Kenny Morgan, Arcola Theatre

[mallardo]

Jun 15, 2016 9:00:27 GMT Polly1 said:

Going tonight, my first trip to the Arcola. Bit of trepidation about venturing to Dalston on my own but really want to see this. Wish me luck!

Have no trepidations. Dalston is the new Shoreditch. And the Arcola is less than 5 minutes from two Overground stations. Relax and enjoy!!

[peelee]

A very good play that deserves a longer run perhaps in the West End of London if it cannot be scheduled at the Arcola for a while. Everyone in the seven-strong cast convinces that they are who they are playing. The writing, direction and production design are well thought through and atmospheric; it's as if we are there in Camden Town 1949. Well done, the Arcola Theatre.

[Steve]

Managed to get a ticket at the last minute to see this tonight. Very glad I did.

Thanks to TheatreDust for recommending it, and Mallardo for comparing it favourably to "The Deep Blue Sea," which is what pushed me into making the effort!

Of course, the first act, for the most part, IS "The Deep Blue Sea," with Hester substituted by Kenny. Incidents and lines are copied wholesale, which would absolutely constitute copyright infringement had the whole project not been written at the behest of the Rattigan estate.

The most fascinating thing about that first act is that it is completely different, despite being exactly the same. All the poetry of the Rattigan, all the fathomless mystery of human relations is gone. Now everything makes perfect sense, a handle can be grasped around every character, motivations are understandable in an almost banal way: far from reflecting the depths of the deep blue sea, this is a very predictable and obvious love triangle, a shallow sea indeed.

And yet the second act takes this triangle, and aided by terrific turns by Simon Dutton (Rattigan), Pierro Niel-Mee (Lennox, the cruel thoughtless lover) and Paul Keating (towering as the tortured title character), it becomes both a tense thriller regarding what will transpire, as well as a brilliant historical document about the horrors of criminalising homosexuality.

What is lost in mystery and poetry is more than made up for by drama and truthtelling! Fantastic!

4 stars

[mallardo]

So glad you managed to see it, Steve. Our slightly different - but generally the same - reactions are, I think, the result of my seeing them in reverse order - first impressions, and all that.

[Deleted]

Jun 17, 2016 23:29:11 GMT Steve said:

What is lost in mystery and poetry is more than made up for by drama and truthtelling! Fantastic!

Yes, that does seem to be the intention but personally I missed the "mystery and poetry" of The Deep Blue Sea which is like a shadow play where you experience characters and are perpetually reminded and fascinated by the indistinct realities behind the screen.

It was very well produced and acted but surprisingly shallow because there was no subtext, just text. At the curtain, Paul Keating seemed emotionally drained and affected but I wasn't really and that was despite the excellent production and acting, and because this play just presents an historical incident with none of the sense of momentous reality lying behind which cannot be directly expressed that is The Deep Blue Sea.

Reflecting on the evening afterwards, I focused on the incidental characters who remain in shadow in Kenny Morgan and who do still work here in the Rattigan manner. Especially Dafydd Lloyd, the neighbour working at the Admiralty who lives with a woman he says is his sister and seems perhaps too persistently determined to allow Kenny into his life with the open offer to come to his rooms to talk at any time. And also Mrs Simpson and Mr Ritter who, I think, remain as in the Rattigan play (which I haven't seen recently).

[Steve]

Jun 18, 2016 8:25:42 GMT @honouredguest said:

Jun 17, 2016 23:29:11 GMT Steve said:

What is lost in mystery and poetry is more than made up for by drama and truthtelling! Fantastic!

Yes, that does seem to be the intention but personally I missed the "mystery and poetry" of The Deep Blue Sea which is like a shadow play where you experience characters and are perpetually reminded and fascinated by the indistinct realities behind the screen.

It was very well produced and acted but surprisingly shallow because there was no subtext, just text. At the curtain, Paul Keating seemed emotionally drained and affected but I wasn't really and that was despite the excellent production and acting, and because this play just presents an historical incident with none of the sense of momentous reality lying behind which cannot be directly expressed that is The Deep Blue Sea.

