Tag Archives: Stockard Channing

“Elektra” at the Duke of York’s Theatre

Having a star in your show (and the ticket sales they bring) might, understandably, give a production confidence. This new version of Sophocles’ play has chutzpah – let’s give it that. But a lot the bravado is superficial, and I fear its celebrity casting – in this case Brie Larson – doesn’t come out as well as she deserves to.

The driving force for the production, and by far the best part of it, is the chorus. This sextet (Hannah Bristow, Wallis Currie-Wood, Jo Goldsmith-Eteson, Nardia Ruth, Rebecca Thorn and Adeola Yemitan) are present all the time, both narrating and responding to the action. They sing throughout, and Ted Hearne’s compositions are superb. Anne Carson’s script is strongest in the lyrics. And, importantly, the songs are good deal clearer than when the performers speak.

Elektra-credit-Helen-Murray

If the chorus brings the audience, other onlookers, close to events, it is worth remembering that there is a big world full of powerful people in this play. Carson fails to explain this, removing the action so far from its context, without providing an alternative, that it causes confusion. Most of the performers suffer: Stockard Channing plays mummy Clytemnestra, Marième Diouf and Patrick Vaill are Elektra’s siblings, and there’s a brief but powerful turn from the excellent Gregg Hicks. They all seem a little lost – and that’s an awful lot of talent to waste.

To add to the injury, the performers are put through the mill by director Daniel Fish. The stage revolves. The costumes are ungainly. There are a lot of microphones and a blinding light. And everyone is sprayed with some black fluid upon entrance. The atmosphere is one of experimentation. But these are experiments most will have seen before. To be fair, Fish uses all of the huge space (there’s a lot of dry ice). And while I hope Larsen is enjoying the experience, when it comes to her role, no one suffers more than her.

This isn’t a one woman show. The chorus is too strong for that and Larsen is a generous performer. But the focus is too much on the titular character which, ironically, makes Elektra weaker. Placing her in some kind of performance art space with touches of a spoken word open-mic night doesn’t just date the production, it diminishes her rebellion. Take Elektra’s singing: she sings the word ‘no’ (and Elektra says ‘no’ a lot). The point of it, as with many of the production’s bizarre movements, is a puzzle and it should be obvious that it will tire quickly. But it also means that Electra’s “destroying tongue” – her power – does not convince. And that is a tragedy.

Until 12 April 2025

www.elektraplay.com

Photos by Helen Murray

“”night Mother” at the Hampstead Theatre

This revival of Marsha Norman’s Pulitzer Prize winning play offers the chance to see brilliant performances from Stockard Channing and Rebecca Night. But be warned – the play deals with the subject of suicide in a provocative and strange fashion.

Night takes the role of Jessie who decides to tell her mother, played by Stockard, that the evening the play recounts will be her last: she calmly reveals that she is going to kill herself. She’s planned it all, including telling her Mama all about it.

Questions arise quickly. Does Jessie have the right to take her own life as she argues? Do her reasons make sense? And what of this sharing. Can that be rational or even, in some way, kind?

It is the powerfully calm tone of the play that proves striking. Credit to Channing and Night for their consistency. With touches of dark humour, the frank discussions, flipping from mundane domestic details to family secrets, avoid histrionics.

night Mother gains much of its power from a cool look at life in a small community. But does Jessie have too many troubles? Epileptic, divorced with a troubled child and agoraphobic – her problems cloud the play’s cerebral intentions. Jessie’s anhedonia is heartbreaking but make her arguments unreliable.

You may have sympathy for Jessie and her desperate wish for control. But the pain she inflicts on her mother is unquestionable. Channing excels in showing her character is far from the “plain country girl” she claims, revealing a repressed intelligence and wit. Trying all manner of persuasion, cajoling then cruel, Channing is awesome to watch.

There is a bravery to Norman’s writing and Roxanna Silbert’s impeccable direction that is commendable. And an originality that impresses – trying to be objective about such an emotive topic is beyond me. Far from easy viewing, ‘night Mother is hard to recommend but is an evening sure to live in the memory.

Until 4 December 2021

www.hampsteadtheatre.co.uk

Photo by Marc Brenner

“Apologia” at the Trafalgar Studios

Here’s an example of a good play made great by a lead performance. Alexi Kaye Campbell’s 1992 piece, about an older woman who is said to have chosen a career in academia over her family, is proficient: the dialogue is strong and debating points clear. But this traditional piece, with its dinner party scenario, influenced by Chekhov and Ibsen, really scores high because the legendary Stockard Channing takes the role of its heroine, Kristin Miller.

As Kristin’s family assemble for a birthday dinner – one it is all too obvious will be a disaster – a history of emotional hunger is combined with delicious humour. The lines are good… but Channing makes them land with magnificently understated sarcasm. She gets laughs from monosyllabic answers and even raised eyebrows. Director Jamie Lloyd injects his usual energy into proceedings and it’s all highly enjoyable.\

It’s a shame nobody can compete with Kristin. Her elder son, played by Joseph Millson, seems resigned and then simply angry. One daughter-in-law, an actress who won’t admit she stars in a soap opera, comes across as simply tiresome and it’s an unforgiving role for Freema Agyeman. More interesting is the character of future in-law Trudi, played by Laura Carmichael, who is challenged with meeting Kristin for the first time. Trudi is perky, apolitical and a Christian – it’s like shooting ducks in a barrel. If this play is a battle of the generations – and younger characters frequently question the idealism of their elders’ activism – the odds seem pretty stacked to me.

Channing gets even more impressive in the play’s second, much darker, act. A second son, again played by Millson, suffers from depression and makes for a heartfelt scene. But the accusations against Kristin are too long and too feeble. A well-written cruel streak adds dramatic tension but is in questionable taste. A fairer perspective comes from Trudi, a character cleverly developed, and the defence of a “witness” in the form of her old friend (a strong performance from Des Barrit). And so Kaye Campbell provides resolution. If you suspect it’s a little too pat, it’s delivered with such skill that all is forgiven.

Until 18 November 2017

www.atgtickets.com

Photo by Marc Brenner