Post by joem on Jun 4, 2022 22:44:25 GMT
Howard Brenton's latest play of what is a chequered but interesting career has its premiere at the much-admired, but very small, Jermyn Street Theatre which is kind of puzzling - his old writing partner David Hare cuts a much grander figure and his latest play is on at the Bridge Theatre. One feels Brenton should be one of the grand old men of the British stage but big box-office successes haven't really been that frequent in his career even if he has had a few notable successes.
Always influenced by history and how it parallels our times Brenton this time is inspired by a great thinker whose thoughts no-one really knows, since he left no writings and we only have his pupil's Plato's account of them, and Plato had his own agenda. History tells us that Socrates (eminently or permanently pissed, according to Monty Python's "Philosopher's Song") was forced to commit suicide in his old age after a dodgy trial led to a sentence of death for sacrilege and corrupting youth.
The play starts with a sparkling, witty scene outside the magistrates' court, in which Socrates (an excellent Jonathan Hyde) shows his intelligence, pig-headedness and love for debate with a reluctant younger member of his tribe From here on it's all about the trial and its aftermath, with a look at Socrates' marital and extra-marital life (quite the old goat for 70) as two of the women in his life fight to save them as they fight each other.
Of course Brenton is never writing wholly about the past. Athens had recently gone through a plague, the economy is down the tubes and democracy under threat and the populace is asking for explanations and... scapegoats. Sounds familiar? Very much a "chamber" play of ideas the four-strong cast grapples with what should be done and what will be done; the central axis of the play always revolving around Socrates' idea that an unexamined life is not worth living. Define and discuss.
Always influenced by history and how it parallels our times Brenton this time is inspired by a great thinker whose thoughts no-one really knows, since he left no writings and we only have his pupil's Plato's account of them, and Plato had his own agenda. History tells us that Socrates (eminently or permanently pissed, according to Monty Python's "Philosopher's Song") was forced to commit suicide in his old age after a dodgy trial led to a sentence of death for sacrilege and corrupting youth.
The play starts with a sparkling, witty scene outside the magistrates' court, in which Socrates (an excellent Jonathan Hyde) shows his intelligence, pig-headedness and love for debate with a reluctant younger member of his tribe From here on it's all about the trial and its aftermath, with a look at Socrates' marital and extra-marital life (quite the old goat for 70) as two of the women in his life fight to save them as they fight each other.
Of course Brenton is never writing wholly about the past. Athens had recently gone through a plague, the economy is down the tubes and democracy under threat and the populace is asking for explanations and... scapegoats. Sounds familiar? Very much a "chamber" play of ideas the four-strong cast grapples with what should be done and what will be done; the central axis of the play always revolving around Socrates' idea that an unexamined life is not worth living. Define and discuss.
