Mainly Opera and Ballet
Pressure indeed! The biggest amphibious landing in history was scheduled for 5th June 1944, but it would be madness to go ahead if the weather were against it. Waves of 6 to 10 feet were difficult, but possible, to deal with. Anything more was impossible, the landing craft would overturn, and the air force would be …
Bertolt Brecht wrote this play, parodying Hitler as Chicago mobster Arturo Ui, in less than a month in 1941 while awaiting his US visa in Helsinki. Other main characters represent various people Hitler either used or killed to get where he was. Its didacticism is intended for an American audience, and although the first act dragged a …
For mockery and a self-deprecating sense of humour, Roger Allam’s Vanya is hard to beat. From his first clumsy entrance onto stage, to his bumbled expostulation, “I could have been a Dostoevsky”, and his failure to shoot the brother-in-law he’s learned to detest, this was a Vanya fated to manage the estate as an also-ran. The brother-in-law, Professor …
A stylish 1960s Neapolitan Godfather who only bribes or uses force when “it’s in a good cause”, Don Antonio is still forceful at age 75, compelling immense obedience and respect. When asked to adjudicate things, he listens but he’s the one who poses the questions and persuades the two parties to a just solution. The …
“No, I can’t take it anymore” says Knut Brovik, an old architect who now works for Halvard Solness, the Master Builder.
… in these performances the stylish overacting kept the audience in suspense and drew out the humour without ever overdoing it.
There are six scenes, each interesting enough in itself, but lacking overall momentum. The one I enjoyed most was the fourth, where Ben Johnson, entertainingly played by Richard McCabe, is the life and soul of an evening of heavy drinking with Shakespeare.
