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Synopsis Set in Detroit, Michigan, and played in real time, the play takes us to the heart of 80's suburban America, and is at once a searing critique of suburban values and a hard-hitting parable about the American dream.National Anthems tells the story of Arthur and Leslie Reed, an affluent couple whose delightful house is packed with swanky imported furniture and designer clothes and who have a brand new BMW out the front and an ornate Japanese garden round the back. Everything is going absolutely delightfully until Ben Cook - an inner city fire fighter arrives to add a little spice to their 1980s idyll.
Forty-one years ago, National Anthems began gestating as a one-act student play. Seventeen years ago, actor Kevin Spacey first encountered it in its present form when he appeared in a production at New Haven’s Long Wharf Theatre in 1988. Now it arrives at the Old Vic, trailing both a long history and high expectations for its highest-profile outing yet.
Spacey may have been smart to cling on to the rights for the bravura star turn it affords him at the play’s centre. The pity is that playwright Dennis McIntyre has only had his ambitions for it realised from beyond the grave. In the 26 years between beginning its writing and his death, aged 47, in 1990, McIntyre saw National Anthems performed in endless readings, workshops and regional US productions – the inevitable fate of much “new” American drama that gets workshopped to death.
In the process, however, some of the play's freshness and spontaneity may well have dissipated. It's no fault of the playwright - or of Spacey’s dogged perseverance in returning to the piece to at last make his acting debut at the Waterloo theatre since taking over the artistic reins there - that it doesn’t entirely live up to the hype or hopes that are now being trailed in its wake.
What is in essence a taut little fringe play that might have read more powerfully in the close-up intimacy of, say, the Donmar Warehouse, feels a little lost and unduly inflated to fill the large stage and auditorium of the Old Vic.
Here, the upwardly mobile suburban aspirations of a lawyer and his teacher wife, who have recently moved into the Detroit suburb of Birmingham, are played off against those of a neighbour, making an unannounced visit. As their hollow, materialistic values are exposed – their furniture is on order from Italy, the sound system has come from Denmark, and the car on lease is a BMW but the husband is toying with a Porsche - their encounter with their mysterious blue-collar neighbour quickly descends into an inevitable clash of values.
While McIntyre’s play and David Grindley’s production of it feels stagey and contrived, it's nevertheless propelled by a trio of strong performances. Spacey is edgily brilliant as the neighbour, while Mary Stuart Masterson and Steven Weber are compulsively watchable as the couple facing a long night’s reckoning.
A story rooted deep in suburban America, so some of the references were lost on us and we didn't understand all of the football talk. Nevertheless, there were some great one-liners, a lot of laughs and, I have to say, an absolutely stunning performance by Stacey. I used to think he was a very good actor, now I realise he is a great one. He didn't so much act the part, he BECAME Ben the fireman and you watched fascinated as this outwardly cocky man's weaknesses, foibles, prejudices and fears gradually rose to the surface. What a performance. One of the very few times I've been in a theatre and joined the rest of the audience spontaneously rising to its feet to give a standing ovation. We'll be going back in a few weeks to see him in the Philadelphia Story. Can't wait. - 195.234.243.2)
12 Apr 05
Absolutely wonderful. Kevin Spacey is just stunning to watch.
Steven Weber and Mary Stuart Masterson also shine.
Don't listen to mediocre reviews from the critics.
