Tag Archives: Michael Simkins

“Richard II” at the Bridge Theatre

After the tremendous, nearly two year long run of Guys and Dolls, Nicholas Hytner’s Tower Bridge venue has another hit on its hands. OK, it’s more star casting, with Jonathan Bailey taking the lead as Shakespeare’s deposed monarch. But there’s a lot more to this production; Hytner is too experienced a director to be swayed by a star and this is solid work through and through. 

Breathe easy, Bailey is very good. Richard’s complexity is tackled well; Bailey can do frantic and philosophical and he “sports” – his Richard is a wit and gets laughs. The performance is smart enough to use Bailey’s reputation as a heartthrob to lean into Richard’s vanity and suggest a parallel between the divine right of Kings and celebrity. If it is a depiction to respect rather than inspire, it is impossible not to admire it.

Bailey is also a generous performer; like Hytner, fully aware the text isn’t just about Richard. Every role is given its due with a tremendous attention to detail so that the whole ensemble shine. You might easily end up awarding the laurels to Royce Pierreson who plays the usurping Bullingbrook, brilliantly reflecting how the man’s ambition conflicts with a grudging respect for Richard. The future Henry IV is a schemer, of course, but the sense of events out of his control, and Pierreson reacting to them, is wonderfully dynamic.

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Vinnie Heaven

There are further fine performances, from relatively small roles that are easy to ignore in most productions: Badria Timimi does well as the Bishop of Carlisle, providing an important religious context to the argument. Michael Simkins, Amanda Root and Vinnie Heaven are all superb as the family York torn apart by the conflict they find themselves in. Hytner and his cast convey how fraught capturing the crown is for these people, how tense this time in British history was, and the drama gains in tension as a result.

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Amanda Root and Michael Simkins

Hytner uses Bob Crowley’s set marvellously, with minimal props appearing from the floor to effectively create scenes. It all looks stylish and, despite a long running time, the action is swift. If there’s a flaw, Grant Olding’s score for the show is cumbersome, imposing on events rather than complimenting them. But it’s hard to find fault in work that’s accomplished all around – a team, and a star, at the top of their game.

Until 10 May 2025

www.bridgetheatre.co.uk

Photos by Manuel Harlan

“John Gabriel Borkman” at the Bridge Theatre

Lucinda Coxon’s new version of Ibsen’s 1896 play gains power from its terseness. Played without an interval, at rapid speed, the story of disgraced banker and his complex family, is an existential exploration conducted in a refined manner.

Borkman’s love of money isn’t quite the kind of capitalism we get nowadays, and Coxon refuses to map some kind of Ponzi scheme onto his actions – bravo. This businessman is a more of mystic. His relationship to the earth, albeit exploiting resources, can’t help but seem odd. Taking the title role, Simon Russell Beale manages to make the character’s conviction believable. And the more we hear from Borkman, the more amazing Russell Beale’s achievement becomes.

Along with astonishing misogyny and arrogance come Borkman’s pleas for his innocence (years after finishing his prison sentence). He lives estranged from his wife, Gunhild, in the same home, which is actually owned by her sister, Ella, who is the women Borkman really loves. And it’s not just a love triangle. Ella turns up to ‘claim’ her nephew, hoping he will reject his parents in favour of her. So much for the traditional family unit.

The bizarre dynamics could leave supporting roles out in the Nordic cold. Strong work from Michael Simkins, Sebastian De Souza and Ony Uhiara (as Borkman’s friend, his son and the latter’s lover) avoid the roles being lost. The psychodrama is fascinating… if extreme. But any melodrama is avoided by a dark sense of humour and Nicholas Hytner’s energetic direction. The sparse staging in monochrome tones in Anna Fleischle’s design contrasts with these colourful personalities. 

Two shadows and a dead man

Ella compares herself and her sister to ghosts accompanying the long-deceased Borkman. But her description is wrong – both women are vivid and Borkman full of life. The performances show this admirably. Clare Higgins’s Gunhild is a study of rage, her scorn tremendous. Lia Williams as Ella conveys resignation and desperation in turn, creating a role that’s riveting to watch. Russell Beale is as good as ever as a man utterly deluded yet compelling; Borkman is a caged animal, a wolf, his wife says, containing tremendous power while possessing… none. The bleaker the situation for all three, the more potent the play becomes.

Until 26 November 2022

www.bridgetheatre.co.uk

Photos by Manuel Harlan