Comedy, London; Studio, Sheffield Theatres; Royal Court, London
There have been reports of one ticket changing hands for £900. Ian (Jerusalem) Rickson's production of The Children's Hour will be worth that for fans of Keira Knightley and Mad Men's Elisabeth Moss: they'll be in the same arena as two stars who prove they can act off-screen. It isn't worth that as a theatrical experience: neither actor is transcendent; the production – startlingly, as Rickson is habitually both delicate and acute – is listless.
Knightley, last seen on the West End stage playing a Hollywood actress in The Misanthrope, delivers her part – of a bobbed and tweeded 1930s schoolmistress falsely accused of having a lesbian affair – with a fine-boned bleakness. She is restrained and contained, at times to the point of vacancy, making some of her effects by tilting herself in the direction of the audience as if they were her camera.
There have been reports of one ticket changing hands for £900. Ian (Jerusalem) Rickson's production of The Children's Hour will be worth that for fans of Keira Knightley and Mad Men's Elisabeth Moss: they'll be in the same arena as two stars who prove they can act off-screen. It isn't worth that as a theatrical experience: neither actor is transcendent; the production – startlingly, as Rickson is habitually both delicate and acute – is listless.
Knightley, last seen on the West End stage playing a Hollywood actress in The Misanthrope, delivers her part – of a bobbed and tweeded 1930s schoolmistress falsely accused of having a lesbian affair – with a fine-boned bleakness. She is restrained and contained, at times to the point of vacancy, making some of her effects by tilting herself in the direction of the audience as if they were her camera.
- 2/13/2011
- by Susannah Clapp
- The Guardian - Film News
For better or worse -- but mostly for better -- we're living in the age of the stage documentary. It's been pelting us like a hailstorm ever since Anna Deavere Smith introduced Fires in the Mirror: Crown Heights, Brooklyn and Other Identities, which examined an inflammatory New York City inter-racial incident. By now, the list is long -- featuring, prominently, Smith's recent Let Me Down Easy about the healthcare issue and a series of David Hare pieces, including his Israeli-Palestinian monologue, Via Dolorosa, and his investigative look at the current financial crisis, The Power of Yes. In the past, we've had The Exonerated and Guantanamo: Honor Bound to Defend Freedom. Coming our way from London is Lucy Prebble's Enron. And that's hardly the entire roster. Although billed as plays, these theatrical entries aren't that. They're news reports outfitted with theatrical...
- 3/11/2010
- by David Finkle
- Huffington Post
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