As well as a double dose of Terence Rattigan and a production that passes its MOT with flying colours also features, a fascinating report on artistic dissent in Malaysia is looked at in The Arts Desk's theatre reviews.
Terry Friel reports on the covert crack down on artistic freedom and dissident voices in Malaysia in the feature The Arts Desk in Kuala Lumpur. Friel headed to the Annexe Gallery in the city's Art Deco Central Market and found that it's an arts centre that dares to speak out. The discussions and art exhibitions criticise and ask questions despite the constant risk of arrest.
As part of The Arts Desk's MOT, The Globe, one of the most famous London theatres, played host to Howard Brenton's 'Anne Boleyn'. The story mixes history with fantasy, as various liberties are taken with the truth. The show is incredibly fun, although it does border on comedy theatre at times and even farce at one point.
BBC Four documentary 'The Rattigan Enigma' was an absorbing survey of the playwright's life and work. The programme posed the question of whether Rattigan is being deservedly lauded as a national theatre treasure or whether he is instead a middlebrow writer whose privileged upper-middle-class perspective alienates the average audience. Rattigan emerged as being a truly chameleonic figure and was a social insider and an emotional outsider.
Adding to the debate were two more contrasting Rattigan plays at the Chichester Festival Theatre. The theatrical gameplaying of 'Rattigan's Nijinsky', Nicholas Wright's companion piece, unfortunately outdid the characterisation and left the tone quite alien to Rattigan's own. It incorporates an unproduced script wrote by Rattigan about the Ballets Russes dancer Nijinsky, into his own drama about why Rattigan then pulled the script with no explanation. With an emphasis on characters subtly exposing their concealments and disappointments, 'The Deep Blue Sea' is classic Rattigan however.
Terry Friel reports on the covert crack down on artistic freedom and dissident voices in Malaysia in the feature The Arts Desk in Kuala Lumpur. Friel headed to the Annexe Gallery in the city's Art Deco Central Market and found that it's an arts centre that dares to speak out. The discussions and art exhibitions criticise and ask questions despite the constant risk of arrest.
As part of The Arts Desk's MOT, The Globe, one of the most famous London theatres, played host to Howard Brenton's 'Anne Boleyn'. The story mixes history with fantasy, as various liberties are taken with the truth. The show is incredibly fun, although it does border on comedy theatre at times and even farce at one point.
BBC Four documentary 'The Rattigan Enigma' was an absorbing survey of the playwright's life and work. The programme posed the question of whether Rattigan is being deservedly lauded as a national theatre treasure or whether he is instead a middlebrow writer whose privileged upper-middle-class perspective alienates the average audience. Rattigan emerged as being a truly chameleonic figure and was a social insider and an emotional outsider.
Adding to the debate were two more contrasting Rattigan plays at the Chichester Festival Theatre. The theatrical gameplaying of 'Rattigan's Nijinsky', Nicholas Wright's companion piece, unfortunately outdid the characterisation and left the tone quite alien to Rattigan's own. It incorporates an unproduced script wrote by Rattigan about the Ballets Russes dancer Nijinsky, into his own drama about why Rattigan then pulled the script with no explanation. With an emphasis on characters subtly exposing their concealments and disappointments, 'The Deep Blue Sea' is classic Rattigan however.
About the Author:
Steve Alexander enjoys writing about the best theatre performances in the UK. For more information on comedy theatre in London, visit theartsdesk.com.
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