One from the vaults, one of my first reviews from two years ago.
The Donmar Warehouse is one of the leading producing theatres in London; they started in 1992 with the work of famed director Sam Mendes. The Warehouse has consistently had famous and well renowned film actors on the stage with them. In 2007 Ewan McGregor starred in Othello, however due to the massive demands for tickets in the relatively small 250 seat space the manager Michael Grandage announced the West End Season. The West End Season takes productions developed by the Donmar Warehouse and puts them on in the 750 seat Wyndhams Theatre in the heart of London’s West End. The first show was the Chekov piece Ivanov in a new version by Tom Stoppard, starring Kenneth Branagh it kicked off the season with a bang. On the night we attended the theatre was packed to the point where there were only standing tickets left with many people choosing to watch the show from the aisles. This led to the feel of a real event within the theatre, something which is missing in my opinion when it comes to plays. Many speculated this excitement was due to the fact that Branagh was playing the lead, but the Donmar also has a deal on their tickets to make the theatre more accessible to larger audiences. However when the play started and Branagh made his first appearance on stage it was a striking image, this man, this modern day Olivier was taking to the stage in a very complex role and he pulled it off perfectly. From the beginning to the end Branagh portrayed the character of a man falling deeper and deeper into his own melancholy and inevitable insanity with such care and insight it was physically moving. His energy as Ivanov was erratic yet calming, he never let up for a second with his portrayal, the moments when Ivanov was not the centre of attention he was still quietly brooding, even whilst playing the guitar in the drab living room of his neighbours you could see the internal dialogue and anxiety playing in his mind. Branagh was not the only bright star in this production, the supporting cast was fantastic and featured some brilliant performances and familiar faces. Kevin R McNally, famous as Johnny Depp’s first mate in Pirates of the Carribean, gave a fantastic performance as the drunken friend of Ivanov who is always looking for a good business deal. His levity brought a great balance to a piece which was weighed down by the depressing attitude of Ivanov and his nemesis Lvov, played by a fantastic Tom Hiddleston.
The emotional movement of this piece was rapid and played out in a very artistic way. With Chekov there is always an issue with the play being too morbid, too depressing but within this production you could see that Michael Grandage, the director, had made sure that the moments of comedy were exploited fully to give the audience an entertaining experience over all. The biggest praise I can give this production though is that because of the fantastic performances and the wonderful set by Christopher Oram I truly lost myself many times throughout the piece in this world of pre communist Russia. If you get the chance to see any of the other Donmar productions at the Wyndham I recommend you take it, a great night of theatre for a good price.
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