2 The Gazette, Thursday October 23, 2014 The Critics | Theatre Stripped back piece makes us focus on human condition Revival is startlingly profound in its seeming simplicity OUR TOWN Almeida Theatre, N1 ####$ The heartfelt message of Thornton Wilder’s iconic 1938 play is delivered with stunning directness in David I Jenny Ogilvie and Edward Wolstenholme Picture: Matt Howey Cromer’s unaffected revival. Wilder’s fourth-wall-busting piece endeavours to communicate the truth Lots of laughter in this satire of what it means to be human by limiting theatrical artifice, an aim honoured by Cromer’s intimate, on life, love and sex hotlines immersive staging, in which house lights stay up and actors wander UNIDENTIFIED ITEM IN THE and men would re-marry freely through the audience. BAGGING AREA someone younger and Often played as a mistily nostalgic Old Red Lion Theatre, sexier. paean to small-town America, St. John Street, EC1 Victoria – who, Cromer’s Our Town instead strips ####$ irritatingly, often seems away period dressing that might act as more like a 1950s housewife The opening moments of a barrier: Alison Siple’s costumes are than a post-women’s lib. this play grab the attention neutral contemporary and performers female – seeks help from a by boldly staging what use their natural accents. support group, run by would normally be a very New Hampshire settlement Grover’s Anita, hilariously private occasion and then Corners may be evoked with dogged caricatured by Kate Russell making a joke of it. deliberateness, but this production Smith. There she meets the Taken by surprise, the balances specificity with resonant ebullient Meg, an audience is soon rocking universality. independent woman who with laughter. The writer, Cromer himself plays the metatheat- earns her living by running Sarah Simmonds, ridicules rical Stage Manager, narrating and a sex hotline. Meg the painful situations, the directing the action with dry matter- (exuberantly performed by ridiculous antics, of human of-factness, like a jaded flight attend- Paddy Navin) proves to be a beings while never once ant pointing out fire exits. supportive friend. losing sight of how difficult, The effect of this artlessness – Wild- Modern life, too, is how very deep, these er’s preferred “understatement of ruthlessly satirised: the dilemmas are, and how sentiment” – and Stephen Dobay’s scene in the supermarket unhappy people are made by minimalist set is to stimulate our automatic checkup is them. imagination and demand a rewarding unforgettable. Inevitably, Post-menopausal Victoria level of engagement. I Laura Elsworthy, David Cromer and David Walmsley Picture: Marc Brenner the ending is somewhat is played with sensitivity Similarly unshowy performances contrived – real life does not and perfect timing by Jenny communicate emotional undercur- Staines’ depressive choirmaster striking microcosm, homespun provide satisfactory endings Ogilvie. Over the years, she rents with admirable restraint. Laura delivers both Jonathan Mastro’s philosophy masking deeper wisdom. and this play is grounded in and her husband have Elsworthy’s Emily is refreshingly expressive music and a genuinely Wilder argues for the preciousness of real life. Overall, this play ceased to have meaningful spiky, while David Walmsley is disquieting beat. inconsequential moments, and in provides an evening of communication. She feels fearlessly unfiltered as her puppyish The absence of props results in some asking what makes a life and how we hilarious entertainment, redundant and unloved. suitor. Anna Francolini and Kate dubious mime, and allowing the story might be remembered, Our Town is plus plenty of food for This is, of course, a Dickie evoke the weary domestic to drift into a more contemporary startlingly profound in its seeming thought! contemporary problem: in grind, Richard Lumsden displays deft realm makes the gender politics simplicity. Box office: 0844 412 4307 the past, many women died timing, Annette McLaughlin lands an problematic. Until November 29. Until 8th November. in childbirth or soon after hysterical cameo, and Christopher Yet this quietly sincere piece is a Marianka Swain Jill Truman Imelda is great on dance floor but musical says little about dictatorships or even shoes

HERE LIES LOVE John-Wilson as a poignant Aquino National Theatre – Dorfman who bravely returns from exile to ####$ his death. And ’s evocative With an Evita revival running in projections on multiple screens the West End, there seems a trend offer images of real life figures. for musicals about despotic, From the programme notes spendthrift self-styled women-of- Byrne means to criticise Ameri- the-people who married interna- ca’s complicity in the saga and pay tional leaders. tribute to the bravery of the Like the Rice/Lloyd Webber Filipino people for staging a offering, this boogie through the peaceful coup against the Marcos life of by musi- in 1986. But the lack of dialogue, cian/composer and coupled with the relentlessly DJ offers fabulous throbbing disco beat deny quieter costume changes, a sung-though moments to explore political or score of uplifting melodies and an emotional complexities. anti-heroine with a cold, ambi- We hear almost nothing from tious heart. ordinary folk about what it’s to Taking inspiration from live in a dictatorship, nor do we Imelda’s love of disco dancing. the I Natalie Mendoza as Imelda Marcos with a cast including Dean John-Wilson as Aquino Picture: Tristram Kenton get a window on the inner life of newly refurbished Dorfman used to perform upon. At one 1940s via beauty pageant success with extravagant spending, the the increasingly delusional Theatre – formerly the Cottesloe, point we’re even taught to to first dating senator Ninoy Aqui- declaration of martial law, and Imelda. Oddly there’s barely a now with better toilets and bigger line-dance. no, then future pres Ferdinand imprisonment and assassination mention of shoes. bar – has been converted into a In a tightly-choreographed Marcos. As the story turns darker of opposition leader Aquino. For all its dazzle and energy, nightclub. Audience members can enjoyable camp fest that borders – Imelda pops pills to deal with the Natalie Mendoza is seductively leaves you as empty sit in the gallery or throw shapes on the glib, Alex Timbers’ slick public attention and marital dazzling as Imelda, ably supported as its heroine’s heart. on the dancefloor, shepherded by direction fast-tracks us from infidelities – the couple’s popular by a slick-haired as Until January 8. pink-jumpsuited bouncers as Imelda’s modest origins in the presidency turns to dictatorship and Dean Bridget Galton shifting catwalks and rostra are