Southampton Reviews

And then there were none ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

What a pleasure to be in the wonderful Mayflower Theatre in Southampton to see a play in front of a full house (considering the restriction to end of row seats due to sight lines). The gentle ripples of laughter and warm applause confirmed that the Audience too appreciated a classic Agatha Christie murder mystery. And then there were none was first published in 1939 under another title and is one of the best-selling books of all time. When she adapted it herself for the stage, she write an alternative ending in 1943 so now two versions exist.

The story is built around a rhyme that begins “Ten little soldier boys went out to dine, one choke his little self and then there were nine” and 10 soldier statuettes on the table. So, we begin with 10 characters arriving on Soldier Island, eight guests and two housekeepers and the expected arrival of the hosts Mr and Mrs Owen. Instead of the hosts appearing a record is played in which a voice accuses each of the ten present of involvement in a historical murder for which they have not been charged. Each naturally denies the accusation but slowly over time through exposition and fantasy sequences we learn about each of the stories. The Mystery is who is behind the invitations, how does the rhyme foretell the next death and will the perpetrator be revealed.  Of course, if you have read the book or seen one of the numerous film adaptations you will know the secret of this classic “locked room” mystery since none can escape the island nor find anywhere else on the island for mystery figure to hide.

The characters are of their time, full of imperial, authority figures  and class ridden stereotypes and we don’t have any sympathy for their plight . The secret of the play’s success is the guessing game of “who dunnit it” as the field of suspects shrinks as each little soldier is knocked over. The elderly General Mackenzie is played by Jeffery Kissoon with a strong upright military bearing  but a haunted look of a World war 1 veteran. Doctor Armstrong is played by Bob Barrett, a surgeon with a past who resists all offers of alcohol. Judge Wargrave is played by David Yelland , accused of committing to hang an innocent man and  who naturally takes a lead in cross examining the accused on the Island. William Blore is the east end “cor blimey” retired Detective who we first meet undercover as a South African visitor, and I played by Andrew Lancel. Together they represent the institutions of the day oversaw law and order.

Anthony Marston is the young good looking wealthy reckless man played by Oliver Clayton without concern of fear and Philip Lombard ( played by Joseph Beattie) a soldier of fortune accused of allowing local natives to die. Emily Brent (played by Katy Stephens) is a pious old spinster with distain for all the male characters and Vera Claythorne (played by Nicola May-Taylor) is the young woman hired as the secretary to the unseen hosts who hears the voices of young children she was supposed to be caring for in the past.

These eight guests are looked after by Georgina Rogers (Lucy Tregear) and her partner Jane Pinchbeck (Louise McNulty) hired just a week before to supervise the house party but who find themselves accused of murder.

The setting by Mike Britton has a strange ethereal quality  hinting at the grandeur of the house on the island, with walls the depict the seas that cut them off and white  gauzes that act as walls and doors but also create the fantasy elements and flashbacks. Curiously the terrace upstage left has a steep slope like a sand bank which requires some careful navigation for entrance. The compromise to reflect several different locations does not really work nor does the crashed chandelier and cases strewn everywhere in Act 2 to depict the chaos and induced madness of those kept as the body count mounts. However, the final scene (which we can’t reveal) works well for a chilling and satisfactory ending.

Agatha Christie was an astoundingly good mystery writer and while nothing quite matches her creation of Poirot, so lovingly created for TV by David Suchet, this is perhaps a greatest play (certainly much better than the Mousetrap which continues to break theatrical records). It has a wonderful twist, now much copied over the years and a haunting chilling undercurrent about justice. It is an entertaining thriller and as it finishes its current UK tour it will be fascinating to hear how the production dies on its upcoming tour of major cities in China during May to July!

Nick Wayne

Four stars

Chicago on National Tour

The Mayflower Theatre in Southampton has become the number one stop for regional touring West End Musical Theatre and its audiences love a big bold musical on the huge stage in front of a cavernous auditorium which was once again filled to near capacity for the latest outing of Chicago. This 1975 musical by Kander and Ebb (who also wrote Cabaret) was originally choreographed by the brilliant Bob Fosse and is structured as a musical revue with an excellent 11-piece band centre stage and still feels a relevant and topical satire on Celebrity status and corruption in the justice system. Whether for copyright reasons or by choice the production stays true to the original design and restages Fosse’s choreography under the supervision of the late Anne Reinking and Matthew Wesley.

