Appalling. Dreadful play and dreadfully directed. Why did no-one at the National see this disaster coming ? A great waste of acting talent. - fred
22 May 08
Soooo dull. A total mess. Avoid like the plague. - art87
21 May 08
Well at least it only cost me £10... very noticeable how many people didn't come back for the last hour, even on a Saturday night. Obviously Tony Harrison's interest in Nansen is more marginal than mine. Perhaps the play should have been called "Murray" or "Thorndike". As the last scene before the interval went on far too long, the only way out of it appeared to be go to go blackout! Even the old Spike Milligan technique of walking off muttering "what do we do now?" would have been better. - Chris Moorcroft
21 May 08
I went into Fram really wanting to like it, the cast list included exceptional actors. However, honestly, I found it to be one of the worst plays I have ever seen - an utter waste of an evening - the ballet was so pretentious I was trying not to laugh. The first half was far, far too long - I can't comment about the second as we made a swift escape along with many others during the interval. The crew were noisy and failed to lock off a piece of the set - which proceed to wobble when any cast members on it moved. What did another reviewer call it? ... oh yes....a shambolic bore. Save your money. - Karen Webber
14 May 08
I have obviously just seen the same performance of this play as the previous reviwer (rds), but my reaction to it could not be more different. For me, this production represents what a truly 'national' theatre should be about: it is innovative, courageous, visually stunning and thought-provoking. Unashamedly didactic, it is written almost wholly in rhyming couplets - a device which some might find irritating - and is based on the rather odd premise of a play by the classicist Gilbert Murray about the explorer-cum-philanthropist Nansen, whose own life represents the possibility for change from self-seeking fame to altruistic benevolence. Via a series of meditations on such diverse topics as the value of art (or otherwise), the most effective way to present disasters to an audience (Murray is supposedly writing in 1922)and the necessity for human cooperation, we proceed from Nansen's Arctic expedition of 1893 to the horror of the Ukranian famine in 1922, at which time Nansen was working with refugees for the League of Nations. Taking a swipe at the press (nothing changes), Harrison and the brilliant set designer, Bob Crowley, use real footage of the victims of the famine as a backdrop to prove that such things were really happening. But, in a surprising volte-face, and by means of some very clever editing, we see two of these supposedly dead victims suddenly come to life, thereby supporting the possibility put forward by the Beaverbrook-owned press that the representations of death and starvation were posed. This is only one instance among many where Harrison seems to be arguing against himself, forcing the audience to think (something which many were not prepared to do, it seems, for there were many empty seats after the interval). Outstanding among a fine group of actors was Sian Thomas as the resurrected Sibyl Thorndike. Jeff Rawles as the pedantic Murray was suitably sniffy and very amusing in his diatribes against TS Eliot; Mark Addy as the suicidal Johansen had great honesty; and Carolyn Pickles in the small role of Eglantyne Jebb was impressive. The weakest acting came from Jasper Britton as Nansen, who, I felt, never really got to grips with either the verse or the character. But, all in all, a splendid and wholly admirable work. It's worth the ten pounds Travelex price for the sets alone. - sc
10 May 08
Long winded, shambolic, and rambling - what else? Oh! yes, pretentious. Ultimatley it failed as a dramatic piece. Unrelenting verse which was more reminiscent of panto than any Greek tragedy and particularly so given the writers obsession with farts and other bodily functions. It failed miserably and even the prospect of some dramatic stage effects to come failed to retain many of the audience who left at the interval. I and my companion, intrepid theatre goers as we are, stuck it out to the bitter end! What a let down. Fram's appearance at the end was just another scene shift on the revolve adding still further to the Panto look as this huge frosted bow appeared from the bowls of the Olivier stage. None of this or the puerile humour sat comfortably with the images of starving children and of corpses which made appearences earlier in the piece. Two directors couldn't get it right either! Come on Mr Crowley...stick to designing and Mr Harrison...get back to the keyboard and leave directing to the experts. Sadly none of the cast truly excelled with the material they'd been given, although I liked Sian Thomas' Sybil Thorndike. Now I am getting worried with what's going on at our NT. Never so Good - more like bad! Harper Reagan..dire and now Fram. Come on Nick either get it sorted or move over and give someone else a chance. - rds
10 May 08
After reading the reviews of this play I went along with some apprehension last night. So I was therefore surprised to find how much I enjoyed this play. The entire cast are superb as you would expect from a production at the National. Especially Sian Thomas whose performance as Sybil Thorndike is a joy to watch and she really did deserve her applause for her portrayal of a famine sufferer. I also thought Mark Addy shold have a mention for his excellent portrayal of Johansen. There are some visually stunning moments throughout the production from Westminster Abbey and the views along the Thames to the National Theatre and the transformation scences to the ice of the North Pole. Go and see this as it is worth the price of the ticket especially as it can be seen for as little as £10 and it is well worth seeing it through to the end as there are some very unexpected moments including the rising of the ship from the artic ice. You will not be dissapointed if you go with an open mind. - I.L.S
01 May 08
Tony Harrison has been responsible for some of the greatest moments in the history of the National Theatre - the Passion is one of the top five theatre events I've attended - but unfortunately, this reputation may have led him and them astray. On being presented with Fram, the NT authorities should have said (i) this won't do. It's incoherent and too long. And (ii), because of (i), we're going to give you an experienced director to help you whip it into shape. Unfortunately, they didn't do either, so the Olivier is now home to a self-indulgent mess, with occasional redeeming features.
