Two great productions
Delighted to see rave reviews (here, here and here) for Nicholas Hytner’s Much Ado at the National, which I saw in preview last week. Simon Russell Beale is utterly brilliant and hilarious as Benedick, letting us see, and believe in, the touchingly poignant and endearing character below the absurdity; Zoe Wanamaker is a splendid Beatrice, again showing us the vulnerability below the feistiness; both bring a luminous intelligence to their roles; the rest of the cast is excellent.
This is the second terrific play I’ve seen in London in the past week. The day before it finished its run, I managed to catch The Arsonists at the Royal Court. This stunning production by director Ramin Gray, a mesmeric and chilling illustration of the mindset by which people bring about their own destruction through convincing themselves that those who wish to kill them must be appeased, was all the more remarkable -- given its pointed application to today’s global conflict -- for being put on in the very heart of metropolitan intelligentsiaville.
There’s life yet in the British psyche.