It does feel a waste of the huge Mayflower stage that the multilevel band truck sits so far downstage that it restricts the forestage where most of the dancing takes place as it must have done in the original production. But it creates the feel that we are watching a succession of vaudeville acts telling the story and the Band are very much part of the action . Indeed, MD Andrew Hilton has a speaking role and gets to revel in the music in the wonderful Act 2 Entr’acte which almost steals the show! Throughout the show the truck provides entrances and exit amongst the band to fully integrate the two elements of music and dance. Each scene gets introduced as the next turn and several call for their “exit” music to great comic effect.

Of course, the real strength of this show is the music itself which have become well known standalone songs and are frequently recreated by amateur and professional performers around the country giving them a familiarity that perhaps deadens the original impact . Each of the Principles gets their turn centre stage in the spotlight for a number or two. Sinitta (who I saw years ago in Mutiny!) delivers an excellent, confident  “When you’re good to Mama” as the corrupt Matron of the prison. Divina De Campo gets her moment as the reporter in “A little bit of good”. The best developed character in the show, Amos, played by Joel Montague, delivers the poignant “Mr Cellophane” , the invisible husband with white gloves.

Darren Day does what he does best, playing the loveable rogue, Lawyer, Billy Flynn and effortlessly delivers his two songs with the show girls “All I care about” and “Razzle Dazzle”. However, his best number, in keeping with the whole vaudeville act theme to the show, is “We both reached for the gun” with Roxie as his ventriloquist dummy which is wonderfully executed. The two central characters, rivals for the notoriety they each seek, are played by Djalenga Scott as Velma and Faye Brooks as Roxie and they come together for a strong finale in “Hot Honey Rag”.

Two songs define the show , the opening “All that Jazz” and the sultry and seductive “Cell Block Tango” (which revels in the tales of murder). They are now very familiar and in this production the ensemble works hard to execute the precise choreography to create that sexy sleazy feel but while it is faultless work somehow the sparkle and magic of when you first hear these tunes is not quite matched.

With a cast of twenty principals and dancers and a band of eleven, this is a big show to tour on the road until July 2022 but its excellent music, gorgeous look and feel and strong touring cast means it is sure to bring pleasure to many first time and returning Musical lovers as it makes its way around the country.

 

Nick Wayne
Four stars

The Last Temptation of Boris Johnson

Is it too soon to ask ourselves should we re-join the European Union? Is it still too raw to look at the political classes and the joke they have become over the last two years?  Should you ever mock such important national decisions that leave us not knowing whether to laugh or cry? Well apparently, not for Jonathan Maitland who has written this uproarious political satire that resonates strongly of the very best of Spitting Images and judging by the reaction of the audience at the NST City theatre in Southampton people are ready to laugh at their politician’s shenanigans.

It is play of two halves. In the first half we join Boris Johnson at a dinner party in his home with his then wife Marina and Michael Gove in February 2016 when he made the fateful call to support leave, see his shock at actually winning the referendum and then jump forward to him becoming Prime Minister (an update on the play since its initial run at the Park last year!). In the second half we jump forward again to March 2029, the tenth anniversary of when we were supposed to leave the EU and reflect on what has happened in the intervening years (BBC Amazon, Recession and 2022 England World cup win!) when Sir Boris is considering whether to lead us back into Europe! In the course of the two hours we see the naked ambition driving egotistical politicians and explore many of Boris’s caricatured weaknesses! Indeed, as with Spitting Images all the characters are delightfully over the top caricatures of well-known leaders of our country. There are good gags about “oven ready” articles , Dominic “two A’s and B” Raab , “Br-Enter” and Alexa to enjoy.


