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| Summerfolk
- The National Theatre
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Daily
Telegraph
When we look back on 1999, I suspect the
creation of the new ensemble at the National
Theatre will be recognised as its dramatic
highlight. Trevor Nunn's marvellous company
has shone throughout the year. There have
been exemplary, illuminating productions
of Troilus and Cressida and The
Merchant of Venice; a revival of the
musical Candide which proved that
Bernstein's unwieldy masterpiece could
actually work on stage; and a night of
pure pleasure with Edward Bulwer-Lytton's
Victorian comedy, Money. The final
production of the season is one of the
great ensemble pieces, Maxim Gorky's Summerfolk
(1904), and the company is in its element,
offering performances of beguiling freshness
and detail.
Thanks to the excellence of Nunn's production,
there are long passages when the play
is utterly spellbinding. With the help
of an evocative birch wood design by Christopher
Oram, and a witty colloquial translation
by Nick Dear, Nunn conjures up a succession
of visually ravishing scenes when you
seem to be watching not actors, but the
flow of life itself.
It's one of those occasions when you want
to praise almost the entire cast. Roger
Allam is once again outstanding as
the lawyer Bassov.Simon Russell Beale
and Beverly Klein are superb as a decent
harassed doctor and his misanthropic Martyr
of a wife, Henry Goodman's glitteringly
compelling as a writer who has turned
cynical with the loss of his talent. Victoria
Hamilton somehow manages to be irritating,
funny and touching all at once as the
neurotic beauty seeking escape from a
wretched marriage, and there are lovely
performances too from Patricia Hodge as
a no-nonsense doctor suddenly overcome
by love, Derbhle Crotty as an appalling
Pseud of a poet and Michael Bryant as
a sweet old codger trying to escape from
solitude.
It's a night of rich rewards and I just
hope Nunn can keep his crack ensemble
together when the present season ends.
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| The
Guardian
Maxim Gorky's Summerfolk, written
in 1904, is a great company play:
a scathing portrait of the new Russian
professional class at leisure. As
such it is a perfect vehicle for the
National Theatre's ensemble; but watching
this richly detailed production, directed
by Trevor Nunn with Fiona Buffini,
one also feels a pang of regret that
this is its last scheduled outing.
Gorky's play clearly owes a considerable
debt to Checkov...the echoes are everywhere:
the visiting writer, the amateur theatricals,
the feverish declarations of unhappiness.
But the big difference is ...Gorky...was
far more committed to social action.the
play is both socially specific and
eternally relevant.
The productions great strength is
precisely its sense of place and time:
everything from the spindly birch
trees of Christopher Oram's set to
the offstage bird cries and watchman's
whistles. The investment in ensemble
also pays off handsomely in the acting.This
production triumphantly demonstrates
the benefits of ensemble acting.
|
Independent
A crack ensemble of 20-odd actors ready
to animate a large canvas.
Played against a lovely cyclorama of receding
birch trees, Nunn's production orchestrates
the lazy, fractious picnics in the dappled
light, the unravelled marriages, the amateur
dramatics and ferocious political ding-dongs
with a rich human amplitude and alertness
to contradiction.
Watching an ensemble company evolve over
a number of productions offers many joys.
One of these is noticing the growth of
talent such as that of Raymond Coulthard,
who makes a vivid impression as the clowning
malcontent, lovelorn Vlass, Gorky's semi-surrogate.
Another is marvelling at the roundness
a top-flight actor can give to a small
role - as the child oppressed Doctor Dudakov,
Simon Russell Beale suggests, with just
a few deft strokes, a whole world of sagging
defeat.
A deeply rewarding evening.
|
Independent
on Sunday
An impressionistic director, Nunn sketches
in offstage activity, uses the auditorium
for sauntering entrances and lays on a
soundtrack of birds, insects and trains.
He fills the Olivier as if it were a studio
space.
Summerfolk has lots of good female
roles. Patricia Hodge is intriguingly
cast as the stern doctor, falling for
a younger man.
Oliver Cotton's embittered Suslov and
Raymond Coulthard's frivolous Vlass seize
the opportunity to extend what we have
seen them do in other productions this
year at the National. Roger Allam
and Michael Bryant are consistently good...Simon
Russell Beale fills his (comparatively)
small role...to bursting point.
With Summerfolk, Nunn's ensemble
at the National presents the final production
in its yearlong season. With each production
the company has changed shape and realigned
- like a kaleidoscope - without losing
any of its appeal. It's been fascinating
to return and find new depths and talents.
With Summerfolk, the six-pack reaches
a glowing conclusion. For a year, London
has had a local rep company par excellence.
|
Times
Trevor Nunn and Fiona Buffini's superbly
acted production...Jennifer Ehle...is
as near to a protagonist as the play offers...
Like everyone else in this stunning revival,
she wins your belief.
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Daily
Mail
Gorky's wonderful play...Trevor Nunn's
magnificent production...The company is
seen to full advantage with truly outstanding
performances from Roger Allam as
the chatterbox lawyer and Henry Goodman
as a cynical visiting writer.
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| Evening
Standard
Trevor Nunn's seductively atmospheric
production of Maxim Gorky's Summerfolk
emerges as a transfixing piece of
theatre, uniting comedy, satire and
political diatribe in a post-Chekovian
swoop of politically motivated energy.
Patricia Hodge in terrific form as
a stringent, lovelorn doctor.
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