THE 'CELLO AND THE NIGHTINGALE. To 5 June,
York
THE CELLO AND THE NIGHTINGALE
by Patricia Cleveland Peck
York Theatre Royal Studio To 5 June 2004
Tue-Sat 7.45pm
Post-show discussion June
Runs 1hr No interval
TICKETS: 01904 623568
www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk
Review: Timothy Ramsden 21 May
Farewell all joys in a melodious plot.York Theatre Royal's current programming is so middle-of-the-road it makes white lines and cat's-eyes seem off-beam. So, good to see the studio used for a couple of early summer world premieres. This first may make a brief evening out, in a production not totally satisfying, but with enough going for it to hope the idea catches on.
It has a quartet of middle-class sisters whose personalities seem entirely closeted within the family circle - a hothouse of a place, where they were all force-fed a severe diet of arts education. One, Beatrice, became a noted concert cellist, turning Elgar's Cello Concerto from flop into hit.
In 1924, she persuaded the B.B.C. to send a Captain West to record her open-air cello-playing in the hope it would be joined in duet by a nightingale that had recently shown a penchant for bluebell wood singalongs. The bird's near no-show almost ruined the occasion; an incidental amusement of the piece is seeing how live-broadcasting meant announcers had to improvise blandly inane fill-ins even in those days, when things went awry. The duet went on to become a wide-selling record (file under Ornithology or Novelty?).
Though nightingale and Concerto feature in Harrison family friend Patricia Cleveland Peck's play, it is as memories in the aged Beatrice's fragmenting mind. Brigit Forsyth, well-known actress and accomplished cellist, sits upstairs at home under a wispy thatch of wild grey hair talking confidentially to Peter, her cello, as her three sisters discuss whether the pair should be parted. Sister Monica expresses the mood, softly singing Orlando Gibbons' Silver Swan - Farewell all joys/O Death, come close mine eyes'.
Susan Stern's production seems undecided between straightforward storytelling and poetic impression. Moments of interweaved impressions separate out from passages of realism. Interest comes from Forsyth's dreamy abstraction in a sparely-written role, ending movingly as she plays a concert piece then moves Peter forward ready for a bow or a finally renunciation.
From the clearly acted sisters, Tamara Ustinov's Monica sympathetically contrasting the disappointment and severity of May and Margaret. And from audience members' pre-existing interest in cellos, nightingales, or both.
Beatrice Harrison: Brigit Forsyth
May Harrison: Frances Jeater
Margaret Harrison: Alwyne Taylor
Monica Harrison: Tamara Ustinov
Director: Susan Stern
Designer: Siobhan Ferrie
Lighting: Judith Cloke
Musical Director: Christopher Madin
2004-05-25 12:38:44