Play Strindberg
Ustinov Studio, Bath
Comedies don't come much blacker than this play about marital disharmony but this one certainly packs a punch to mark the start of the Ustinov's autumn season.
Play Strindberg is staged as a boxing match in 12 rounds between Edgar and Alice as they reach their 25th wedding anniversary; each round begins with the stroke of a gong as they enact their visceral dislike of each other.
Swiss dramatist Durrenmatt based his 1968 play on Strindberg's Dance of Death and this is a new translation by political satirist Alistair Beaton.
It's a pared down version of a medieval allegory that romps through the dark corridors of the human soul – hatred, betrayals, the universality of death, and so forth – in which, surprisingly, the couple's awful marriage is the only thing to survive at the end.
The staging of this production is brilliant. A circle of neon light depicts the boxing ring in which the couple play out their vicious cat-and-mouse games with each other and with their visitor Kurt, a former lover of Alice.
It is intimate, claustrophobic and deeply, darkly funny.
Greg Hicks is superb as the tyrannical artillery captain Edgar who lives on an isolated island with his wife. His heart problem causes frequent blackouts, during which time Alice tells him exactly what she thinks of him. At other times she plays the piano and he performs a strange, and hilarious, sabre dance.
Mostly she waits for him to die. Then cousin Kurt visits and proves to be something other than he first appears. They dance around each other waiting for a death that does not come.
Hicks is well supported in this production by Sally Dexter as Alice and Richard Clothier as Kurt.
Play Strindberg is a dance of death that is beautifully choreographed, with a macabre sense of humour, and perfectly executed in this production directed by Nancy Meckler – another fine offering from the Ustinov.
It runs until October 11. To book tickets call the theatre on 01225 448844 or online at www.theatreroyal.org.uk
Jackie Chappell
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
