Tag Archives: Jacob Fortune-Lloyd

“Rock ‘n’ Roll” at the Hampstead Theatre

This revival from director Nina Raine firmly establishes Tom Stoppard’s 2006 play as a modern classic. It’s a piece that has it all: history and politics, plenty of philosophy, and a surprising amount of romance. What you find most appealing is up to you, but big themes and complex personalities are juggled well, and the play is hugely rewarding.

Stoppard loves a big timespan, and there’s plenty of history here, from the Prague Spring of 1968 to a Rolling Stones concert at the city’s Strahov Stadium in 1990. The action tracks the politics of Cambridge based Max and his one-time student Jan, who returns to his native Czechoslovakia early in the play.

In other hands an audience could get lost, so Raine deserves praise here: the production is marvellously clear and bravely paced. It is hard not to be overwhelmed towards the end, and the final party scene chat feels rushed. But if it’s ideas you want to hear, you will be happy; Stoppard’s characters can talk about ideology and consciousness, of all kinds, better than most. Politics here is more than a matter of left and right. Instead, the concern is political engagement, to the extent of asking if not caring might be the best way to be a dissident.

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Nathaniel Parker & Jacob Fortune-Lloyd

It is those who ask questions – the intellectuals – who are most vivid. Max’s die-hard Communism fascinates. Loyal to the party late in life, he is portrayed with skill by Nathaniel Parker. Jan offers a contrast: he wants a quieter life (spoiler – he doesn’t get one), finding his friends’ letters of protest pointless. Yet Jan is made heroic by Jacob Fortune-Lloyd’s sensitive portrayal.

The characters are keen to address a divide between theory and practice. Possibly, Stoppard’s answer, after outlining all that thinking, is focusing on people – through his characters. That’s my preference anyway. And Stoppard knows how important these personal stories are. His creations have rich emotional lives that form another level for the play. Like the soundtrack for the show, or the love poems by Sappho that feature, they interact with, ground if you like, the big ideas.

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Nancy Carroll

There is a lot of love in Rock ‘n’ Roll, from the mother and daughter relationship that leads to a great role for Phoebe Horn, to the affection between teacher and pupil that Max and Jan show. But it is the romance between Max and his wife, Eleanor, then a young love revisited in middle age for their daughter Esme, with Jan, that provide real warmth. Taking the roles of Elinor and Esme, who love Max and Jan in turn, is a big task but makes an amazing night for Nancy Carroll. These are the roles that provide passion for the play and end up inspiring.

Until 27 January 2024

www.hampsteadtheatre.co.uk

Photos by Manuel Harlan

“The Importance of Being Earnest” at the Vaudeville Theatre

A year-long season of Oscar Wilde plays, masterminded by Dominic Dromgoole, draws to a close with the biggest and best: the great man’s famous comedy of misconstrued manners and identities that everyone agrees is a masterpiece. All the productions from the Classic Spring Theatre Company have been fresh and intelligent, with a marked confidence in their material, and this show from director Michael Fentiman is no exception.

A talented cast is inspired to be bold. Fehinti Balogun has real star quality as a particularly dandyish Algernon, while his fellow bachelor Jack is played with amusing bluster by Jacob Fortune-Lloyd. Their love interests are both portrayed as formidable characters, with great performances from Fiona Button and Pippa Nixon. As for the older generation, looking on at the love affairs and ostensibly in charge, every line from Sophie Thompson’s Lady Bracknell and Stella Gonet’s Miss Prism is worth listening to, as Wilde pokes at any and all pretension.

This is as bacchanalian a production as you could wish for Wilde – full of food and sex. Compulsive eating is picked out; watching the cast manage sandwiches and crumpets while delivering such complex lines is its own pleasure. And while remaining credibly fin de siècle, these are the lustiest ladies you could get away with (Button’s “tremors” are beautifully delivered). Meanwhile Balogun plays Algernon with a polyamorous streak that’s blissfully naughty.

The production has a careful eye on class with the servants’ limited lines playing a big part. Algernon’s butler, Lane, becomes part of the family and benefits from a strong performance from Geoffrey Freshwater. Thompson’s Lady B is satisfyingly innovative: there’s no dithering about with that handbag line and there’s a touching moment at the plot reveal. Yes, no matter how silly, Thompson is right to bring a tear to her eye here.

A clean, clear look at a famous text, even one as perfect as this, is always good. The balance with retaining what made it a classic is perfect here. Perhaps the approach can be summed up with the complementary work on set and costume design from Madeline Girling and Gabriella Slade, respectively. The stage is almost bare, free of fussy period details, while the wardrobe is spot on and gorgeous. So there’s nothing to get in the way of the comedy. And nothing to deny the date of the piece either. It’s to Fentiman’s credit that his touches are thought provoking and respectful – and in every case increase the wonderful humour on offer.

Until 20 October 2018

www.classicspring.co.uk

Photo by Marc Brenner