'The Height of the Storm' at Wyndham's Theatre

We went to see 'The Height of the Storm' last week, the new play by Florian Zeller and translated by Christopher Hampton, The draw was, of course, seeing Dame Eileen Atkins and Jonathan Pryce on stage together, both actors worth seeing that I've seen in various productions in the last few years. It's a fashionably short play with no interval and is set in the kitchen of a large house outside Paris, so only needs one set.

The play opens on the morning after a big storm, with Andre looking out the kitchen window at the vegetable garden when his daughter walks in and starts chatting. He doesn't respond and something is clearly wrong  - is it shock? is it dementia? He gradually starts talking as Anne, the daughter, fills the silence. It seems like her mother, Andre's wife, Madeleine, has died and she's tip-toeing around the subject to avoid upsetting him. And then Madeleine appears, back from the shops where she's been buying mushrooms for lunch and Andre comes to life again. Later in the scene we see Andre talking to both his wife and Anne, but seemingly ignored, so is it he who has actually died?

The story develops as we meet their other daughter and her latest boyfriend, an estate agent, and a mysterious woman who knew Andre many years ago and has a grown son. Who's son is he? And there's a mysterious bouquet of flowers without a card. What's going on? I kept thinking it'll all become clear any moment, someone will say something and it'll click into place. But they don't and I'm none the wiser. And then the scene changes again. I think the best thing is to give in and go with the flow and it'll become clearer by the end (which I won't spoil).

There's some very complex writing here that takes some concentration to follow. It's not a linear story by any means, almost circular and picaresque, seeing the scenes from different perspectives and view-points. Who actually died? Who's is re-living scenes from their life? There's a clue from Anne when she gets upset and says she's having trouble understanding what's happening being back in the old family home. Particularly since she's reading her father's diaries at the request of his publisher. What is fact and what is fiction?

I really liked the relationship between Eileen Atkins and Jonathan Pryce, I think they really pulled off  the appearance of a long-term marriage where they're still in love after so many years. It's a good on-stage pairing with a text that offers them great opportunities to demonstrate their love, such as the ritual of mushrooms for lunch. It was quite touching to see them interact and react to each other, especially in the final scene when Madeleine says she'll always be with Andre, always, because she doesn't break her promise.

I really liked Amanda Drew as the older sister that takes the brunt of the situation, as is her job as the eldest and most capable in the family but whose personal life seems to be falling apart. She has the look of capable older sister about her. But I think it's the quiet scenes between Eileen and Jonathan that I'll remember, sitting at the kitchen table peeling mushrooms.

'Red' at Wyndham's Theatre

When it was announced that 'Red' was returning to the London stage I booked tickets simply on the basis that it was a play about Mark Rothko. I don't know anything about the play or much about Rothko but there was a small group of Rothko works at the Royal Academy Abstract Expressionism exhibition a couple of year ago. I go back to the '80s with Rothko and seeing one of his red-brown paintings at the Tate, sitting in front of it and trying to work out what made it art and did that matter? I loved 'Red' and I'm not sure why.

The play is 90 minutes long and is set in Rothko's messy studio. It's set in two years in the late 1950s when Rothko is working on a new commission for a restaurant and he hires an assistant to help him prime his canvases, run errands and do whatever is needed. The assistant, Ken, is, of course, a budding artist affiliated to the new pop art scene where Rothko is part of the old guard of Abstract Expressionists. Cue lots of discussions about the nature of art and about artists. The art arguments are, of course, staged for maximum effect but they mentioned artists and works that I've seen and that drew me in. At one point Rothko talks about visiting an obscure church in Rome to see a dark Carravagio and there's me in the audience thinking, 'I've been in that church and seen that painting'.

One of the memorable scenes in the play is where both Rothko and Ken prime a canvas together, splashing on the dirty-red paint in unison far too quickly but it got everyone's attention. It started a few people laughing for some reason.

Another scene was the one where Rothko talks about how how he and his fellow artists killed off Cubism with their Abstract Expressionism which is returned to later when it appears that the pop artists have killed off the old guard of Abstract Expressionism. True or not, it did seem as if it was just there to provide something else for the two players to argue about. There's a lot of arguing.

One of the final scene's is where Rothko sacks Ken and places his hand on Ken's chest saying, 'Make. Something. New', the benediction of a master to an apprentice who has just completed his master piece. Those should have been the final words of the play but they're not, of course. There are always more words.

This strange play drew me in and made me sit up and pay attention. Not just the writing and name-dropping but also the fine performances of Alfred Molina and Alfred Enoch who worked well together, almost like a master and apprentice. I really enjoyed this play, it struck a chord with me. Well done people!

'Hangmen' at Wyndham's Theatre

So, the first play of 2016 was the cheerily titled 'Hangmen' about the last hangmen in the UK in the early 1960s. What a joyful way to start the year you might think but, despite the subject matter (and content, to be honest) it was actually quite fun. It's a comedy, y'see, even though it's rather on the dark side. You won't necessarily get that from the poster of dangling feet advertising the show, but trust me, there are many laugh out loud moments and I laughed along with the sold out audience the other night.

It opens with one of the last hangings of a young man who everyone agrees is 'nice' but is to be hanged anyway. Fast forward to after the abolition of the death penalty and the hangman is now a pub landlord in Oldham (why Oldham? I've got no idea except it provides the opportunity for comedy accents). We meet the wife and daughter, the regular patrons including the local police inspector when a journalist appears to seek the hangman's views on the new law abolishing the death penalty.  What's to become of the country now that we can't legally kill people?

It's the early 60s and a trendy Londoner turns up with his southern Cockney ways and not long after the hangman's assistant appears. He'd been sacked earlier for mentioning the size of one of their clients' genitals when they were preparing him for burial - after that the word 'cock' was frequently mentioned and referred to in various ways (there's nothing like a cock joke to get the laughs). It gets darker when the hangman's teenage daughter goes missing - could the Cockney have anything to do with it? The hangman's rival for the title of 'last and greatest hangman' turns up because he's been slagged off in a newspaper article and clearly dominates the pub and stage, including getting everyone to (slowly) sniff his hair! The laughs keep coming and the Cockney is accidentally hanged (well, these things happen) and life goes on…

Despite it's rather grim subject matter it was actually great fun and characters change with the circumstances. David Morrisey was great fun as the domineering hangman brought to heel by his rival played by John Hodgkinson. I also liked Johnny Flynn as the Cockney interloper and Andy Nyman as the former assistant. I also liked the set and subtle lighting, moving from the prison cell for the first five minutes or so to the traditional old pub for the remainder of the show.