THE HOUSE OF SPECIAL PURPOSE To 22 August.
Chichester.
THE HOUSE OF SPECIAL PURPOSE
by Heidi Thomas.
Minerva Theatre In rep to 22 August 2009.
7.45pm 24-25, 27, 30 July, 3-5, 11, 12, 15, 18-19, 21, 22 Aug.
Mat 2.15pm 25, 30 July, 5, 12, 15, 19, 21, 22 Aug.
Audio-described 21 Aug 7.45pm, 22 Aug 2.15pm.
Runs 2hr 30min One interval.
TICKETS: 01243 781312.
www.cft.org.uk
Review: Timothy Ramsden 23 July.
Enough to make anyone see Red.
In her new play Heidi Thomas shows the final months of the last Tsar of Russia and his largely hideous family, ending with their assassination in their final prison, a house in industrial Ekaterinburg, then belonging to a military engineer, now the site of an Orthodox Cathedral. (Nicholas has been canonised; which hardly seems fair on the company of half-way decent saints).
Anti-democratic and anti-semitic, it’s hard to imagine the real Romanov, even as a cover for anxieties, being relaxed and flexible like Adrian Rawlins - a kindly yet firm paterfamilias (his manner resembles Bernard Shaw’s democratic King Magnus in The Apple Cart, playing at Bath during July). Yes, as Nicholas says, he abdicated. But not, as Thomas leaves open, to bring democracy, for he handed the throne to his brother. In her natural haughteur, Clare Holman as his German-born wife is a more likely re-creation.
As the royal son and heir Alexei, Jonathan Bailey has the cold assurance of absolute monarchy, while the daughters, set to do their own laundry, play about like little children and chase the mild-mannered proletarian who’s trying to teach them something useful. To the last they thought they’d escape; firing-squad bullets kept pinging off the jewels the women had sewn into their clothes.
Why bother about these people, except possibly as an anti-sentimental reminder? Outwitted by the Bolsheviks, who were still facing internal and external enemies, they remained blind to historical events.
Howard Davies’s production has his usual scrupulous attention to detail, as has William Dudley’s wood setting. Till the end. The title House was two-storey, and the action takes place in the higher level (entrances are up a flight of steps). The family, in the play as in 1918, were taken to the basement for execution; yet bullet holes appear in the upstairs room’s walls. Some directors might go for a quick theatrical effect, but never, surely, Davies.
Entertaining enough with these strong performances, but what’s it for? Maybe Thomas wanted to write about a group of women under unexpected pressure. But their sex is overwhelmed by their royal roles. That’s historical inevitability.
Maria: Lydia Wilson.
Alix Romanov: Clare Holman.
Ukraintsev: Gunnar Cauthery.
Chelnik: Gerard Monaco.
Irmakova: Emily Taaffe.
Nicholas Romanov: Adrian Rawlins.
Commandant Avdeyev: Tony Turner.
Alexei: Jonathan Bailey.
Anastasia: Kate O’Flynn.
Tatiana: Caroline Martin.
Olga: Annabel Scholey.
Yakunin: Kieran Bew.
Yurovsky: Dermot Kerrigan.
Soldiers: Daniel Hill. Mike Jupp.
Director: Howard Davies.
Designer: William Dudley.
Lighting: Howard Harrison.
Sound: Christopher Shutt.
Music: Dominic Muldowney.
Dialect coach: Joan Washington.
Voice: Kate Godfrey.
Fight director: Terry King.
Costume: Jenny Beavan.
2009-07-28 10:15:04