A Walk on Part: Arts Theatre, WC2

Very enjoyable adaptation of ex-Labour MP Chris Mullin's diaries of the New Labour era. The actor playing Mullin manages to keep the pace going throughout and the supporting actors can somehow capture the array of other MP's who make an appearance.

What was the feeling I left the theatre with? That Tony Blair, who let's be honest none of us ever trusted, was an outstanding politician with the gift of being able to communicate and connect with people on a personal basis and on the big stage. He also had the advantage that no Labour leader has ever had before of a huge majority in parliament... and what did he do? He blew it by being too conservative, and more tragically, by getting into bed with the most right wing president in America's history! And after taking us into a disasterous war that costs hundreds of thousands of lives on the back of dodgy evidence that had been 'sexed up' we now read in the Financial Times weekend magazine that he feels it is time for him to return for a big new role. Tony, do you honestly think so? At least it makes you appreciate what Harold Wilson achieved in the 1960's by managing to keep the UK out of Vietnam, even though, no doubt, he was under huge pressure to join in a 'coalition of the willing' or whatever stupid phrase they would've come up with, especially as the UK at the time still owed the USA a huge debt from WWII. Blair didn't even have that as an excuse.

Absent Friends - Harold Pinter Theatre

Revival of the 1974 Alan Ayckbourn comedy in the Abigail's Party mould. It is set at a tea party that everyone is dreading as it is for Colin, an old friend whose girlfriend recently drowned, which leads to some amusing scenes of social embarraesement.

The  retro Seventies set added to what was an enjoyable couple of hours with its spider plants, sunburst clock and naff fashions.

Shalom Baby - Theatre Royal, Stratford, E15

Jumping between two Jewish families in 1930's Berlin & present day New York I felt that, especially in the first half, the play was a bit predictable in the 1930's bits, the usual predictable nasty Nazi's, yes it was terrible what happened but it's been done so often before that it'd be good to see the occasional positive thing about Germany. After all at the end of the second world war Germany was in ruins and split in two and they built the more prosperous liberal democracy in Europe, a remarkable achievement. Unfortunately the success of a society built on humane values is boring so all we get is the Nazi's. I found that when the play jumpede to the present day it became more innovative and interesting.

In the second half the family is sent to a concentration camp where they all subsequently die and is without doubt moving and also more interesting with more exploration of racial issues. The modern day family however has become a bit of a cliché, a brother with crack habit, tick; gay, tick; inter-racial marriage, tick but the issues are explored in an amusing way which grabbed and kept the attention.

At times it felt as if there too much in the play but it moved along at a good tempo, it was inventive and funny. The acting was good with everyone giving good performances; all in all an enjoyable evening.

An evening of one act plays - Network Theatre, Waterloo

To the Network Theatre in Waterloo, situated in a railway arch so you hear the trains rumbling overhead, to see Kunst Critique contributor Sue Catten tread the boards. She plays the daughter in Trevaunance Cove and delivers a monologue that by common consent was the highlight of the night, holding the audiences attention throughout.

The plays were as follows:

Trevaunance Cove by David Gray

A man and woman meet by chance on a dramatic Cornish cliff top in 1940. With the Nazis just across the channel set ready to invade, she optimistically suggests they meet again in ten years’ time at the same place. She promises him that the world of the future will be safer, happier and free. Many decades later their daughter is drawn to the same spot. 

A play which looks at the emotional power of a landscape and the human propensity to invent stories and romanticise memories. 

Psych101 by Andy Furmage

In a psychologist's treatment room, a routine session is not all that it seems to be. Over the course of the session a battle of wits develops with both psychologist (Paula) and patient (Sarah) battling for control. Paula and Sarah play cat and mouse with the truth through a series of flashbacks, until the final shocking revelation that Paula is sleeping with Sarah's husband.

The Gold Diggers of 2035 by David Gray and cast

A deadly virus has wiped out most of the population. Those that have survived have been left without the use of their left hands – except a now demonised minority who cannot use their right hands. Everyone is still traumatised, confused about what has happened and about where the world is going –  even viewing an old film of two-handed people is shocking and controversial. Then a special visitor drops in and kick-starts the healing process.

A blackly comic and atmospheric science fiction story which looks at how groups can be victimised and questions the accepted notions of beauty.

My City - Stephen Poliakoff, Almeida Theatre, London‏

Poliakoff's latest play,the first in over a decade begins when a smartly dressed young man called Richard meets his former primary school headmistress 15 years after leaving the school. The odd thing is that she is lying on a park bench late at night.

It turns out that this dedicated and inspirational teacher – played with a sense of authority, eerie charn  and a tadge of menace by Tracey Ullman – hasn’t been reduced to sleeping rough in her retirement. She just likes to spend her nights walking the streets of London and was in need of a rest.she is also in a triangle with 2 former teaching collagues with which she has social outings.There are some key emotional displays which draws the audience in as the story develops

This emerges most movingly through the presence of one of the teachers, Mr Minken, for whom a cherished toy aeroplane evokes memories of his Jewish family's enforced exit from pre-war Vienna. But Minken also becomes an authorial spokesman when he bemoans the lack of grace and style in modern London and suggests equipping schools with 87 closed-circuit cameras and metal detectors is a way of encouraging rather than preventing crime. 

As so often in Poiliakoff’s work, there is an edge of mystery. Why does Miss Lambert keep the hours of a vampire and avoid the morning light? Why does she now seem hell bent on telling spooky ghost stories rather than offering the inspiration, information and delight that used to feature in her school assemblies?

