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Latest items? Unedited? Fringe Report Uncut
Festen
Verdict: Chilling
Having seen neither the Dogme film on which the play is based or the original staging of the script at The Almeida (writes Peter Benedict), one may be as shocked by the revelation that occurs at the dinner party in Act One as the onstage guests.
What makes the moment doubly chilling is the restrained delivery of Luke Mably, in the role created at the Almeida by Jonny Lee Miller.
Whilst Stephen Moore gives a suitably smug performance as the head of an extended family in denial, most of the cast seem to be mugging and posturing - frantically indicating what they want the audience to believe they are feeling. But Mably (incredibly in his stage debut) acts with such truth and simplicity that he puts several more experienced actors to shame.
Apart from this refined central performance, the piece is fascinating in its depiction of a bourgeois society where the arrival of a black man is met with bafflement - and then the enquiry 'Did we book musicians?
Cast Credits (Source www.londontheatre.co.uk) (alpha order): Jane Asher - Else. Sam Beazley - Grandfather. Sam Cox - Poul. Andrew Frame - Kim. Rory Kinnear - Michael. Luke Mably - Christian. Andrew Maud - Lars. Ruth Millar - Pia. Stephen Moore - Helge. Lisa Palfrey - Mette. Patrick Robinson - Gbatokai. Claire Rushbrook - Helene. Michael Thomas - Helmut.
Company Credits: (Source www.londontheatre.co.uk) Director - Rufus Norris. Designer - Ian MacNeil. Costume Designer - Joan Wadge. Music - Orlando Gough. Sound - Paul Arditti. Lighting - Jean Kalman. Dramatisation - David Eldridge. Based on the Dogme film and play by Thomas Vinterberg, Mogens Rukov, Bo hr. Hansen. Producer - Maria Rubin & Bill Kenwright present the Almeida Theatre production. Run-time 1hr-55 min
END
(c) Peter Benedict 2004
reviewed October 04 / Lyric Theatre
Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2012
www.fringereport.com