Boris Johnson is played with great aplomb by Will Barton who is on stage almost throughout, usually with a glass of wine in hand! We meet him first as he prepares to be interviewed by Huw Edwards in a TV studio and in the best visual gag of the show deliberately ruffles his hair, loosens his tie and untucks his shirt. As he sits crouched forward in the interviewee chair scanning the audience, he captures Boris’s physical mannerisms perfectly. It is a totally convincing performance, plays to all our media impressions of the man and his bumbling unpredictable style and brings out clearly his sole motivating force to make a mark on history as a Prime Minister.

In this version of events he is inspired in his decision making, or perhaps tormented by or driven to madness by visitations from Winston Churchill , Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair (who all served multiple terms as Prime Minister) played by Bill Champion, Emma Davies and Tim Wallers respectively. They each capture brilliantly the distinctive voices and physical movements that we remember and helped them become such distinctive leaders, each attracting as many haters as fans.

Tim Wallers also reprises the roles he played at the Park of Evening Standard owner and name dropper the Russian, Evgeny Lebedev and does a wonderful impersonation of the TV interviewer Huw Edwards. The fifth member of the cast is Claire Lichie as Boris’s wife in the first half and latest girlfriend in the second, playing the straight man to Boris’s philandering clown.

The play is directed on tour by Dugald Bruce-Lockheart (who played Michael Gove in the first run at the Park) with the set and costume design by Louie Whitemore that enables the pace to be maintained ,verging on farce as Maggie appears in the oven and Blair from a cupboard to surprise Boris! The grand finale is spectacular and symbolic.

This fine cast led so ably by Will Barton and Jonathan Maitland’s clever script (which no doubt will get further updates over the tour and into the future as the  real events unfold) make for an very entertaining evening, reminding us that even the most serious matters can be laughed at and that the process can be therapeutic as if lancing the Brexit boil.


Nick Wayne   

Four stars



Les Misérables - Mayflower and on Tour

The phenomenal global success of the musical Les Misérables is undeniable and as the tour programme proclaims it’s been seen by audiences of 70 million in 52 countries in 22 languages so this refreshed staging version on tour prior to a West End reopening later this year can bask in its certain success . I had not seen the stage version since the late eighties in its original John Napier design but was more familiar with the story from the 2012 film version and the 2018 TV dramatisation and of course with multiple performances of its hit anthems by the likes of Alfie Boe , Michael Ball and John Owen Jones and many others . The challenge is whether the tour version lives up to all that has gone before or is just a pale imitation. When I caught up with the new touring cast at the Southampton Mayflower, I found the answer was not quite although there is a great deal to recommend about the show.


There is no getting away from the fact that the show dubbed early on as "The Glums" is a seriously tragic story with more people dead on stage at the end than alive and the quasi operatic score make it feel even heavier when compared to the usual style of musical theatre . Yet the wonderful production values in the staging, lighting and sumptuous sound mix and the majestic songs littered throughout the show carry you through the long episodic story covering all five volumes of the original story. It's inevitable that in a musical version there are large gaps in the story that are only hinted at and a prior knowledge of the story helps with the jumps. It basically follows the rivalry, verging on obsession, of Javert (here played by a towering imposing figure of Nic Greenshields) tracking down petty criminal with a heart of gold, Jean Valjean (played by understudy Joseph Anthony) across two decades. Played against the background of the French Revolt and poverty it tells the story of their relationship on those they meet.

The new staging , dispensing with a revolve , is still grand with huge front portals for the French houses , a spectacular truck that doubles for the Thenardier pub and the Paris barricades and some interesting but rather dark rear wall projections developed by the very clever people from 59 Productions. In the dark gloomy lighting, which relies on some pinpoint spots to pick out faces it creates a very atmospheric setting in keeping with both a candlelit France of the 19th century and the dark depressing story line. The new opening scene on the prison galley is perhaps the most effective staging of the whole show showing off all these elements and the excellent men's chorus.  The sound mix was superb (after the one-minute show stop!) with additional speakers making it sound like the French army bullets were ricocheting off the auditorium walls in the dramatic barricade scene.



Greenshields dominates the stage with his presence and rich deep voice although his death scene seemed to go wrong the night we went, and we lost the dramatic drowning sequence. However, he was magnificent in his solos and showed off his musical theatre experience. Jean Valjean has some of the best-known songs with "Who am I?" and "Bring him home" but could not eclipse the memory of better-known singers.



