Paul Pyant Archives - North West End UK

21Mar

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

Summerfolk – National Theatre

Does a vacation sound nice? Would a countryside retreat relax you? Would you be able to take your mind off of work or the news or the fact that the waitress delivering your sandwiches hates your guts? Summerfolk, an adaptation of Maxim Gorky’s 1904 Dachniki, poses all of these questions as gracefully as a studio photographer on family portrait day with a set and costumes by Peter McKintosh very much invoking that particular environment. An array of variously Russianified white chemises and linen suits stand in stark contrast to the woody green of the deconstructed dacha set that only vaguely implies era or country. Adapted by Nina and Moses Raine for a predominantly British company and directed by Robert Hastie for the English audience of the National Theatre this production is all over th...

A View From The Bridge – Theatre Royal Haymarket

Arthur Miller’s encapsulating tragedy of the 1950s stands the test of time. This production remains faithful to Miller’s story centred on an American-Italian family, which brews themes of blood, honour, love and instinct, to ultimately boil beneath the skin of the law and authorities. Eddie, our protagonist, beholds a tangled idea of himself as his niece Kathryn’s father-lover. Throughout the course of the action, he pursues what he believes to be just for his niece. It is in this warped sense of justice that Eddie’s anger and self-martyrisation become wrapped up in his ideals of nationalism, patriarchy, and a fostered fatherhood. The set was comprised of contemporary facades of buildings, perhaps emphasising the protective walls between the immigrant family members and authority, and e...

Murder in the Dark – Floral Pavilion

As the audience opens their programmes for tonight’s performance, they are greeted with a simple plea – do not spoil the show for others. With that in mind, what can be said about the show is that it absolutely won’t be what you expect. I’m just not sure that’s a good thing in this case. We start with a simple premise. Faded pop star Danny (Tom Chambers) and his young girlfriend Sarah (Laura White) arrives at a ramshackle cottage with a handily unreliable power supply and no wi-fi, having crashed his car. They are taken under the wing of the eccentric owner Mrs Bateman (Susie Blake) and soon joined by the car’s other passengers; Danny’s estranged brother William (Owen Oakeshott), ex-wife Rebecca (Rebecca Charles) and his uninterested son Jake (Jonny Green). Directed by Philip Fra...