The unfinished journey

Being a journey which started some time ago with a DVD sold on by Surrey Libraries - in the days when they were casting out good stuff - that is to say they still cast out but that treasures are thinner on the ground. See an earlier notice at reference 1, which also offers the other side of the DVD.

The DVD being the 2011 film of the 1952 play by Terence Rattigan called 'The Deep Blue Sea'. We thought it rather good and have watched it several times.

So along to the National Theatre last week to see what they made of it.

A while since we had been in the Lyttelton Theatre, long enough that I had forgotten how big and comfortable the seat were. To the point of there being significant space between my knees and the seat in front.

Clever stage, a representation of a rooming house in section, front (left of stage) to back (right of stage). Some see through effects, first seen for a play involving a dining or living room front with a bedroom behind. Probably Ibsen or Chekov but blog search fails to uncover this particular secret.

At some point I decided the male lead, Tom Hiddleston in the film version, also led in Agatha's 'The Blue Geranium'. Google explains that this is not so, with this latter lead being Toby Stephens. One assumes that actors are not like authors, using one name for their classy roles and another for their bread & butter.

Good programme, with a good ration of background material, in addition to the usual slew of advertisements. I learned, for example, that Rattigan was the son of a diplomat who went through Oxford before becoming a playwright in the 1930's and an RAF air gunner in the 1940's - this last being a deduction from the picture supplied.

Audience not very enthusiastic, with the full house not making nearly as much noise as we had had a few days previously from a half full house at the much smaller Wigmore Hall. I also wondered about fires, with it taking a long time to get out. Perhaps there were emergency exits, not available unless there was an emergency.

Overall disappointing. Helen McCrory did well as Mrs. Collyer, but I thought most of the rest of the acting was rather pedestrian. With her lover verging on the weak - I much preferred Tom Hiddleston doing it in the film version. Husband rather better. Doctor good. The actors were not helped by the staging, which was indeed clever - but was also far too big - and most of the characters seemed to be lost on this enormous stage. Otherwise good one-liners thrown away somewhere in outer space. But the reviewers must have thought otherwise as the show now appears to be sold out until late August. In fairness, I should add that BH liked it a lot more than I did. Any maybe it would have been better a bit nearer the front than row 'T' - although one might then have had to swivel, as at the Rose's 'Romeo and Juliet'. See reference 2.

The final leg of the journey will be to take another look at the film, inter alia to ponder on what lessons the director of the play might have learned from the director of the film.

PS: it might have been disappointing, but it was much better value than Branagh across the river. Maybe half the price. See reference 3.

Reference 1: http://psmv3.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/marker.html.

Reference 2: http://psmv2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/romeo-alpha.html.

Reference 3: http://psmv3.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/an-expensive-outing.html.

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