'King John' at Shakespeare's Globe

We went to see 'King John' a few weeks ago, a play I've neither seen before nor read. King John isn't really on the radar at all and all I know about him is that he was Richard the Lion Heart's brother and signed the Magna Carta. Since it's the anniversary of the Magna Carta then I suspect that's why the Globe chose to revive the play. And I'm jolly pleased they did. I can see why it's not often performed but there are some smashing speeches hidden in that play and some wonderful poetry and it's great to see a production that's not scared to bring them out.

It's ostensibly the tale of John from coronation to death-bed but we also see Richard's son Arthur and his illegitimate son (known as the Bastard), power struggles with Eleanor of Acquitaine to her dynsaty (and power) intact, wars with France, Vatican meddling and all sorts of goings on. It's all over the shop so it was good to see it controlled and focused to tell an (almost) coherent narrative. I liked the staging that had most of the action taking place on red carpets laid out in cruciform shape on the stage which reflects the cross of St George on the English flag. It also controls the action.

My favourite characyers in the play were Lady Constance and the Bastard. They were consistent in purpose and, in the case of the Bastard, he developed into a loyal supporter of the crown which he can never have. Some of the other characters were very lightly drawn, like Arthur (the heir) who should have been a stronger character but it's not there in the play.

I've never seen Tanya Moodie before but she magnificent as Lady Constance, a queen determined that her son will inherit the crown and she has a stirring speech at the end of the first half that gets the blood boiling. The wronged wife, the legitimate heir, at odds with her mother-in-law Eleanor and the she vanishes and we hear nothing more about her. I want to see more of Tanya!

The other pleasant surprise was Alex Waldmann as the Bastard, Richard's illegitimate son. I saw him in 'Widower's Houses' earlier this year and it was nice to see him in a more powerful role. He was well good and I'll definitely be watching out for him in the future. He moved from illegitimate son on the make to loyal supporter and was a joy to see.

Jo Stone-Fewings played King John and definietly strayed into panto territory but it all worked and helped to make sense of the character. I can understand why this play is rarely performed but this production helped to make sense of it all. A bit of judicious editing might help future productions but I'm mighty glad I saw this production. Another thumbs up for the Globe!

'Widowers' Houses' at The Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond

Last week Chris took me to see a George Bernard Shaw play I've never heard of (one of many I've never heard of) at the Orange Tree Theatre in deepest, darkest Richmond upon Thames. I've not only not heard of the play, I've not heard of the theatre either and that was part of the impetus for going - a rarely performed play in a theatre neither of us had been to before. So ok, let's go.

The theatre is only a few minutes from the station on the main road and it's partially painted orange so you can't really miss it. It's been there for donkeys years and seems to have been recently renovated but there's an awful lot of steps to get anywhere in the building. It also prides itself in putting on rarely performed plays, hence Mr Shaw. This play is from 1892 so relatively early in the Shaw cannon and it reeks of the late Victorian-ness that I always have a problem with.

The play opens with two English gentlemen on a tour down the Rhine, one of whom falls for a young heiress travelling with her father while the other gentleman is an unspeakable prig and snob and, for all that, great fun (in a kind of poking fun at and laughing at rather than with, if you see what I mean). They agree to marry and the father agrees subject to his beloved daughter being accepted by the posh gent's titled relatives. Only when they get back to London do they find out that the father's vast fortune that he'll settle on his daughter is based on being a slum landlord (he's the widower in the title). The righteous gentleman, who is a doctor and sees folks from the slums every day, can't accept this and takes it even worse when he finds out that his entire income is raised from the slum landlord's mortgage on the property that has been in his family for a long time.

The second half gets even murkier when it seems there's a new scam in London town as the municipal councils seek to build new roads and spruce the place up a bit by getting rid of the slums. The scam is to do up the slums and then claim huge compensation when they're pulled down. Will the good doctor resist this temptation? will he win back his love? will he ever hold his head high again? That's for me to know and for you to guess.

After my initial 'o no, what have I let myself in for' worries, I actually started to enjoy the play. It's performed in the round and I was sitting at the end of the row so I often had actors coming up behind me and starting to act as they approached the stage which made me jump a few times (particularly when the waiter rang a huge bell behind me to announce dinner) but it was good fun, a bit wordy in places but fun nonetheless. The only thing that drew attention away from the play were the oddly Dickensian poses of Simon Gregor as Lickcheese which were a bit over the top.

Stefan Adegbola was great fun as the camp snob Cokane who is only concerned with how things look and our young lovers were both good value with Alex Waldmann as Doctor Trench and Rebecca Collingwood as Blanche, the particularly violent and demure young lady. It was nice to see Rebecca in her first professional play since I saw her in the final year student's performance at the Guildhall last year when she played Flaemmchen in 'Grand Hotel'. I noted in that blog that she had the best voice on stage and, although this was a non-singing role, it was still nice to see her (and I went up to her afterwards to say 'well done').

The play is sold out for the rest of its run but I'm pleased I've seen it and visited the theatre. I suspect we'll be returning!