Cause Célèbre, The Old Vic, London, March 2011

A young man kills his lover’s husband in a fit of jealousy. Should he hang? This is 1935 when the death penalty was mandatory for a murder conviction of this sort but the public was unduly sympathetic because the wife, Alma had carried on with him under her husband’s roof, and presumably wanted her husband, Francis Rattenbury out of the way. He was not an altogether nice man — after leaving his first wife he had the heat and lights turned off in their home, and flaunted his affair with his future second wife, the 27-year old Alma Pakenham.

The husband’s nasty streak is, however, not the point in this Rattigan play, which deals with the illicit relationship between Alma and her chauffeur, along with the court case, a cause célèbre in 1935. This frames everything towards the end, allowing us to see what really happened. Times have changed, of course, but the public’s prurient interest in personal scandal is timeless, and well expressed in this, Rattigan’s last play.

Anne-Marie Duff, photos by Johan Persson

Anne-Marie Duff as Alma Rattenbury was utterly convincing as a charmingly batty woman who lived life to the full. She probably wasn’t very bright, saying in court that she had no sex with her husband because, “the flesh was willing but the spirit was weak”, but then her lover was none too bright either, thinking he could get off by claiming to be on cocaine. The brightest person in the play is probably O’Connor the barrister, brilliantly played by Nicholas Jones. Add to that Niamh Cusack as Edith Davenport, portraying a fiercely judgemental woman who became the leader of the jury, and Lucy Robinson as her friend Stella Morrison, who takes a large, ultimately losing bet on the outcome, and here was the germ of a superb cast. Ms. Robinson’s cut glass accent was absolutely of the time, and Niamh Cusack was convincingly earnest in her possessive relationship with her son, her strict avoidance of her estranged husband, and her jury role as a key player in the verdict. These wonderful actors allowed Anne-Marie Duff to carry off the role of the adorable and infuriating Alma with tremendous spirit.

Niamh Cusack with Simon Chandler as her estranged husband

At the time of these events, Alma was 39 and her lover was 18, though in this production he looked older than that. The large age difference was one of the things that shocked the public, who saw her as the dominant partner. But as Rattigan’s Alma points out to the judge, it’s the younger person who has control in this situation. Thirty-nine can be a desperate age for some women, and had the age difference been the other way, the home secretary might not have intervened after the sentence. As it was the young chauffeur lived “a quiet life” until he died in 2000, aged 83.

The director, Thea Sharrock was also responsible for the National Theatre’s excellent revival of Rattigan’s After the Dance last year, and here again we have a fine production with designs by Hildegard Bechtler. I loved the lighting by Bruno Poet, which at times brought various characters from darkness to light, and vice versa — this was particularly good during the court scenes because the Old Vic is a cavernous theatre with a huge stage, and the lighting helped to create a useful intimacy.

The play runs until June 11 — for more information, click here for more details on the Old Vic’s website.

The Cherry Orchard, Old Vic, June 2009

This, the last of Chekhov’s plays, is being produced along with The Winter’s Tale, as part of The Bridge Project using a mix of British and American actors.

It was presented more as comedy than tragedy in Sam Mendes’ production, performed to a translation by Tom Stoppard. The comedy was effective in showing the head-in-the-sand attitude of a family who are more concerned with romance and betrothal than finding a way out of their financial difficulties. Indeed, Sinead Cusack came over well as the mother, Ranevskaya who is in denial of her impecuniosity, and unwilling to face the prospect of tearing down her beloved cherry orchard and using the land for summer cottages. Simon Russell Beale as the ex-serf Lopakhin did a splendid job of trying to impose some rational behaviour on these once-wealthy landowners, warning them they will lose the whole estate if they do nothing. As they remain paralysed in a state of denial he buys it himself, owning the place to which his father and grandfather were once indentured.

While I regard Ranevskaya and Lopakhin as the principal characters, the rest of the cast did very well, and this was a team performance without anyone dominating things. When Ranevskaya returns from Paris to her estate she brings her 17-year old daughter Anya, well portrayed by Morven Christie, and the girl’s German governess Charlotta, dramatically played by Selina Cadell, who did a wonderful job of the conjuring tricks in the party scene. Rebecca Hall as Ranevskaya’s adopted daughter Varya had excellent stage presence with her brooding angst, and yearning for Lopakhin. The large cast comprises some twenty-odd characters, so I shall only mention two or three more. Ethan Hawke was suitably irritating as the student and ex-tutor of Ranevskaya’s late son, Paul Jesson was good as the sentimentally silly brother of Ranevskaya, and Richard Easton did an excellent job as the old retainer who is left behind in the sealed-up house after the others have all left. As he slumps in a chair, falls off and lies on the ground we hear a sharp crack, signifying the beginning of the end of the cherry orchard as the first tree falls.

The set design by Anthony Ward was a raised platform with carpets but no other scenery, and the lighting by Paul Pyant worked well, as did the sound by Paul Arditti, with music by Mark Bennett. Costumes by Catherine Zuber were of the period, namely start of the twentieth century. All in all a simple but effective production, and a fine performance from the cast of British and American actors.

The Winter’s Tale, at the Old Vic, June 2009

This delightful Shakespeare play is being produced along with Chekhov’s Cherry Orchard as part of The Bridge Project using a mix of British and American actors.

It was given an excellent production by Sam Mendes. It is about the destructive suspicions of King Leontes who accuses his heavily pregnant wife, Hermione of adultery with King Polixenes, a visitor for the past nine months. A courtier, Camillo is ordered to poison Polixenes, but believing in the queen’s innocence he warns him to leave, and they flee together. The baby daughter is then abandoned in the wild, where she is found and brought up by a shepherd, and given the name Perdita. Sixteen years later, Polixenes’s son, disguised as a shepherd, meets her and they fall in love. When Polixenes rages against his son’s match, the couple flee to Leontes’s court, followed by the shepherd bringing tokens of Perdita’s true identity, directed by an engaging rogue named Autolycus. Leontes already knows of his wife’s innocence from the Oracle at Delphi, and a statue of her has recently been completed at the house of Paulina, the widow of the courtier who originally took the baby girl into the wild and was himself eaten by a bear. Polixenes and Camillo arrive, and after matters relating to Perdita are settled, Paulina shows the assembled company a great wonder. The new statue of Hermione comes to life, after which Paulina and Camillo, who had both believed in her innocence, become engaged, and everyone celebrates the miracle.

The role of Leontes was brilliantly played by Simon Russell Beale, with Rebecca Hall elegantly portraying his wife. Paul Jesson was a convincing Camillo, and Sinead Cusack a wonderfully sympathetic Paulina. Polixenes, Perdita, and Polixenes’s son were all well portrayed by Josh Hamilton, Morven Christie, and Michael Brown, and the shepherd was delightfully played by Richard Easton. Autolychus was superbly performed by Ethan Hawke, and his singing added just the right colour.

The entire production was a delight, and the simple sets by Anthony Ward and modern costumes by Catherine Zuber allowed the actors to dominate the stage, which they did very well, aided by Paul Pyant’s lighting design that used spots and darkness to very good effect. This is part of the Bridge project, with a mixed cast of American and British actors, each using their own accents, and the performance came over very naturally. An excellent Winter’s Tale for the summer months.