National Anthems is a great night out! - 193.108.73.47)
05 Apr 05
Don't listen to the newspaper critics: they may have their own reasons for criticising this play but make up your own mind. National Anthems has been criticised for being "dated". I find this amusing as, taking that view, Shakespeare or Les Miserables would be obsolete. It shows a point in time and reflects the decadence and materialism of the eighties. Kevin Spacey is a genius, so masterful in changing his voice and body language that I could see no resemblance to the characters he plays in films. The emotion and vigour with which he throws himself (quite literally!) into the role is a sight to behold. A very enjoyable night and worth the standing ovation. - 217.137.88.59)
01 Apr 05
This was a very good piece, well written and exceptionally well-performed; the stage presence of Spacey is remarkable. The intimate dimensions of the Old Vic allow the audience to be drawn into play and share in its vigor. The insights into American life, and what motivates the quest of many is beautifully displayed, and it is dated only insofar as some of the cues are a bit old-fashioned: italian furniture or a danish sound system do not have the same cachet as a trip to New Zealand or Harvard MBA have today. Overall, very much worth seeing. - 212.201.71.17)
23 Mar 05
Great performances from all three actors. Kevin Spacey is just amazing. I haven't seen Mary Stuart Masterson that funny and hilarious before (and I have seen her in a lot of stuff). Steven Weber is convincing as a dislikable, self-important and selfish man. The audience seemd to enjoy the play very much, no matter what some media critics had to say about it. I can just recommend it. - 193.122.47.162)
23 Mar 05
A Fantastic performance that took the whole audience on an emotional rollercoaster! One of the best pieces of theatre I have seen in many years. Having taking a group of GCSE and
A Level students with me to see the play, they were all inspired and moved by excellence! - 212.85.1.1)
22 Mar 05
Late 80s tale of yuppie couple who are visited by a neighbour in the suburb they've just moved to. They're trying to clear up after a dinner party, and can't seem to get rid of their visitor. This sets the scene for an evening of humour and tension that I found entertaining and enjoyable, driven by three solid performances. The general tone of the press notices suggests it's a damp squib but while it's not stunning, it's good and on balance worth seeing. - 194.82.50.2)
02 Mar 05
Although this may not qualify as a great play it is a very good one. Most reviews seem to regard it as a dated look at the materialistic valus of 80s American suburbia but I think it is also about Kevin Spacey's character's attempt to recapture the lost glory of his younger days as a High School football star. The climax of the play shows how futile those attempts were leading to a dramatic breakdown.
If the writing is not absolutely top-class the performances certainly are. Stevn Weber and, particularly, Mary Stuart Masterson are excellent but Spacey's incredible performance makes this the must-see event so far in 2005. He is in turn subtle, humourous, vindictive, taunting, raging, violent and then broken but is always impoosible not to watch compulsively. It is not too soon to believe that Spacey deserves to wrap up all the best actor prizes for this bravura performance. - 62.6.139.13)
25 Feb 05
I can honestly say that this is the best play I have ever seen & I feel privialged to have seen it. From the start Kevin Spacey seemingly had Saturday night's audience in the palm of his hand. The play showed both it's comedic side, (one I didn't know it had), & it's raw emotion. In the second half you range from "laugh out loud" to a quiet stunned silence as Ben Cook slowly breaks down in front of our eyes. The emotion portrayed by all three actors held the audince's attention with a stunned silence, only broken by the raptuous applause when the lights went down. Do try to go & see it, I'm sure you will not be disappointed. - 84.66.254.13)
13 Feb 05
This is not a great play, but it is a play 'of its time' which is interesting, beautifully performed, wonderfully staged & designed and worth a visit. It is so sad that the welcome we gave Mr. Spacey has turned into a backlash. He makes perfectly accurate comments about noisy audiences and we react badly. He is brave enough to try new plays at the Old Vic and we slag him off. No doubt he will whinge at the incessant photo flashes from the stalls during the curtain calls and we'll say its his out-of-control ego. For goodness sake, the man is having a go and making a few mistakes along the way - give him a break ! - 81.136.191.98)
The Old Vic is one of the oldest theatres in London and famous throughout the English speaking world. Long known as 'the actors theatre', many of the greatest performers of the last century have played on its stage. In September 2004, The Old Vic Theatre Company was launched, under the artistic leadership of Kevin Spacey, to present a wide range of work, from the classic to the new, to appeal to both traditional theatre-goers and new audiences.
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