Performance Monkey

We ran into the pope this summer, as you do. We were aiming for the centre of Cagliari, Sardinia's capital city, but found one street after another was blocked. Traffic accident? Roadworks? Only when someone spotted the 'Il Papa in Sardegna' posters did we realise that his holiness was with us for the day. We began our holiday mooch around, but even on foot, all roads led to the cathedral, and … [Read more...]

The 1950s has become the go-to era in which British directors situate classic plays. Mrs Affleck by Samuel Adamson, just opened at the National Theatre, reimagines Ibsen's Little Eyolf on the Kent coast in 1955. Ibsen's unhappy husband and wife, rancorous in their loneliness, plus their disabled little boy and uncomfortably clingy sister-in-law, occupy a dank town by the sea, and are preoccupied … [Read more...]

Tell me you wouldn't love this. You're settling into your seat at the theatre. The curtain is about to rise on The Jersey Boys , say, or Act Without Words II. But before the show begins, the stars of three or four other shows rush in and hurtle through capsule versions of their productions: all tease and shiver, crackle and charm. Yes, my friends, the monkey would love to see trailers, live on … [Read more...]

The distinction of Barak Obama's presidential campaign was a sense that words matter, that they can express a person's truth. Our public discourse, on both sides of the Atlantic, has been both muddied and diluted in recent years. We expect spin, distortion, sheer mendacity. The poverty of recent political language fosters cynicism, but the heartfelt reaction to Obama's oratory suggests our own … [Read more...]

Directors, actors, critics - all scratch their heads about what a playwright's intentions may be. The truth is, however, that there isn't a single truth. An author may know exactly how s/he intends a play to be received, but once it is out there in the world, interpretation is up for grabs. For example, it's hard to imagine that Ibsen would have been thrilled to learn that Hitler was a devotee of … [Read more...]

Verbatim theatre continues to be a productive development on British stages. Black Watch, Gregory Burke's searing account of soldiers in Iraq, is the most prominent of shows that draw their text - sometimes literally - from interviews with members of the public. Some burrow into events that have wide political ramifications - like Burke's play, or Deep Cut by Philip Ralph, another production that … [Read more...]

Chloe Veltman's terrifically provocative piece across the hall (prompted by Amanda Ameer and her enquiring mind around the corner) wonders if the traditional theatre programme should be killed off. It's certainly true that what most audiences are offered is lamentable - over-priced, under-thought, padded by gushy biographies and dullsville PR, with the odd background article written by a drudge … [Read more...]

It's the mild-mannered schlub you should beware. As the case against Wall Street trader Bernie Madoff continues to assemble - his lawyers are this week protesting a move to deny him bail and return him to prison - the head-scratching continues. Madoff doesn't look much like a financial Mephistopheles. But then, what would that look like? Swindlers in drama tend to be small-scale, street-sized. … [Read more...]

When I interviewed the director Sir Peter Hall recently, he mentioned that when he was preparing the British premiere of Beckett's Waiting for Godot in 1955, Peter Brook suggested that he consider Francis Bacon as set designer. Although Bacon had established an international reputation with his 'screaming pope' paintings, Hall had never heard of him. They met for a drink, and it immediately became … [Read more...]

In the spirit of these slimmed-down times, let's keep the new year's resolutions simple this year. Mine is short and relatively unambitious: at long last, to see a ventriloquist's act. It's amazing that I've got so far through my performance-haunting career without seeing someone throwing their voice or appearing to talk through the dummy on their knee. Ventriloquists were a staple of children's … [Read more...]