THE EMPEROR AND THE NIGHTINGALE. To 4 January.
Lancaster
THE EMPEROR AND THE NIGHTINGALE
by Hans Christian Anderson adapted by Neil Duffield
Duke's Playhouse To 4 January 2003
26-28,30 December 2-4 January 7pm
27,30,31 December 1 January 2pm
Runs 2hr One interval
TICKETS 01524 598500
Review Timothy Ramsden 21 December
Two sides of human nature colourfully conflict in this neatly-told account of a traditional tale outside the usual Christmas collection.You possess me, but you don't own me might be the song of the nightingale to the young Chinese Emperor Wu. And it's the focus of Neil Duffield's Andersen adaptation – a story he's already handled, in a different framework, with his play Nanna's Nightingale. This play gently contrasts the warrior impulse represented in the Tiger King (victorious but secretly poisoned) and the artistic, imaginative side of nature in the defeated but self-restorative Dragon King who nurtures the Nightingale's music far from imperial pomp.
Its central simplicity, offset by the gaudy court trappings, is caught well in Eileen Murphy's production. Villainy and folly are around, in Declan Wilson's plausible imperial adviser, anxious to control the new emperor through instilling fear of what lies beyond the palace walls. And in the Emperor Wu's own childish insistence on possession, breaking his word rather than surrendering the thing he desires.
Dee Sidwell's set admirably creates a sense of imperial grandeur, its high walls containing tall windows, flung open at Wu's new confidence in the outside world, snapped shut on his order to prevent the nightingale escaping. The space flexibly allows other locations, focused by Brent Lees' lighting.
Perhaps it's the significance of the imperial quest for the nightingale; certainly Duffield keeps Christmas frolics to a minimum – mainly, a couple of mischievous monkeys are used for brief bouts of laughs and the statutory chase through the audience.
Otherwise, it's on with the robustly performed story. Thushani Weerasekera tends to 'push' meaning through vocal inflection as the apprentice courtier who doesn't know her hermit father is the defeated Dragon King (not that Robin Samson's plain-man performance would give much of an inkling).
Andrew Norris gives the sense of someone who's grown up being told he's in charge, without realising how Wilson's imposing courtier actually controls matters. There's a wide-eyed impetuosity which shows how limiting the young emperor's upbringing has been.
Best is Maeve Larkin's Nightingale: tall and true-voiced (confident even on the highest notes), two flickering fans giving the sense of bird plumage with the economy of traditional oriental theatre.
Tiger King/Clockmaker/Monkey/Servant: Janet Bamford
Nightingale/Peasant Woman: Maeve Larkin
Wu, the Young Emperor: Andrew Norris
Dragon King/Xiao's Father/Ambassador/Monkey: Robin Samson
Xiao: Thushani Weerasekera
Li Si/Monkey: Declan Wilson
Director: Eileen Murphy
Designer: Dee Sidwell
Lighting: Brent Lees
Sound: Julie Washington
Composer/Musical Director: Keith Morris
Choreographer: Ruth Jones
2002-12-25 04:41:14