Unfortunately, the answers to these questions aren’t nearly as startling as one might have hoped, and nor are the stories told in the course of the play quite as enthralling as one would have wished.There are times when they are lulls which are disappointing and the story has a weird sense of disbelief.

As usual Poliakoff directs his own work, and he has been too indulgent with his somewhat flabby and anti-climactic material.The set design, however, is very evocative, atmospherically conjuring up London by night, Ullman’s star turn as the mesmerisingly enigmatic Miss Lambert is well supported by Sorcha Cusack and the splendidly disconcerting David Troughton as two of her former colleagues, and from Tom Riley and Sian Brooke as their puzzled former pupils.

Nevertheless, by the end a strong feeling of anticlimax hangs over an evening that initially promised to be truly magical. Not one of Almeida's best shows and certainly this latest offering from Poliakoff will disappoint his most dedicated fans.

SC

The Yard - Hackney Wick, E9

Hackney has a new temporary theatre, The Yard, open until the end of October. It will feature theatre, dance and opera and also has a bar/cafe.

The Yard, Unit 2, Queens Yard, White Post Lane E9 5EN

http://the-yard.co.uk/

Anna Christie at the Donmar Warehouse, London...press night coming up on 9th August‏

Exiled from her home by the Old Devil Sea to the inland plains, Anna Christie's life changed forever at just five years of age. Fifteen years later, she is reunited with the father who sent her away and sets sail in search of a new beginning.
Eugene O'Neill's epic Pulitzer Award-winning play about love and forgiveness charts one woman's longing to forget the dark secrets of her
 past and hope for salvation
Ruth Wilson's portrayal as Anna ranges from the hardened drinking prostitute in the bar scene to a woman struggling with her emotions when she begins to fall for stoker Matt played by Jude Law. The duo give sterling matched performances when Anna confesses her past as Matt wants to marry her. His passions  violence, distress and finally his love all make way for glittering performance all the more poignant  by Wilson's perfect depiction of the troubled Anna.

The minalmist set and storm scene are captured beautifully, our emotions are held throughout this wonderfully timed performance

Performances are currently sold out but 10 tickets are available each day at 10.30 although you may be lucky and get returns as I did.

Sue Catten

Loyalty by Sarah Helm - Hampstead Theatre

The play was excellent and very well presented.  The simple manoeuvring of the props on the stage created clearly different scenes.   Although the content was serious in substance, it was delivered quite aptly with humour.  Tony Blair was portrayed as somewhat naive, stupid and self-centred, only caring about his own position as Prime Minister rather than the situation that had been created by his Government. The leading lady (Maxine Peake) did a very good job and it was easy to agree with everything she said. This is easy to do in hindsight I suppose but its a shame that people in high places didn’t also agree with her at the time of the Iraq war!  The theatre was purpose built but yet charming but some of the seats in the front of the circle were a bit uncomfortable as the ground was sloping under them. You did get an excellent view from every seat though.  I was also very surprised to find out that the playwright is still married to her husband (Jonathan Powell, Tony Blair's chief of staff) as they had such opposing points of view!

RB

Takeaway – Theatre Royal Stratford East

Musical set in a Chinese takeaway, the central character is the 21year old Tom Jones fixated son of the proprietor. All seats are selling for £10 and the empty seats probably reflected the poor reviews it has been getting. The empty seats were added to during a first half that was pretty awful as some punters, perhaps understandably, left after twenty minutes. The second half ran out of steam and would have benefitted from some judicious editing and yet...it also contained some of the funniest scenes I’ve ever seen on the stage, the funeral scene for instance was hilariously bizarre and the Yellow Empowerment Group were fantastic as well.

It is well worth £10 of your hard earned cash for what is probably one of the weirdest, funny in places, plays you’ll ever see; just don’t leave at half time.

Chicken Soup with Barley – Royal court

This revival of Arnold Wesker’s play from 1958 follows an extended family and their friends of east end Jewish communists from 1936 to 1956. At the start of the play the family are full of hope for the future as Oswald Moseley’s fascists are stopped from marching at the Battle of Cable Street. The central character is Sarah Kahn, mother of the family, always positive and forever making tea and feeding the family. Her husband Harry is forever losing his job and lacks fight much to Sarah's chagrin, over time this lack of fight is legitimised by a series of strokes. Harry’s sister Cissie is a union organiser, their daughter Ada is married to Dave who is off to join the International Brigade to fight in Spain and son Ronnie is an aspiring ‘Socialist’ writer. Monty and Prince are comrades from the Party, highly committed to the fight for socialism.

By 1946 disillusion is setting in and by 1956 with the Soviets having invaded Hungary everyone but Sarah have lost their faith in the cause.  Cissie is retired from the Union, Monty has become a capitalist with his own greengrocers in Manchester and Ada and Dave have moved to the country to build their own little piece of socialism (as Wesker did). Ronnie, who critised  Ada for retreating from the fight, returns from Paris where he is a chef, to confront his mother. He has lost his faith in the Party and he finally understands his father’s lack of ambition. He cannot believe his mother is still a member of the CP despite what is going on elsewhere in the world. Sarah though is still optimistic, she is still proud to be a Communist and her final, passionate message to her son is ‘If you don’t care, you’ll die’.

The play is highly recommended, it was over two hours long but the time rattled by.