Ian Hughes and Helen Walsh play the couple who run the pub, the Thenardier's and are a constant thorn in the side to Valjean. They have the only fun light song of the show ""Master of the House " which reprises as "Beggars at the Feast" but while there was some very good interplay between the couple the emphasis was on the seedy character and lacked the comic bounce of others before.

The three-female characters Fantine (Katie Hall), Cosette (Charlie Burn) and Epinone (the Scottish, Frances Mayli McCann) all do a good job especially Epinone in her big number "On my own".



I especially enjoyed seeing young Joseph Shepherd as the diminutive revolutionary Gavroche who had great stage presence and cheeky personality and Marius (Felix Mosse) rendition of "Empty chairs at Empty tables" with his dead colleagues around him had real poignancy and impact. The men's chorus also stood out with some good individual voices and of course close Act 1 with the magnificent rousing chorus "One more Day ".

The packed Southampton audience loved the show , no doubt many returning to see it again and it is wonderful to see West End Production values on regional stages and it is undeniable that the secret of the success of this show is the brilliant score with so many great numbers that have had a strong profile outside the show itself  and that is enough to make sure it's success continues .



Nick Wayne

Four stars

One man, two Guvnors NST 

Richard Bean's brilliant reworking of Goldoni's 1743 play Servant of Two Masters was a huge hit when it opened at the National Theatre 2011 and propelled James Cordon to superstar status on both sides of the Atlantic. He completely embodied the part of Francis Henshall and his performance was captured by NT Live and has just been rereleased to Cinemas. It is therefore very ambitious for the Ipswich Wolsey and NST to take on the production while the original is still so fresh in the mind. But if you have not seen the original this version is sure to make you laugh.

Bean has moved the action to 1963 Brighton and some shady characters caught up in the murder of unseen Roscoe Crabbe. Henshall in his desperation to earn enough to eat acquires two bosses, Roscoe's twin sister Rachel in disguise as her brother and her lover and the murderer of Roscoe, Stanley Stubbers. Not realising who they are the action centres around his desperate attempts to serve them both while keeping them apart so he can double his income. It creates plenty of opportunity for farcical interplay most of which recreates the original mayhem.

There are classic comedy slapstick scenes involving the master's trunk where two audience members are dragged on stage to assist, a prolonged food serving scene involving a decrepit waiter with a pacemaker who keeps falling down the stairs and mistaken identities. Most of it depends on believing that Henshall is a loveable rogue not quite clever enough to carry off the deception. He is the Harlequin of the original Commedia dell'arte play and constantly breaks the fourth wall to engage the audience.  Even the recently collapsed Thos Cook gets a mention with an added raised eyebrow! 

Farce is hard to do requiring spot on comic timing, believable characters in outlandish situations and a good pace to not allow the audience to reflect on the ludicrous plot. Director Peter Rowe ratchets up the action a notch too far, the cast are too aware of their situation and the long scene changes in full view slow the pace and allow time to reflect. The set design by Libby Watson is very complicated as it tries to cope with multiple locations with interior scenes in the Cricketers Arms and the Clench's home and external street and seaside scenes. In the original the changes took place behind the front cloth with a skiffle band playing increasingly silly songs but here the band is set high up above the set behind a gauze leaving the set change in full view. 

The cast work very hard, many like George Maguire, doubling up in the band and the physical comedy is well drilled and full on. Philip Tomlin takes on the inevitable task of recreating Francis Henshall, but it is Luke Barton as the public schoolboy toff, Stanley Stubbers who steals the show with his straight delivery of some very outrageous lines and wonderfully funny posturing. Richard Lemming gets to play the fool as Alfie the doddering old waiter and pythonesque Old Woman and Josie Dunn makes a good job of the twin’s Roscoe and Rachel.

For those who missed the original this is worth seeing as the first viewing of these farcical comedy set pieces is very funny but if you saw the original on stage or the recent spoiler release by NT live of the filmed version , this version is not slick enough,crisp enough or fresh enough to eradicate the memory of the brilliant James Cordon production.

