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| Edinburgh : A&E : Theatre : Reviews |
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Theatre listings > Tales From Hollywood. Playwright - Christopher Hampton. Director - Ian Grieve. Designer - Ken Harrison. Lighting Designer - Mark Pritchard. Composer - Svend Brown. Assistant Director - Dan Ayling. Company - Perth Theatre Company Company Website. Cast - here . Venue - Perth Theatre 187 High Street Perth. Website BO 01738 621031. Dates - Preview 23 Feb at 7.45pm. 24 Feb - 11 Mar 06 Tues - Sat at 7.45pm, also Sat Mat at 2.30pm. Run Time - hours mins including 15 mins interval no Interval . Reviewer - Thelma Good. Fine play and production.
Thomas Mann is played with suitable pomp by Peter D'Souza while Sandy Neilson is moving as his elder brother, a better person, Heinrich. Amanda Beveridge reveals the underlying sadness of Nelly, Heinrich's wife's despite her role in the escapees' journey over high European mountains, you'll notice her skill too in a scene which could have got awkward with a lesser cast. Liam Brennan gives us the semi-detached role of Horváth so that we warm to him. The real Horváth died in Paris as the result of a fallen branch and never got to the US, thus Hampton adds to his own theme of how much of life is chance and coincidence. The strangeness of being foreigners who have to, rather than want to, be in the US grows as we watch these intelligentsia and their partners in the bizarre movie world. A world Hampton knows is much the same now, with writers still very low on the tree. Bursting into the drama is Brecht played by Joe Gallacher with a real sense of how infuriating and hard to live with that famous playwright was. His every appearance occasions Brechtian moments. The play could have felt didactic and wordy but Hampton is too experienced a playwright, adaptor and screenwriter for that. Instead it's packed full of frequently funny, sharply honed words and moving human dilemmas. Director Ian Greive and his team give us the delight of seeing a fine play well produced. © Thelma Good 24 February 2006 - Published on EdinburghGuide.com Cast - Nelly Mann - Amanda Beveridge, Ödön von Horváth - Liam Brennan, Thomas Mann - Peter D'Souza, Bertholt Brecht/Chico Marx - Joe Gallacher, Greta Garbo/Marta Feuchtwanger/Nicely's Girl - Lisa Gardener, Helen Schwarz - Sarah Lawrie, Harpo Marx/Helen Weigel/Angel/Toni Spuhler - Helen Logan, Johnny Weismuller/Chaffeur/Walter/Hal/Robert E. Stripling - Justin Flagg, Heinrich Mann - Sandy Neilson, Charles Money/Jacob Lomahkin/Art Nicely - Simon Roberts and Salka Viertel - Ann Scott Jones. Additional Cast Members - Lion Feughtwanger/Stagehand - Peter Hargreaves, Katja Mann - Jennifer Melville, Stage Hands - Rennie Morrocco, Fraser Peacock and Nick Trueman. Theatre Editor, Thelma Good's e-mail is thelma@edinburghguide.com Although every effort has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information presented in these pages, no responsibility can be accepted for any errors or omissions. |
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