22 April 2014
I
worried a little when I discovered that Mike Bartlett's new play 'An
Intervention', which we saw at Watford Palace Theatre last Saturday,
runs without an interval, takes place mostly in front of curtains
(“like Morecambe and Wise or Abbott and Costello”) and has just
two characters, designated 'A' and 'B' – who “can be played by
actors of any age, gender or ethnicity”. But 'An Intervention' is a
very accessible, clever and impressive piece of theatre. It's a
funny, thought-provoking and disturbing two-hander – excellently
acted by Rachael Stirling and John Hollingworth in a Paines Plough
and Watford Palace Theatre production, directed by James Grieve. We
last saw Rachael Stirling in Mike Bartlett’s contemporary version
of ‘Medea', also at Watford Palace Theatre (reviewed here in
November 2012), and she is a wonderful stage actor. 'An Intervention'
looks at what happens when you hate your best friend. Can friendship
survive when one of you supports the proposed military intervention
in a Middle East conflict and the other is on the anti-war protest?
And how much of the ensuing argument is really personal rather than
political? Mike Bartlett's play has plenty of dark humour and a
contemporary everyday ordinariness that reminded me of Patrick
Marber's 'Closer', but it is a serious work that looks at its themes
in a very theatrical way. Intriguing and entertaining – an
excellent production.
No comments:
Post a Comment