The Two Character Play, Hampstead Theatre

[mkb]

(I think that compound adjective should be hyphenated, but who am I to disagree with Tennessee Williams.)

This is going to be a bit marmite I think. I caught a preview on Saturday evening. Reasons to see it are outstanding performances from the two players, and, well, because it's Tennessee Williams.

The play is more interesting than the play-within-a-play. Both are surreal, and if they were trying to say something, it escaped me. Sadly, in two-star territory for me.


Act 1: 19:33-20:16
Act 2: 20:41-21:44

[bee]

I would agree with most of the above, though I'd maybe give it three stars rather than two (out of five I mean). This is a lot more "out there" than I would have expected from a Tennessee Williams play, but the actors managed to make it pretty absorbing. I was grateful that they decided to switch between English and American accents for the play and play-within-a-play parts, I might have struggled to follow where we were otherwise.

Like mkb though, I haven't the foggiest idea as to what the ultimate point of it all was.

[dlevi]

I caught this Thursday afternoon and found it to be a mess of a production. Instead of trying to bring some sort of clarity to a muddled ( yet poetic ) script Mr Yates cluttered the stage with props and set pieces and video effects that only got in the way of whatever it was that Williams was trying to say. Still it was a chance to see it and for that we should be grateful.

[dlevi]

I caught this Thursday afternoon and found it to be a mess of a production. Instead of trying to bring some sort of clarity to a muddled ( yet poetic ) script Mr Yates cluttered the stage with props and set pieces and video effects that only got in the way of whatever it was that Williams was trying to say. Still it was a chance to see it and for that we should be grateful.

[joem]

Glad I saw this in my bid to complete all Williams' plays but despite the occasional Southern drawl in the play-within-a-play this is an atypical play for him and not in a good way.

It's as if Tennessee Williams had suddenly had a crisis and wondered whether he was relevant anymore and decided to hip up by pastiching the likes of Beckett and Pinter. At one point the female character asks "Is there nothing to be done?" (now where have I heard that one before?) and the male replies "There is always something to be done."

Yes I know it's about madness, yes I know it's about his sister but this play goes nowhere. It could have carried on five hours and probably still wouldn't have delivered any emotion - incredible considering who wrote it.

Would have loved to have seen the first production with Peter Wyngarde but doubt he would have made things any clearer.