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Night of the Iguana
by Tennessee Williams
at Lyric Theatre, Shaftesbury
Shaftesbury Avenue, London W1
Director Anthony Page
Designer Anthony Ward
Lighting Designer Mark Henderson
Call +44 (0) 870 890 1107 Tickets £17.50 - £45
Mon – Sat 7.45pm; Thurs & Sat Mats 3.00pm
Running time 2 hours 40 mins with intermission
Through 25 March 2006
Where were the cicadas?
From the oddly quiet jungle with it’s cold lighting, to the strutting and nasal screeching of Clare Higgins and the stomping and bellowing of Nichola McAuliffe, there was not much that was pleasing to hear or see in this potentially intriguing revival. Only the magnetic performance of Woody Harrelson, and the simply splendid John Franklyn-Robbins make this tricky late Tennessee Williams worth going to see.
Mr Harrelson made his name as a memorable Woody in Cheers and has since shown himself to be a movie actor of range and depth. He has brought those qualities to London for his West End stage debut. His seedy, broken down, alcoholic, girl obsessed, defrocked priest, Shannon, is possessed of a lacerating wit, and was at all times dangerously plausible.
In contrast, some of his British supporting company indulged in posturing and overplaying in performances that just jarred. There were exceptions, of course. Jenny Seagrove’s Hannah Jelkes, beautiful and strong willed, did make a tender impression as the committed virgin and nursemaid to Nonno, her ageing grandfather, of whom she proudly says ‘was once a very well known minor poet’. The old man, a picture of a beautifully drawn character by the playwright, was realised to its essence by Mr Franklyn-Robbins. After his death you felt Hannah probably wouldn’t have been able to hold out for long if Shannon hadn’t opted for rough trade in the end, in the form of Miss Higgins’ busty, noisy Maxine and her run down Mexican hotel.
Williams’ heady concoction of trapped souls shows its vintage with the live broadcast of Hitler from the portable radio of Herr Farhrenkopf - a very enjoyable cameo by Peter Banks. Had the happy Nazi been carrying around his own personal favourite recording, though, the time could be the present.
Shannon has stopped his tour bus at the inn of some happiness for him. The line ‘I have always depended upon the kindness of strangers’, spoken by A Streetcar Named Desire’s Blanch du Bois, Tennessee Williams’ female version of Shannon, could come from him, although he would never admit it. He needs saving as much as she.
The eponymous and now famously symbolic iguana has been caught. Scaly and cold though it is, it is a victim, and needs to be rescued from its fate too. The unimpressive, yet equally symbolic rain, when it comes, does not seem to wash much away.
A bit of steam all round might have helped.
Somewhat recommended
Saul Reichlin
London correspondent
Chicago Stage Talk Radio Show
www.ChicagoCritic.com
14 December 2005
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