“We’ll press upon the enemy until he’s in a funk,
And show him its no easy thing resisting British spunk”
Just a quickie to cover this return trip to Privates on Parade, the opening
show of Michael Grandage’s 5 show takeover of the Noël Coward Theatre, as I was
able to attend the final performance of the run thanks to the day-seating
efforts of a friend. I liked the show immensely when I saw it at the end
of last year and whilst I could see that it might not be to everyone’s tastes,
I was somewhat surprised at the charge of ‘dated’ that some people levelled at the
play. Perhaps it’s a conversation that needs to be had with someone who actually
felt that way but it feels erroneous to me, not least because it’s not even set
(late 1940s) when it was written (1977).
The biggest change of
course was due to the untimely and sudden death of Sophiya Haque who played the
role of Sylvia. I can’t imagine how difficult it must have been for the company
to continue after such a tragedy and all credit to understudy Davina Perera who
rose to the challenge of taking on the role full time mid-run and achieving a
seamless transition. Otherwise, I enjoyed the show just as much as I did first
time round and having a better sense of the play as a whole, I appreciated the
emotional depths of the writing that much more, the comedy has a more
astringent edge in the knowledge of what is to come.
For me, this was Simon Russell
Beale at his best. He’s an actor whom many have raved about to me for years
now, yet I’d never seen him in a role which seemed to justify such praise. But
as Captain Terri Dennis, everything seemed to click into place – emotive drama,
twinkle-eyed campery, singing, dancing and a joie de vivre that proved utterly
irresistible. I genuinely hope he’s had as much fun as he seems to have had
performing the role as indeed the rest of the company have as well. Angus
Wright’s colonial throwback, John Marquez’s delightful Brummie, Joseph Timms’
fast-maturing Flowers, Grandage really did assemble a top notch group of actors
to ensure his ambitious season got off to the best of starts.
Labels: Angus Wright, Brodie Ross, Chris Chan, Davina Perera, Harry Hepple, John Marquez, Joseph Timms, Mark Lewis Jones, Peter Nichols, Sadao Ueda, Sam Swainsbury, Simon Russell Beale