Shadow Factory

Nuffield City

Nuffield City Theatre starts its second year of operations by bringing back the Shadow Factory which opened the new venue a year ago. Howard Brenton has taken a long forgotten local story about Southampton during the Second World War and created an exciting, visually brilliant tale of the impact on the local community of German air raids in September 1940.

The story starts with the bombing of the Supermarine factory in Woolston where the critical Spitfires were being designed, developed and built and the loss of capacity threatens the essential aerial defences that the RAF provided. Urgent calls between the factory manager Len Gooch and Lord Beaverbrook at the Ministry of Aircraft Production in Whitehall are made to assess the damages and establish how to get back into production. Gradually the plan to create a dispersed Shadow Factory is developed spread over thirty-five venues around the city which need to be requisitioned but meets residents’ resistance to giving up their property.

The staging is extraordinary using wonderful projections onto the thrust stage to set the scene and packed with information to support the story. We are given dates, location descriptions, local maps,blueprints, woodlands and carpet projections to move swiftly and seamlessly from external locations, to the Dimmock laundry, and to Hursley House requisitioned as the new design office. The stage is then framed using nano winches to move a series of LED lights to form roofs and to brilliantly create the illusion of a spitfire flying across the stage. 

While this innovative staging provides the show highlights the real success of this production is the integrated use of a community chorus with the small professional cast. The community chorus of twenty-four play factory workers, design office staff, laundry workers and refugees onto the local Common to escape the nightly bombings in carefully choreographed movement and fresh musical commentary by Max and Ben Ringham under the musical direction of Candida Caldicot. They add hugely to the production, filling the stage with the people effected by the events beyond their control and providing a delightful evocation of the wartime population and the nation's mood.

The professional cast is led by Michael Fenton Stevens as the steely Canadian Lord Beaverbrook who seeks to requisition the various buildings around the town to house the Factory. Fred Dimmock is the imagined Laundry owner who leads resistance to have his property taken over and is racked with self-doubt about the country's ability to defend itself. David Birrell reprises the role, brings real emotion to the role and is also doubled up with the contrasting role of Air Marshall Dowding who leads the Air Defence.

Denise Black doubles up as the contrasting characters of the American Lady Cooper and Ma Dimmock, the mother of the Laundry owner. She provides a feisty opposition to Lord Beaverbrook in both her ladyship's home and the laundry. 

The tensions on long term family friendships is tested when Gooch, played by Joe Tracini is charged with creating the Shadow Factory in Dimmock's laundry and creates conflict with Catherine Cusack who also returns as Dimmock's loyal wife and Lady Cooper's personal assistant who is deemed to be a security risk .

The younger generation are represented by Jackie Dimmock, Bethan Cullinane and Polly, Shala Nyx returning as the only female worker in the design office and they symbolise the changing role of women during the war as they emerge in more influential roles.

The resulting show is a celebration of the Spitfire, "a violent ugly killer", the people who designed, built and delivered the planes to the front line and of the human spirit to adapt under the pressures of war. As Fred Dimmock says of his laundry's war time contribution "you put on a fresh pair of pants you know you are going to win" while his mother is clear " nothing happens in Southampton without the grannies knowing" and together they helped get the production of the planes back on track and deliver a wonderful, funny, emotional and informative production .

Nick Wayne

Four stars

Six -Divorced Beheaded Live 

Southampton and then Arts Theatre in 2019

Six -Divorced Beheaded Live has emerged from its debut at the August 2017 Edinburgh Fringe as one of the surprise hits of 2018 in London and on tour and is heading back for an open ended residency at the Arts Theatre in the heart of the West End. It is not hard to see why it has caught the imagination of audiences, especially young female fans. It concept is a pop concert based around the six wives of Henry VIII ; it is the Spice girls meets Horrible Histories in a Hamilton tribute show . It is a fun, silly sparky demonstration of girl power as the six battles to convince the audience who had the toughest time with Henry! 

This musical is written by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss with the youthful energy and fresh sound that might perhaps have been how Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice were received when they wrote Joseph and his Technicolor coat back in 1965. Time will tell whether these new writers can follow up with more British Musical theatre hits. The concert format is both the secret of its success but also the limiting factor in the development of a piece of musical theatre. The programme notes discuss feedback about extending the length, adding characters, or additional songs which have resisted by the authors and instead producers want us to celebrate the form as "we're one of a kind - no category”.

