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Mourning
Becomes Electra (National Theatre, Lyttelton)
There's
isn't a more explosive relationship on the London stage than that
of Helen Mirren's mother and Eve Best's daughter in Eugene O'Neill's
scorching familial revenge tragedy.
| "O'Neill's
revenge tragedy is overwrought and overwritten, but it has a
gruelling, shattering intensity..." |
Though
even the title hints at Greek tragedy, there's little of the catharsis
usually found there, and this blackest - and bleakest - of family
dramas doesn't have the redemptive qualities of King Lear, either.
Instead,
we watch a family and
their brutal dysfunctions imploding
before our appalled eyes.
Set just after the American Civil War, the furies are unleashed
amongst an aristocratic family living in a New England country mansion
when the daughter of the household (Best) discovers that her mother
Lavinia (Mirren) has taken a young lover (Paul McGann) while her
beloved father (Tim Piggot-Smith) and brother (Paul Hilton) have
been away at war.
tragic
inevitability
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As
the bitter enmities between mother and daughter are revealed,
a torrent of epic emotions is unleashed
|
As
the bitter enmities between mother and daughter are exposed, and
the husband comes back from war to confront the wreck of his marriage,
a torrent of epic emotions is unleashed.
O'Neill's
revenge tragedy is certainly overwrought and definitely overwritten,
but it has a gruelling, shattering intensity that keeps you morbidly
hooked.
And in Howard Davies's production - unfolding in waves of despair,
disgust and guilt - it is so finely acted that even the most melodramatic
excesses of the plot acquire a tragic inevitability.
This
is an evening of enveloping claustrophobic power.
Agree
or disagree with our review? Add your comments below...
----------------------------------------------
From Robert Richardson
I
saw the first preview and it was excruciating. Dame Mirren was indeed
wonderful, but far too strong for the character and totally miscast.
The rest of the cast was weak with accents from Piccadilly to the
deep south of the U.S.
The
husband/wife fight scene was unintentionally laughable, as was Dame
Mirren's fainting spell. The direction forced the actors to move
in an artificial and illogical manner. The set was too large and
cumbersome (and didn't work) and its symbolism (tiny charred houses
and a giant U.S. flag) were blatant and silly.
This play is overwritten and overwrought and needs a very good cast
and director to make it work. This wasn't it...
Email
your comments to: yourlondon@bbc.co.uk
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