Dinner With Groucho – Arcola Theatre
In 'Dinner with Groucho', Frank McGuinness tells the story of Groucho Marx and T.S. Eliot having dinner in a strange restaurant on the edge of heaven.
There is a brilliant moment in the play when Shakespeare is contradicted by the host proprietor of the restaurant. ‘To Be is to not be’ she says. Life is death. All past, present and future are now, have been and will be. It seems to echo the themes of Eliot's 'The waste land'.
The production is aesthetically lit by Paul Keogan with a unique combination of natural and artificial lights. Ingrid Craigie was the stand-out performer as the Proprietor. Her performance was fresh, unpredictable and seemed enigmatic -at the same time- clear. The absurdity in the play’s design shines because of the brilliant treatment by the director, Loveday ...