'Fanny and Alexander' at The Old Vic

'Fanny and Alexander' at The Old Vic closed a couple of weeks ago so this is more of a completist  blog to make sure it's credited in the Plastic Bag. 'Fanny and Alexander' is, of course, an Ingmar Bergman film, a film I've never seen. This was its first stage adaptation and I was suitably impressed with the great theatricality of it all with various narrators (usually the servants in the play) talking to the audience to explain what's happening (often the food menus). There were lots of little twists and turns that made the whole thing great fun to off-set the darker moments.

The Ekdahl family live in separate apartments in their townhouse in a Swedish town where they also own the local theatre and some of them perform in the theatre company. Of the three brothers, one runs the theatre, one is a bit of a wastrel with money problems and the other is aloud-mouth philanderer - and also the most attractive character. The theatre brother dies suddenly and his widow marries the local bishop and moves to his cold palace with her two children, the Fanny and Alexander of the title. The Bishop is an old-fashioned puritanical zealot or possibly simply an abusive sadist who enjoys imposing his well on his wife and punishing her son. These scenes aren't very pleasant at all. Luckily, the Bishop gets his righteous come-uppance and the family returns to the safety of their former family home.

It's a long play at 3:15 hours and two intervals but it immediately sets the right tone when Alexander runs onto the stage to welcome us to 'the longest play in history'. It's both self-knowing and poking a bit of fun at itself and us and talking to the audience sets the scene for later narrative twists and turns. It is a long play but it didn't feel that long and that's to it's credit and the quality of the writing and the production.

My favourite player was Penelope Wilton as the Grandmother who rules the townhouse and it's people with a fist of cotton wool and a quick tongue, in a role that seemed to have been made for her. She was really excellent - it's a joy to see Penelope on stage in almost anything but this suited her to a T.  I also greatly enjoyed Jonathan Slinger as Uncle Gustav Adolf, the wastrel brother who got a huge spontaneous round of applause after he let rip at the Bishop telling the truths that people were too frightened to mouth. He might be a wastrel but he's the one I'd like to have as a friend. It was a great ensemble cast that happily played off each other and seemed to be having fun doing it.

The play closed a couple of weeks ago but, y'know what? I think I'd happily see it again when it's eventually revived. Well done everyone!