 

The production is simply staged as a 21st century concert with excellent lighting and modern costumes (perhaps borrowed from Starlight Express) as if the band are ghosts of the wives in a battle of the band members. The back wall of lights and LED strips is very effectively and wittily used to set scenes as with white crosses or red frames when Henry swipes left to reject prospective wives. The four piece band stand on stage in dark costumes on raised steps but are almost invisible throughout the concert leaving the audience to focus on the six piece girl group in front. Through each song they establish the different personalities that history has assigned to them.

First up is Catherine of Aragon, Jarneia Richard Noel, who sings “I am a paragon of royalty, my loyalty is to the Vatican “and tells her story in "No way". She is perhaps the most loyal to Henry but his head is turned by the sexy funny younger Anne Boleyn, Millie O'Connell who is excellent with her song "Don't lose UR head" full of modern text speak. LOL.

 Jane Seymour, Natalie Paris , presented a slower paced "Heart of Stone" ballad before Anna of Cleves sings the quirky "Haus of Holbein" a curious mix of House music and German Cabaret style song. She seems to be the lucky one whose profile picture secured a place as Queen of the castle. Katherine Howard, Aimie Atkinson, sings "All you wanna do”, she is the Queen who has known ever since she was a child that she made boys go wild. The sixth Queen is Catherine Parr, Mayia Quansah-Breed, who sings the love song, “I don't need your love " but yearns for her true love Thomas Seymour.

 It is an eclectic mix of musical styles delivered in a lively poppy format with tight choreography like the best boy/girl bands and tongue in cheek lyrics. It fun, silly, and entertaining with tunes that will benefit from a second or third listening but we don't learn much new about the history but I am not sure that matters to the fans. It is certainly more fun that studying your history GSCE.

Nick Wayne

Three stars 

Don Carlos - Southampton and Kingston

When you feel the need to start a

review with the Lighting Design, you know that you have just witnessed something a bit different and rather unusual but not wholly successful. Director Gadi Roll , Lighting Designer Jonathan Samuels and designer Rosanna Vize state that “the idea of light quickly took on its own meaning” and that “visible theatre lights become the symbol of power” in telling the story. As a result they stripped away all normal theatrical devises to set the scene with a bare stage (the rear brick wall and fly ropes being fully visible) and placed twelve lights on stands (in three groups by height) on stage with a selection of black elegant chairs. Across the back of the stage are 48 par cans in groups of three, pointing down at the stage, and when the truths start to spill out, the stage is lit in blaze of these lights. As the action moves around the Spanish Court there are lengthy scene changes as carefully choreographed moves of the light stands and chairs takes place. The light stands become the walls of the rooms they meet in. The idea appears to be that the harsh and uncomfortable lighting reflects the Kings tyrannical rule. The chairs reflect the court and as it starts to disintegrate the orderly lines are replaced by chaotic toppled chairs. In reality it just becomes a distraction from the cast fine efforts to portray the complex plotting that is only appreciated by the few techies in the audience.

Having seen the recent excellent Schiller story of Mary Stuart, retelling a historical story in a modern setting, we know how good a writer he can be. Having seen Mike Bartlett’s wonderful Cock at Chichester we know how a stripped back production without furnishing and props can be effective. And having seen Iain McKellan’s King Lear, nearly four hours long in modern costume we know how absorbing the wordy courtly drama can be. So this bold vision of how to stage Schiller’s Don Carlos about the sixteenth century Spanish Court might have worked but the staging creates a barrier to engaging the audience in the complicated politics and duplicitous courtiers. 

Director Gadi Roll has the cast firing out the long speeches in rapid machine gun fire bursts at each other across the stage often some distance apart and at times without intense concentration it is hard to follow and digest the exposition and historical background information that the speeches contain.

