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Aug. 1st, 2009 07:57 pmWent to London for 4.48 Psychosis at the Young Vic.
Handily, the theatre's just down the road from Waterloo, so no messing about with tubes needed, and the café-bar there serves olives :) Buying a programme, I noticed the dialect coach had an American-sounding name and knew it had to be the lady I met outside the Royal Court. Didn't spot her today, alas. The programme also had an excellent piece about Sarah's work by the director, Christian Benedetti, who's directed several of her plays in his native France and clearly has a deep passion for her.
Anamaria Marinca, a Romanian actress, performed the play as a one woman show. She stood in the same spot on the stage throughout, just making the odd appropriate hand gesture and very occasionally crouching down on the rare occasions when she went into a shout. She opened up by standing staring, fixedly and silently, for quite a long time, occasionally glancing one way or another. When she finally spoke the opening line "But you have friends" it seemed to have the force of an explosion. Most of the time she delivered the text in a tone of controlled anger, giving a real sense of the stress of living with persistent chronic depression. She adopted a tone of cheerfulness for a scene where the main character mischievously talks to a patronising doctor about her self-harming. She adopted a different accent and tone of voice for portraying doctors, but in other two-handed scenes she simply maintained a constant tone and timbre, giving the impression of having a conversation with herself. Very effective.
In Anamaria's portrayal, the therapist and patient scene is a watershed. From the moment that the therapist tells the main character they can no longer treat her, but assures her that she'll be all right, Anamaria switched for the rest of the play to a tone of sad resignation. Her interpretation makes it clear that that is the point where the main character finally, inexorably, gives up hope and resolves to commit suicide.
Anamaria's performance took the play and made it her own. Magnificent.
Back to Waterloo, to call at Starbucks and the Bagel Factory.
Handily, the theatre's just down the road from Waterloo, so no messing about with tubes needed, and the café-bar there serves olives :) Buying a programme, I noticed the dialect coach had an American-sounding name and knew it had to be the lady I met outside the Royal Court. Didn't spot her today, alas. The programme also had an excellent piece about Sarah's work by the director, Christian Benedetti, who's directed several of her plays in his native France and clearly has a deep passion for her.
Anamaria Marinca, a Romanian actress, performed the play as a one woman show. She stood in the same spot on the stage throughout, just making the odd appropriate hand gesture and very occasionally crouching down on the rare occasions when she went into a shout. She opened up by standing staring, fixedly and silently, for quite a long time, occasionally glancing one way or another. When she finally spoke the opening line "But you have friends" it seemed to have the force of an explosion. Most of the time she delivered the text in a tone of controlled anger, giving a real sense of the stress of living with persistent chronic depression. She adopted a tone of cheerfulness for a scene where the main character mischievously talks to a patronising doctor about her self-harming. She adopted a different accent and tone of voice for portraying doctors, but in other two-handed scenes she simply maintained a constant tone and timbre, giving the impression of having a conversation with herself. Very effective.
In Anamaria's portrayal, the therapist and patient scene is a watershed. From the moment that the therapist tells the main character they can no longer treat her, but assures her that she'll be all right, Anamaria switched for the rest of the play to a tone of sad resignation. Her interpretation makes it clear that that is the point where the main character finally, inexorably, gives up hope and resolves to commit suicide.
Anamaria's performance took the play and made it her own. Magnificent.
Back to Waterloo, to call at Starbucks and the Bagel Factory.
