Reader Reviews
De Monfort (Orange Tree Theatre, Outer London)
Back to Show Details| Score | Comment | Date |
 | This terrific revival, directed by the great man himself, of his 1979 three tiered farce, Taking Steps, shows off the man's genius for innovative theatre. Watching and reveling in it I kept thinking "how does he think them up?". It would be great if a place could be found for a transfer, I'm sure many more than the two hundred or so who get the privilege to see it each night would want to. That's two Ayckbourn's in Richmond in as many months - lucky ol' Richmond. - rds | 20 May 10 |
| I seem to have been present at a completely different play from your reviewer, who seems to get a kick out of belittling the company's efforts to find life in Baillie's very difficult, and, yes, very flawed play. The portrait of a man trying desparately to live up to society's image of a noble, heroic figure while inside he is rapidly descending into some kind of madness was movingly and cleverly charted. It does not matter why he feels as he does. People do not have to be artional by early 21st century standards - Leontes isn't in "A Winter's Tale" and there are other examples. Equally, "Cymbeline" is a very odd play but only if you approach it with the same criteria as, say, "Hamlet". So why should Baillie have to conform to other models of what a play is? She has certainly not produced an easy job for the director but I thought this production went some considerable way towards breathing life into all of the characters. In particular the assorted monks and nuns who suddenly have to take over the driving of this play were played with sensitivity and verve, sustaining the audience's interest against the odds - we have never met any of them, they are to all intents and purposes Baillie's rent-a-crowd or a kind of greek chorus at the best, but here they had individuality and they held the stage. The music was superbly atmospheric, the setting a moodily lit pit for such desparate goings-on. - Paul Bond | 07 May 08 |
