Synopsis Updated from Brian Clark's 1978 play to take into account medical advances over the past 30 years. After a road accident, an intelligently independent and sexy sculptor, now forced to rely on others, fights to reclaim the crucial decisions about her own life and death. Updated 'feminine' version
Kim Cattrall, who famously played the sexually voracious Samantha Jones in the long-running TV series Sex and the City, now makes her West End theatrical debut spending the evening lying flat on her back, flirting outrageously with passing men, and inviting their opinions on the attractiveness of her breasts.
Within seconds of the beginning of Brian Clark’s Whose Life is it Anyway?, she’s talking about men being “fuckable”, the ability to get herself off “by myself”, and wondering what the point of phone sex is if it gets to be routine.
But the difference here to Cattrall’s Sex and the City persona is that, when we meet her, she’s actually in a hospital bed, where she’s been these past five months, and facing the prospect of spending the rest of her life in one. Her character, sculptor Claire Harrison, suffered a severed spinal cord in a car accident, and is now paralysed – in all probability, permanently so.
For once, it’s no insult to accuse an actor of acting from the neck up: that’s literally all the movement her Harrison has left at her disposal. But Cattrall, propped up in a hospital bed that’s set at an alarming pitch on the raked stage of Lucy Hall’s set, brings a heartfelt commitment, sardonic wit and piercing emotional vulnerability to the role of a woman wrestling with a life and death decision. To be or not to be, that is her question.
It’s not a spoiler to say that she chooses to die, for most of the play revolves around her efforts to exercise that choice, against the wishes of the hospital doctors and administrators whose job, as they see it, is to preserve life, not help to terminate it.
Cattrall may be the still, calm but wrenching focus of Peter Hall’s entirely gripping production – and in a most unusual step, is rewarded with the final solo curtain call for her redoubtable efforts – but the strength of the production lies in how convincingly it’s inhabited throughout, from doctors (Alexander Siddig, William Chubb), nurses (Ann Mitchell, Emma Lowndes), orderly (Jotham Annan) and therapist (Rachel Bavidge) to lawyer (Amita Dhiri) and judge (Janet Suzman), who variously attend her.
Clark’s play - updated since its original 1978 production that featured Tom Conti as the then-male patient to include inevitable references to Christopher Reeve and Stephen Hawking - marshals a still powerful and pertinent debate. While another institutional-set drama, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, struck me as dated and gratuitous in its recent revival, also with a blazing star turn (Christian Slater) at its centre, this thought-provoking production is sensational rather than sensationalist.
A riveting piece of theatre - provocative, stimulating and surprisingly funny. Sir Peter's production serves the play perfectly as do the performances of Kim Cattrall and the supporting cast. Highly recommended. - 195.93.21.100)
06 Apr 05
Kim Cattrall's character, Claire Harrison, had lost the will to live and so had I by the end of this play. The whole thing just wasn't convincing and didn't seem to go anywhere. We learnt very little about the character of Claire - a scene with her boyfriend, parents or friends, all of whom were mentioned, might have helped but instead all we got was scenes with doctors, nurses, porters, social workers, lawyers and judges who had only known Claire for the few months since the accident. Kim Cattrall did give a fine performance and I'm sure this is the kind of role all actors love to play but for me watching it just wasn't engaging enough and I didn't find myself caring enough about the lead charatcer. Even the high drama moments missed the mark for me and didn't reach their potential. At least I got mt ticket half price at TKTS!! - 62.254.77.14)
27 Mar 05
This being the first time ever seeing a theatre play, I was intrigued to find out what it is all about and I was not disappointed at all. Kim played the part exceptioanlly well and it made me respect her as an actress. Very moving and powerful and yet Kim brought that sense of humour into it with style. Excellent play, and I also give high credit to all the cast. - 81.86.89.75)
20 Mar 05
I saw the production on March 2nd and found it incredibly moving. Special mentions for Kim Cattrall in the title role, and Alexander Siddig as Dr Scott. Both are on top form and produce the emotional centre of the play. The staging is impressive and although the play is a revival the basic moral arguments are still as relevant today as when it was first staged. It also does not preach leaving you the viewer to make up your own mind.
A must see. - 81.158.56.210)
19 Mar 05
I come to this play having never seen it or it's 'star' before. I found it a deeply intelligent, objective and thought-provoking piece. Much of the audience was clearly there for the star rather than the play, but if that's what it takes to bring a play and production of this quality into the West End, and a new audience to see it, then I for one say 'welcome Ms Cattrall' - 81.134.128.192)
12 Mar 05
Well staged, very well acted, very enjoyable. A very important, difficult issue was interestingly debated. - 217.44.98.167)
17 Feb 05
A all round superb production. The play was very thought provoking and moving. The acting of the cast was faultless. Many congratulation to Kim, who is brilliant throughout. She has such excellent stage presence, I loved SATC but it obviously did not stretch her acting ability. I hope it wont be too long before she returns again to the West End. A must see. - 84.66.99.29)
04 Feb 05
Still very moving after all these years. A tidy, satisfying play that confronts a difficult issue in a clear, committed and compassionate way. The updating grated on me, though: the references to Diane Pretty and Christopher Reeve stuck out in their selfconsciousness. Even the rapping orderly had a thankless task with his hip new script: I half-expected him to say Claire was 'fab and groovy'. And one or two of the secondary roles were poorly played. I greatly enjoyed Kim Cattrall and Janet Suzman, though. Suzman's first entrance was a masterclass in scene stealing. - 195.144.130.1)
31 Jan 05
As an occupational therapist who has worked with spinal injury patients I found Whose Life to be charmingly accurate in its portrayal of the harmless sexual banter and flirting that often goes on. However a patient would not be left to lie in bed all day doing nothing.They would be encouraged to use whatever movement they had,however small,to create something or achieve some everyday task.They would not have to wait to be moved to a special unit for this to happen.There would also be no reason,as far as I am aware,why someone in Claire Harrison's situation would have to spend the rest of her life in hospital.Although sex was alluded to several times it was as something that only able bodied people do, whereas a little imagination could lead a disabled person to a different type of sex life,albeit limited.These omissions mislead the audience and make the debate about whether to choose life or death too one sided.If I was disabled through a spinal injury I think I would feel very angry about this play.However given these limitations Kim Catrall is an inspired choice for the role of Claire Harrison and seemed to give it everything she had on the opening night.The supporting cast are also very good,I particularly enjoyed Janet Suzman's performance as the judge.Worth seeing for the excellent acting. - 81.155.9.11)
28 Jan 05
A strong performance from Kim as the bed-bound Clare. A simple but effective set that truly evokes hospital wards. Good supporting cast, especially the Dr's and Nurses. What i could not reconcile was that had this been written today it would have been a bit grittier. It talks a lot about professionalism of the nursing staff and the obvious distance between patient and carer. I think that this aspect of British culture has changed and the play is very rooted in this. Notwithstanding this is a good play, so go and see it as it is a thought provoking piece with a great performances by Cattrall & Mitchell. Even more thought-provoking was the ad from the Voluntary Euthanasia Society in the programme. Nice to see something new that is well acted and well directed in the West End, and does not feel that it was run by accountants! BJH. - 168.230.192.250)
Opened 15 Oct 1881, designed by Thomas Verity and originally gas lit. 780 seats. An Ambassadors theatre since 2000 and renamed The Harold Pinter Theatre in September 2011 in recognition of the wide range of Pinter's plays that the theatre has hosted.
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