'Duet For One' at The Vaudeville Theatre

Last night we went to see 'Duet For One' with Juliet Stevenson and Henry Goodman at The Vaudeville Theatre. The night started off badly with me wandering round the West End in the pouring rain wondering where the theatre was... yes, I was lost in London again! For some reason I was convinced the theatre was on Shaftesbury Avenue but it is, of course, on The Strand - I know that, I've been there before, but the brain cells weren't joined up...

The Vaudeville is a nice small theatre and nowhere is very far from the stage so it's a nice, intimate affair. I liked the set with walls of shelves full of CDs and books, big windows, a nice atmosphere. Naturally, of course, since it's a pyschoanalyst's consulting room. And, of course, he was German with a rather odd accent. The scene is set for Juliet Stevenson to enter in a motorised wheelchair and the play begins.

The play is a based around the two characters and their therapy sessions. Juliet was a famous violinst who develops MS and can no longer play. Her husband (who we never see) convinces her to see a therapist and the play reveals six of their therapy sessions. From a smart, confident woman in a wheelchair, she descends into a scruffy slag fucking the local rag and bone man (the women sitting behind me couldn't help giggling whenever Juliet said 'fuck'). Despair, abuse, rage and, on occasion, euphoria, it's all there. It was an impressive performance by Juliet, who I've never seen on stage before.

Henry Goodman played the doctor and he didn't really have much to say (in his odd German accent) other than one long, really long, monologue in the second act that made my attention start to drift. He was ok but why did he have to be German? What did that add to the plot? He had some nice comic moments to lighten the tension.

As ever, Chris knows the play and pointed out that it was written for Frances de La Tour and I can quite understand that - some of those witty, barbed comments should be copyright for her. Despite being quite a bleak play there were a lot of witty comments that raise a grin, if not a laugh. It was rather static in that Juliet was mainly in her wheelchair and the doctor was mainly in his oddly shaped chair. There wasn't a lot of energy but there was an awful lot of tension.

I enjoyed the play and the performances - my attention wandered a couple of times, but it's a thought-provoking play. How would I respond if I had multiple sclerosis? I don't know. After her fine performance, I'd like to see Juliet in something where she can be a bit more mobile and demonstrative - I thought she was excellent.