'Young Marx' at the Bridge Theatre

'Young Marx' is a new play being performed in a new theatre so we had to go, obviously. The Bridge Theatre is right beside Tower Bridge (City Hall side), hence the name. It has a nice big open foyer and cafe/bar, lots of bare wood and, for a change, lots of toilets. The auditorium has good sight lines and feels comfortable, with the seats on the sides angled towards the stage. It'll be interesting to go back and see it all settled down - it has a 'new' feel to it with everyone settling in and on best behaviour so it'll be good to go back when it's properly relaxed into itself.

The play itself is great fun, telling a tale of Marx's early years before he'd settled down to being the great political thinker he became. He's in London, living with his family in Soho, penniless but still managing the odd pint here and there, surrounded by spies and rivals, but also surrounded by admirers and his good friend Engels. Money is a problem, keeping his family together is a problem, hiding in cupboards from his creditors is a daily occurrence but, we don't see him climbing up a lamppost as shown in the poster. After the madness of his life I liked the final scene where he finally buckles down to begin to write his first great work.

It's a knock-about comedy about Marx and there's nothing wrong with that. I really liked the set which was on a revolve on the stage, moving round to give us a different setting for each scene - a pawn shop, a meeting room above a pub, Marx's living room and the setting for a dual for the honour of his wife. All sorts going on here.

I really liked Rory Kinnear as Marx - he's really becoming one of our must see actors despite the supporting roles in James Bond films and elsewhere. He worked the floppy wig really well and was suitable manic and serious by turns, giving a great performance as a man of goodwill down on his luck with no idea how to turn his life around. Nancy Carroll was fine as his wife, the calm centre that keeps the family and his life together and I liked Oliver Chris as Engels, Marx's chief cheer-leader who gets frustrated that his hero refuses to prove what a great thinker he is and prefers booze to ink.

I liked this play and the performances and it's a worthy early play for a new theatre. It's going to be broadcast through NTLive on 7 December so you will be able to see it all over the place. I'm going back to the Bridge Theatre in the new year to see 'Julius Caesar' and I'm looking forward to that.

'Closer' at the Donmar Warehouse

'Closer' is a new play for me but it was performed at the National Theatre in the late '90s and was made into a film in the early 00's. It's a four-header with two men and two women in a Mobius strip of love and lust, changing partners and never quite making it last. It's a bit of an oddity really and I'm not sure why it's been put on other than maybe it's just time for a revival?

It's the tale of the interweaving relationships of Dan a writer, Larry a doctor, Anna a photographer and Alice a stripper, all terribly middle class people (including Alice). Dan fancies Alice but then wants Anna when she takes his photo for a book cover. He tricks Larry into meeting Anna and they move in together. Then Larry shags a prostitute in New York while Anna starts an affair with Dan and the relationship ends. Dan ends things with Larry and she goes back to stripping and starts a relationship with Larry. Then Anna and Larry get back together and … and … you get the picture.

None of the characters come across as particularly likeable other than Anna who at least seems to be honest with herself and with others. The two men seem to be perpetually trying to score points, to trick their lovers into revealing something or get something. Not nice at all and deliberately cruel.

It's not a 'nice' play by any means but it was incredibly intense with explosions of temper followed by slyness as the men try to get their way. Rufus Sewell was good as Larry and I liked Nancy Carroll as Anna - at times she seemed to be the only adult on the stage. I didn't get on with the two younger characters. It's not a pleasant but it is gripping.