The story is about Don Carlos,the young son and heir to his father, Philip II of Spain, throne whose life is thrown into turmoil by his father marrying Elizabeth of Valois (a French princess) who Don Carlos is himself in love with. The key character in this difficult situation is a knight Rodrigo, the Marquis of Posa. He is an enigmatic, fearless Chevalier who appears loyal to Don Carlos and trusted by Philip and Elizabeth. The rest of the male cast in their dark clothes become just pawns and counter schemers in the political tale and are never developed as characters. The other complicating character is the young Princess of Eboli who we see with Don Carlos and the Elizabeth but has a darker secret.

The cast are therefore given little help by the staging and design to engage with the audience and win sympathy or support for their predicament. It means the central roles are challenging with long speeches which must require great effort and skill to deliver. 

The young RADA graduate, Samuel Valentine plays Don Carlos and does a very good job;we can hear every word he speaks. We can feel his torment and his love and the uncertainty that his position in court creates as a result. The brooding presence of Tom Burke as the mysterious Rodrigo  is the main draw for the production and he has a strong stage presence, a glowering dark look and a confident air of a man who knows his destiny. He says he is a “citizen of times to come” and the King remarks that “he has never seen a man like you”. He also returns as the sinister and menacing The Grand Inquisitor who seem to be more powerful than the King himself.

Kelly Gough returns to the Nuffield stage (having very successfully played Blanche in Streetcar named desire earlier this year) as Elizabeth, the centre of attention with a curious Irish accent and we feel her pain as she has been forced to marry not for love as she desires but out of duty and obligation.  Alexandra Dowling plays the young Princess (oddly dressed in a tracksuit) who provides the temptation to the Court.

The tyrant king is played by Darrell D’Silva with his distinguished white beard he has a regal baring but it is only the flash of red lining in his dark coat that suggests his status. He rants and rages around the court as the truths and half truths spill out.

There are echoes of King Lear and Camelot in the story with the courtiers plotting against the Crown and his plans and there is an interesting story in there which reflects perhaps on modern day politics where you can't trust what is said or the motives for saying it and state sponsored murder is happening but despite the heroic efforts of the fine actors at the centre of the story it fails to fully engage and connect. 

Nick Wayne

Three stars 

Mountaintop - On tour after NST

On 3rd April 1968 Martin Luther King spoke at a rally in Memphis where he said “I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land." The following day as he left room 306 of his motel he was assassinated on the second floor balcony by James Earl Ray. This extraordinary moment in American civil rights history is the starting point for Katori Hall's remarkable play as she speculates on what happened in that motel room that night and how King felt about the civil rights movement he passionately but almost reluctantly led.

The result is a gripping, engaging and extraordinary two hander drama that runs without interval for an hour and forty five minutes, but the time flies by. King arrives in the hotel room alone, paranoid about being bugged by the FBI and spooked by a bomb threat on his plane to Memphis earlier in the day.  He is thirty nine and has campaigned for racial equality and an end to segregation though non violent resistance for thirteen years. In later years he had widened his campaigns to poverty and against the Vietnam War.
Gbolahan Obisesan plays King with a wonderful combination of intensity and power in speech but at the same time shows fear and uncertainty and regret for the distance from his wife and family. It shows why he succeeded in leading his communities but also the stress he must have endured in his campaigning. When Camae enters the room to deliver his coffee and cigarettes we see the effect this stress has had on him and a sense of loneliness and isolation.

Rochelle Rose is amazing as Camae , growing in power and presence as the show builds to its conclusion and excelling in the sequence looking to the future promised land as the civil rights baton is passed from campaigner after campaigner who have followed King. The chemistry between them is electric as their relationship changes with witty exchanges, sexual temptation and physical tension that build as we learn more about him and where he has reached in his life. Though the situation is imagined and surreal, they both make it believable and real. 

The design by Rajha Shakiry is excellent, the sixties motel room and the balcony outside are cleverly created in the intimate space of the studio with deft touches that tell us all is not as it seems. This is reinforced by a very effective lighting design by Lizzie Powell that flickers as a storm rages outside the room and picks out atmospheric changes on the balcony. The video montage projection by Nicky Dunn on the rear wall is dramatic and stunning whisking us through the US civil rights history after King's death putting his role in the context of change. Roy Alexander Weise brings all the elements together into a moving and educational drama that is one of the most powerful calls for us all to carry the baton of change forward and work for equality.

Nick Wayne

Five stars