#1
Posted: 6/15/09 at 10:18am
In one of my favourite auditoria in the West End I sat with the great and good, all out for some serious art and patting themselves on the back for getting one of the hottest tickets of the moment. I hate snobby audiences. Anyway, enough of my review of the audience.
However, the play itself was sensational. Ian Mackellen absolutely steals it with a tour-de-force Lancashire accent, making almost everything that Estragon has to say very funny indeed. The inter-play between him and Stewart was touching indeed and deceptively effortless.
Callow was Callow and Pickup made a finely eerie Lucky.
The set design, with the wasteland breaking into the theatre, was gorgeous.
The sound design: a little odd- neither strong in its presence nor unobtrusive- it seemed rather half-hearted. Lighting was excellent, though I was puzzled by the focus of the floor break-up, which cut off across the pros line, leaving the small apron stage without gobo cover- what was that meant to symbolize?
Overall though, a heartily entertaining production, albeit one which tends to opt for comedy generally over true despair.
However, the play itself was sensational. Ian Mackellen absolutely steals it with a tour-de-force Lancashire accent, making almost everything that Estragon has to say very funny indeed. The inter-play between him and Stewart was touching indeed and deceptively effortless.
Callow was Callow and Pickup made a finely eerie Lucky.
The set design, with the wasteland breaking into the theatre, was gorgeous.
The sound design: a little odd- neither strong in its presence nor unobtrusive- it seemed rather half-hearted. Lighting was excellent, though I was puzzled by the focus of the floor break-up, which cut off across the pros line, leaving the small apron stage without gobo cover- what was that meant to symbolize?
Overall though, a heartily entertaining production, albeit one which tends to opt for comedy generally over true despair.
