Festen

Synopsis

In Festen, patriarch Helge Klingenfelt is celebrating his 60th birthday with his family at a magnificent old hotel in the Danish countryside. Gathered together are his loyal wife Elsa, his daughter Helene, and sons Christian and Michael. As the evening progresses, Christian feels compelled to break the silence surrounding a dark family secret. The effect is explosive and sets the tone for a celebration no-one will forget.

Our Review:

24 September 2004

While Festen successfully managed its first transition from film to the stage of the Almeida earlier this year, the question now was whether it would survive another transfer. Could it manage, in the West End’s larger Lyric Theatre, to recreate the almost intrusive intimacy and shocking intensity of what we saw in that small room at the Almeida? And might three key cast changes in principal roles also disrupt what was previously a simply astonishing display of ensemble performance?

I had called this, after all, “one of the most electrifying nights I’ve ever had in a theatre” the first time I saw it (see below); and so I was ready to be disappointed. Maybe that judgement would prove to be rash; or maybe the change in venue and cast would alter its texture. In fact, I am astonished and overwhelmed all over again.

Even knowing the outcome now, or maybe especially knowing that, I find this family’s bruising, emotional long night’s journey into a day of ir...

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Latest User Review

81.156.105.7) - 29 March 2005:

Festen -Saturday evening 26th March. This play and production was a dissapointment for me after it being recommended and the great reviews it has recieved. An "electrifying" evening in the theatre it wasn't!! The play has been recast and some of the performances were woefully inadequate - Paul Nichols along with other members of the cast were inaudible at times ( I was half way back in the stalls) and lacked projection, many lines being spoken upstage with no allowance for this, consequently many lines were missed and the play seemed full of contradictions and strange motivations, which were not explained. Given the shocking nature of what was exposed at this 60th Bithday Party, the reactions on stage seemed completely unbelievable and inconsistant. Perhaps at the Almeida in a smaller space with the original cast it may have been fabulous but in a bigget space with poor projection obviously something was lost. These long running producions ought to be re -reviewed with cast changes to reflect a more accurate picture of the present standard. I would like to read the play and see what I missed!!...

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