Synopsis A musician and his rival, a younger woman, are having a long-awaited conversation. As they spit their mutual malice with precision and aplomb, they question the hatred they have used to outdo each other in pursuit of art. With echoes of King Lear, it promises to unpick the belief that a muse must be made of love. The Cordelia Dream is cast from the ensemble of actors performing The Merchant of Venice and The Taming of the Shrew and includes Michelle Gomez and David Hargreaves.
This is a bold move by the RSC. Just as other theatre companies are dusting off their Christmas plays to give us something festive, the RSC has commissioned Irish writer Marina Carr for this deeply unsettling play on the theme of family breakdown.
Taking as its starting point the death of Cordelia towards the end of King Lear, Carr has fashioned a play that deals with family relationships, professional jealousies, dementia, impending death and the creative process. Carr does slightly overplay the Lear references, there are constant allusions to the play during the course of the evening – almost as if she was undertaking a challenge to fit as many in as possible.
The story is simple: a woman calls on an elderly man in a sparsely furnished flat. It’s apparent from the outset that there’s no love lost between them but after a time, it’s slowly revealed that they are father and daughter and that they’re both composers, with varying degrees of success. The title of the play comes from a dream that the woman (neither she nor the man is named in the play) has about the dead Cordelia, a title that is then appropriated by the man for a chamber piece.
Death seems to feature heavily in Carr’s work and she has a taste for the supernatural that emerges in this play too. That struck me as a rather unsatisfying element. In a play about the fragility of human relationships, it seems unnecessary to introduce a non-human touch.
The performers do the play justice. Michelle Gomez paints a vivid picture of a woman torn between love and hate; a woman desperate to do well by her father, while seething with resentment. David Hargreaves is equally strong as the father with no paternal desires, struggling to create his masterpiece, his swan song. Certainly here was someone who subscribed to Connolly’s dictum that the pram in the hallway is the enemy of good art but what Carr has left unanswered is whether the man has any true talent or not.
Selina Cartmell directs with a sure touch and composer Conor Linhan’s score enhances the work – always a challenge in a play about music.
This is a thought-provoking, if flawed, piece – just the thing to cast a pall over any projected family visits. It did make me wonder what the RSC would give us next Christmas to spice up the feast; Titus Andronicus anyone?
The play I felt did lack some thing which was needed,however, Michelle Gomez's performance was outstanding and completly portrayed this broken yet devoted women.
Some harsh reviews which I feel The Cordelia Dream does not deserve. - Fiona G
02 Jan 09
Sorry, but no. The performers do their best with some nonsense material, but even they seem to have given up the ghost by the end. And given David Hargreaves is playing a talented composer, he needs to learn how to conduct in time to the music (which is the production's saving grace...) - dgr1
23 Dec 08
I'm surprised by these harsh reviews. I found the play at once witty and cutting, sad and realistic but with a surreal and thought-provoking edge. If a little heavy on the Shakespeare references, I thought The Cordelia Dream none-the-less inspiring, vivacious and clever. - Gertie the Lairy Hairy Quite Contrary Fairy
19 Dec 08
This at least provides an opportunity to visit Wiltons Music Hall and hear some beautifully haunting music but i'm afraid the play offers little else. The audience seemed utterly bored, myself amongst them. The play says all it needs to in act one. And that,s not a lot. Deeply disappointing. The rsc seem to be saving their poor commissions for London! - martin b
Grace's Alley off Ensign Street and Cable Street Inner London London E1 8JB
Telephone
020 7702 2789
Station
Tower Hill (LT)
Description
Built by pub owner John Wilton in 1859, the world's oldest music hall. Closed in the 1880's it became a Methodist Mission and later a rag warehouse. Once condemned, it was saved by the intervention of Sir Laurence Olivier, Peter Sellers and Sir John Betjeman.
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