Reflecting on the evening afterwards, I focused on the incidental characters who remain in shadow in Kenny Morgan and who do still work here in the Rattigan manner. Especially Dafydd Lloyd, the neighbour working at the Admiralty who lives with a woman he says is his sister and seems perhaps too persistently determined to allow Kenny into his life with the open offer to come to his rooms to talk at any time. And also Mrs Simpson and Mr Ritter who, I think, remain as in the Rattigan play (which I haven't seen recently).

Yes to all that.

I think what must be avoided is to deduce that we know what Rattigan meant by his play, to assume that he couldn't express it because of the times, and to conclude that Kenny Morgan is better for having been written now.

In one way, "The Deep Blue Sea" is the opposite of this play.

Spoilers follow. . .

Rattigan and Lennox are both pragmatic and earthy characters, in tune with their times, while Kenny Morgan, by contrast, is dreamy, romantic and ethereal.

But in "The Deep Blue Sea," Hester is the earthy character, while her husband and lover are the ethereal characters, trapped by, respectively, repression (possibly latent homosexuality) and war trauma into being unable to fully express themselves.

It is the fully emotional and sexual Hester, who, like Madame Bovary finds herself adrift in a strange mysterious and repressive world.

[Phantom of London]

Shame I missed this, judging by the input on here. I guess as people said it didn't sell that well, so unlikely to get revived.

Don't mind the venue physically, not too bad to get to for me. But my misgiving is their artistic programme is generally very poor, as for me an avid theatre fan, I struggle to find anything to go there and see, I did see A Sweet Smell of Success and an excellent production of Carousl also a couple of plays in the past - but it doesn't punch above its weight like the Southwark Playhouse.

Really don't understand how this venue has the altacity to ask for a Arts Council grant still.

[nash16]

No venue seemed to want to take a punt on it, but the hit for the Arcola returns there at the end of this year.

Great opportunity for all who have now see The Deep Blue Sea to catch the "original" story.

[stefy69]

Really excellent news !

[wickedgrin]

I thought this was a very good play, beautifully performed. However, I am surprised they are reviving it as I saw it one night with just a handful of other people!

[mallardo]

There was a pretty good house when I saw it - a week night - but the success of Deep Blue Sea at the NT probably spurred the Arcola to bring back Kenny Morgan, a show which I and others here thought was the better of the two.

[n1david]

Aug 15, 2016 12:23:17 GMT wickedgrin said:

I thought this was a very good play, beautifully performed. However, I am surprised they are reviving it as I saw it one night with just a handful of other people!

It was close to if not entirely sold out when I saw it towards the end of the run so I guess it grew through word of mouth and the Deep Blue Sea connection. Glad it's getting another run - I thought it was fascinating (although I haven't seen DBS yet to make the connections)

[peelee]

Excellent news! Well done, the Arcola Theatre! A well deserved second run for this fascinating play. I hope they've got the original cast, too.

[Phantom of London]

Missed it first time round, but won't miss it for a second time.

[n1david]

Aug 15, 2016 16:45:54 GMT peelee said:

Excellent news! Well done, the Arcola Theatre! A well deserved second run for this fascinating play. I hope they've got the original cast, too.

Full original cast, according to the email I've just got.
1000 tickets at £10

www.arcolatheatre.com/event/kenny-morgan/2016-09-20/

[Deleted]

I'm guessing this wouldn't qualify for the Oliviers?

Well, I'm going to say it right now. Paul Keating was robbed.

[showgirl]

Saw the matinee of the return run today and hadn't exactly been looking forward to it (it felt like something I ought to see rather than wanted to) but I loved it; it was riveting though slightly too long and the second half did seem to drag a little while and to have several false endings. As others have said, every cast member convinced and the performance was warmly-received. Amazing value for £10, too.