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National Theatre at Home 2

  • Writer: What We've Watched
    What We've Watched
  • May 12, 2020
  • 9 min read

Alright lads!


I hope you’re all doing okay, scary times, but chins up, best foot forward and all that. Make sure you’re all looking after your mental health, keep doing things that bring you joy! Thinking of you.


We’re back again with some more reviews of the National Theatre at home streams! (You can read our first post here). This time we have; Twelfth Night, Frankenstein and Anthony & Cleopatra. As before you can find links to the full cast and creative teams for each production at the end of this post. Enjoy!

 

Twelfth Night (first produced in 2017 and streamed on 23rd April 2020) is a Shakespeare rom-com with mistaken identity, love triangles and of course, a healthy dose of stupidity! I was actually rehearsing for a production of Twelfth Night when all this madness kicked off, we never got to production (it’s been postponed so we might still get to do it, fingers crossed). The wonders of the Olivier stage were employed again in this production, see image below. The Olivier theatres revolve was used well, each scene turned into the next with the pushed panels increasing the speed of the spin and the stairs coming together and splitting, re-enforcing the dizziness of the play. In the final moments of the play, whilst Feste sang her last song, the stage span and showed moments with the characters which were very sweet and gave a cheerful finish.


I was happy to see some of my favourites from One Man Two Guvnors back again, Alan and Stanley graced the stage once more as Sir Andrew Aguecheek (Daniel Rigby) and Orsino (Oliver Chris), both were brilliant, a special mention must be payed to Rigby’s man bun. The whole cast had a good grasp on the text, everything made sense. Some style and costume choices did confuse the story for me, however, such as, when Viola was in the hospital with the Captain, he gave her a coat, I interpreted this as Sebastian’s coat and he had pulled it out of the ocean for her, if so, then why did Sebastian come on in exactly the same coat in his first entrance, or are they twins who wear matching clothes still? I understand why they made the household at Olivia’s all female, and for the most part I enjoyed it. I thought Malvolia (played by Tamsin Grieg) worked well; a strict, pious matron. However, some of her physicality was very odd and seemed to play solely for laughs rather than with any character-led conviction.

Tamara Lawrance (Viola) led the story very well, and Olivia (played by Phoebe Fox) was suitably hard and cold before her eye was caught by Viola, where she softens and runs almost mad with love for her. Tim McMullan as Sir Toby Belch gives off strong Bill Nighy vibes which fit beautifully and, alongside the silliness of Rigby as Aguecheek, provides us with a wonderful duo. The reunion of Viola and Sebastian (Daniel Ezra) was moving, and Orsino’s coupling with Viola was funny and just lush.



The jazzy live music was complimentary to the tone of the performance and provided a nice underscore to the piece as a whole. Personally, I found the songs a little slow and they seemed to drastically slow the pace of the story when performed, except the drag queens singing of ‘to be or not to be’ at ‘The Elephant’, which was great! The performance as a whole was well done and funny, I had issues with the fountain gags, it added nothing but observational comedy to the performance, which generally bores me, soz. I also struggled with Malvolias final moments – I could not find understanding in the removal of her wig or the climbing the stairs to the rain. After so light-hearted and humorous a performance this #drama felt very out of place and unsettling, perhaps this was the idea but for me it was jarring.


All in all, a good adaptation of Twelfth Night. I largely enjoyed it and may have been a touch critical due to my own ideas of performance. Not the best one we’ve seen but not unenjoyable.

 

Frankenstein (first performed in 2011, streamed on 30th April 2020) is adapted by Nick Dear from Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel about scientist, Victor Frankenstein, and the ‘creature’ he creates and animates using electricity. Directed by Danny Boyle and created with many individuals who were also working on the London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony at the time, this absolute masterpiece of theatre was a joy to watch (more than once). Mum has written her thoughts up for you, and like our last NT at Home piece, I am going to add on my extra thoughts in italics.

 

There are two versions of this production, one with Benedict Cumberbatch playing the ‘creature’ and Jonny Lee Miller playing Frankenstein, and one with the roles reversed (they played alternate nights in the original run). This relates to Cumberbatch as the ‘creature’, although Ellie watched the second version and will comment below (I did and I will, you first though Mum). We had heard that when Cumberbatch played Frankenstein it was much like watching him playing anything, specifically Sherlock. There was no scope for this when he played ‘creature’, and the role showed him to his best as an actor. I have to say that yes, there were moments of Sherlock in Cumberbatch’s doctor, however, these only came with the doctors’ blunt cruelty, and at those times the choices made sense and any Sherlockisms were not distracting, in fact I thought he was pretty great as the doc.


To be honest the first, maybe, 15 minutes of the play left us confused and unsure if we wanted to continue. During this time, the creature emerged and started to learn how to move. This involved a lot of writhing on the floor and twitching, which was uncomfortable to watch and seemed to progress little. Looking back, we have both said, that having seen the whole show, this opening makes perfect sense. Jonny Lee Miller’s monster seemed to progress quicker the Cumberbatch’s and his learning felt more active and driven – Cumberbatch’s felt accidental. A stunning quote from Mum whilst we watched this bit and we were discussing if 1) he was in an egg or 2) if he was being born - ‘why don’t they get someone to come in and smack him on the bottom then he’ll start crying’. A stunning array of lights phased and flickered periodically as ‘creature’ developed new skills. The lights were amazin, also, fun fact, over 3,500 filament bulbs were used! Gradually new characters are added, first Frankenstein who is afraid of ‘creature’ and abandons it (he drops his journal), and then villagers, who are petrified. At this point we were still unsure… (I mean I was getting more into it) The ‘creature’ forms a friendship with a blind farmer and develops intellectual skills – reading and writing, as well as compassion, reason, morality etc. He seeks and eventually finds his creator who promises to make him a mate, but he does not deliver. In doing this the complete obsession of Frankenstein is revealed, as he abandons his fiancée to conduct this experiment in the middle of nowhere (Scotland). His disregard for the dead is also clear as he engages locals to act as grave robbers, in this case robbing graves of female body parts. Jonny Lee Miller portrayed Frankenstein brilliantly and was completely believable as the obsessed, preoccupied, ’mad scientist’. Both characters are driven by obsession, the ‘creature’ for connection and love, and Frankenstein by the need to be and create better.


