinter
Crucible Theatre To 2 March 2002
Runs 2hr 30min One interval
TICKETS 0114 249 6000
Review Timothy Ramsden 16 February
Fine performances save this production from its more wayward directorial concepts.Erica Whyman's production takes the Crucible's epic thrust stage on its own terms. The space, amplified by a bank of auditorium-like seats behind, opens up like a film studio. But one set up for close-ups; the table at the centre of much of the action stands isolated on rugs which peter out to bare floors near the stage edges. Doors and the kitchen hatch, places which frame the characters in close shots, stand alone amid a void containing floor-lights and large studio floodlamps. The stairs to Stanley's unseen bedroom conspicuously stop after the third tread, before descending down an exit ramp
Why all this? To emphasise life's insecurity? It can give a thematic thrill, as when Goldberg and McCann enter not, like other characters, through realistic doorways but calmly taking centre stage from the 'fake' backstage auditorium.
But, as with most bold directorial concepts, the play remains the thing and it doesn't always respond. There's a loss of the screw-tightening claustrophobia, the threat-intensifying contrast between this most ordinary of run-down rooms and the fear that can suddenly materialise to shatter lives.
The cast is excellent. Meg often seems a problematic character. It's easy to patronise, and so lessen, her. Whyman doesn't avoid this, but Anna Calder-Marshall finds a saving sympathy through showing Meg's dreamy, routine-dulled life.
John Nettleton's fine Petey has his finest hour in the last act protest against Stan's removal. Secret state power has become more familiar in both life and Pinter's plays over recent decades; this act is no longer puzzling, but a moving picture of authority-supported terror completing its work
Andrea Lowe's smilingly gawky Lulu and John Lloyd Fillingham's unattractively guilty Stanley come over well. And the assured villains are excellent. Robert Patterson, wreathed in fake smiles, is keen to get his man. But it's in Robert East's magnificent Goldberg the centre of terror lies. His occasional fury only emphasises a generally ruthless self-control. Suave, switching instantly to coax or threaten, unknowable even to his henchman, this Goldberg would survive any revolution or tribunal, emerging instantly ready to commit any act to suit his purpose.
Petey: John Nettleton
Meg: Anna Calder-Marshall
Stanley: John Lloyd Fillingham
Lulu: Andrea Lowe
Goldberg: Robert East
McCann: Robert Patterson
Director: Erica Whyman
Designer: Soutra Gilmour
Lighting: Bruno Poet
Composer: Michael Oliva
Fight director: Alison de Burgh
2002-02-19 10:23:51