For me, the main problem with Fram is a complete failure to integrate its two main themes, or even to get them to relate at all in any interesting way. The first theme, mainly given to Gilbert Murray and Sybil Thorndike, concerns the relationship between suffering and art (with a sideline in words versus pictures). The second, given to Nansen and Johansen (and pretty much ignored by everyone else), is about Darwinism (the weak go to the wall) versus compassion, with a special focus on Nansen's personal hypocrisy (eg helping the starving while using his concern to seduce women). Both would have made a good subject for a play. Put together, neither illuminates the other, and there are long passages in which someone examines one theme or the other while everyone else stands around like lemons.
However, things are made even worse by the fact that each theme ends with a clunky piece of symbolism - a blind, mute poet and two African stowaways covered in flies. Neither worked for me at all.
That said, there are excellent performances (particularly from Sian Thomas) and the stage design and lighting are superb. I hung on until the end, although many didn't. All in all, a bit like the French view of Wagner - some wonderful moments, but some terrible quarters-of-an-hour. - Paul Steeples
29 Apr 08
Fram by Tony Harrison National Theatre
Great poets connect our inner worlds of myth and dream to the outer events that experience and observation offer us. We know that Tony Harrison will disturb, shock, appal us with some unwelcome confrontation when we open a book of his poems – will it be the same in the Theatre? At first it seems we are in for a genial evening in the company of Gilbert Murray’s ghost who resurrects Sybil Thorndike in the vast, beautifully realised interior of Westminster Abbey (did any of us know there is a Sybil in the stained glass window?) in order to take her to the National Theatre to perform in a play – not, as the pair of them would have preferred, Medea or Oedipus ( a Greek mask accompanies many of the actors through the play), but a new play by a blunt Northerner. The film projections which follow their journey across the Thames to their appearance in the audience and arrival on stage gives us a taste of the slide show, special effects and cunning soundtrack that will enrich our participation.
For we are never allowed out of this play. Though overall about the Norwegian explorer Nansen it expands to challenge all passionate, necessary adventures (the word Fram translates as ‘forward’) desperately undertaken by those who struggle to be fully human in a terrible world. We see Nansen – a commanding performance from Jasper Britten – and suicidal companion Johansen (Mark Addy) survive the icy Arctic: and the absurd discomfort of each other’s company and the shared sleeping bag. But this is only the prelude to Nansen’s extraordinary work in Russia and his lecture tour following horrific observation of the Ukrainian famine. The pictures – actual, appalling, multiplied across the vast space of the Olivier stage – are the central horror of the evening, forming the nub of the debate: do words or pictures, voices or dance, film, poetry or theatre ever give us real insight? And can they jolt us out of our middle class complacency and bland donations to Famine Aid into any real action that helps anyone?
The charity dinner bringing Hansen, the USA famine team, Murray and Thorndike and the Quaker ladies together, spells out the debate – will there ever be (it is 1922) moving pictures – with sound? – in people’s living rooms? And would that have any effect? Well here, backed by the marvellous National Theatre’s technology, and the insistent ghost of Johannsen – a warm and aggressive performance from Mark Addy – we are compelled to attention. When the silent Kurdish poet, who has sewn up his own mouth and eyes, stumbles out through the audience in a strange echo of Murray’s first entrance, and two mysterious African boys meet Nansen and plant his flag… nowhere – anywhere? we also stumble in comprehension until the final speech tells their story and brings Nansen’s ship back up out of the ice in a thrilling climax.
Theatre – poetry – can we be made to feel? Much is despair: is there any hope? In the remarkable fortitude of men like Nansen, maybe. Add the remarkable imagination and eloquence of artists like Harrison and at least we will know. And not forget: this is a play in verse – but we survive through the subtlety of the construct, longing to recapture odd, epigrammatical witticisms… It is unlikely that such a staging can be appropriately recaptured anywhere, so I look forward to a printed copy of the play. But that of course will be without the excitement of the fine performances: the genial wooing of the audience by Jeff Rawle as Murray and the stunning solo act from Sian Thomas as Thorndike (“what, my dear, only one scene for me?”) becoming the starving woman, shocking with words and action the genteel charity dinner guests and proving the worth of Art in a dying world.
Tony Butler 18 April 08
- Tony Butler
20 Apr 08
An utter mess of a play, and a total bore to boot. We joined the exodus at intermission.
Save your money. - Martin Barrett
20 Apr 08
Fram opens with great energy and engaging characters. I really wanted to like this play and there are some wonderful moments, but ultimately it loses its way in the second half where I feel the message of the play was over-stated and repeated. With a bit of selective edtiting this could be a great play, but in its current form it felt a bit meandering and confusing. - R Tomlins
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