The play moved from something where three of us (Dad watched with us) sat looking at each other wondering what was going on, to one of the most compelling pieces of theatre I’ve seen. This was reflected both in the performances of the main actors, but also in the set, which was superb – think Olympics Opening Ceremony 2012, also directed by Danny Boyle. You experience the methods of the man who believes he can create life and are left with a strong sense of not knowing who is the monster – Frankenstein or the ‘creature’ he created.

 

Yay Mum! Here are my additional thoughts:


  • The set was both minimal and quite detailed. The train created by members of the cast was a real spectacle and was beautiful, when the ’creature’ is learning he finds himself on a patch of grass – this was very minimal but communicated so much, De Lacey (the blind man he befriends, played by Karl Johnson) teaches the ‘creature’ outside his home which used a screen so we could see inside, the dock where the ‘creature’ meets William is again minimal but the peeling and snaking in and out of it was visually amazing, the sets got more intricate at Frankenstein’s’ home and the ‘shack’ he works in in Scotland. The stage was the Olivier and they used the revolve, with sets coming from below and emerging out of the darkness. The emptiness of the Olivier stage at times gave stark and exposing realness to the performance.

  • The music was cool. It was sort of lyrical, and free when the ‘creature’ was learning or calm and then when his actions or thoughts were evil the music changed metallic and sharp. An excellent bit was at the end when the ‘creature’ thinks Frankenstein is dead the music is lyrical as he mourns but when Frankenstein awakes and treats him with the same disdain as he has and the ‘creature’ is hurt and angry the music gets more metallic. Very interesting, very cool, very complimentary to the action. Loved it.

  • Watching the ‘creature’ learn was really interesting and beautiful! Basic things like a touching hot pan or feeling cold and putting clothes on, to when he arrives at De Lacey’s and he starts to develop his own thought and reason. However, his understanding is so basic and by the book that when he is wronged, the burning revenge is so primal that repercussions are not understood or thought on. It was so enthralling.

  • In both variations, the scene when doctor and ‘creature’ meet in the mountains was ELECTRIC. These two actors playing against each other is an honour to watch! Some of the best acting I've ever seen. Honestly, this play was so good (for both casting variations) that all I can really say is, it was well cast and brilliantly played, nothing stuck out as exceptional or bad as the ensemble, as a collective, were exceptional.


I don’t have a favourite one, there were slight differences between them but, both iterations were wonderful. I was drawn in and captivated by the stunning work being done by the cast. As Mum said, some of the most compelling theatre we’ve seen. I want to keep watching this production over and over and over.

 

Anthony and Cleopatra (first performed in 2018, streamed on 7th May 2020) is a Shakespearean tragedy, telling the tale of Cleopatra and Mark Anthony’s relationship. This production was directed by Simon Godwin, who also directed the Twelfth Night above and there are a couple similarities in terms of set. On the Olivier stage Godwin and his team split the revolve and we span into different settings and they used water again, otherwise this production was very different to Twelfth Night. In terms of set, I liked a lot of it. All the submarine stuff was particularly cool! And for the majority of the production the size of the Olivier stage was used to its fullest, however, once we entered the monument for the final moments, the action is confined to a small structure which felt cramped. The music was great, very dramatic and very fitting, and the soundscapes too; crickets chirping whenever we are in Egypt and the seagulls and waves when we are by the submarine. Nice scene setting.


This production was very long, it didn’t seem to drag, it just kept going and going, if we had stopped and taken a 20 minute interval maybe, than the 30 seconds offered by the YouTube video, then I think we would have grown less tired of it. The performances in general were very good, especially Tunji Kasim (Caesar), Sophie Okonedo (Cleopatra), Fisayo Akinade (Eros) and Tim McMullan (Enobarbus). However, for me, a lot of the other characters didn’t feel real, #drama over #realness, a lot of speech making rather than truth. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed it and I know that this play is very #drama, I just wasn’t crazy about the lack of intentions. Sophie Okonedo was wonderful and perfectly captured Cleopatras ‘infinite variety’ – also her costumes were beautiful! There’s a video on the NT at home Ant & Cleo webpage (https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/shows/nt-at-home-antony-and-cleopatra) of costume designer Evie Gurney chatting through some of them if you’re interested (I have to say that my favourite is the bug jacket, that green is gorgeous!). She was always dressed for a reason, to be seen, she has power and money and that is reflected in what she is wearing. On costumes, we watched the 'triumvirate' dress ready to meet Pompey, they got dressed into 3 different uniforms – Army, Navy and Air force I believe, I have no other thoughts other than I thought this was cool and made sense.

That’s it for this one. I liked it, Mum wasn’t too crazy about it, it was very long, visually it was very beautiful, some performances were amazing, others didn’t agree with me as much (notice how I have said nothing about a certain male)… But yeah, glad I watched it!

 

Well there we are, our second instalment of NT at home. They’ve announced a few more that I am very excited to watch! Also, Mum wants to interview me like I did a few weeks back so there’s that to look forward to… I think we’re going to watch some films as well. We shall see!


Thanks so much for reading guys, we hope you’re enjoying it. Let us know if there’s anything you want to see from us.


You are all fantastic,

Ellie and Anita x

 

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