Nye - NT Olivier

And properly live too! To celebrate the 100th NT Live production.

Nice to have a live NT live from the actual NT - they have been lacking in recent times

Yes, the costs are so much more on an actual live, but I think as it's the 100th broadcast they're probably right to put the money into it (and Sheen is a good name)

I hated this.

It was the first preview so I'd hope some script changes to come as it was way too long (2h50m with a 20 min interval) - what could have been achieved in one much shorter scene was told in two.

There are some nice ideas in here somewhere, but the staging is sparse (with the odd clever moment) and for me the story of Bevan's life just isn't that interesting.

Half of the audience were on their feet at the end in rapturous applause, so what do I know?

I’m not seeing it until the middle of March.

We also nearly left at the interval, but I wanted to give it the chance to improve.

It didn't, and I noticed a few more empty seats.

I LOVED this tonight!

It's a passionate compassionate biography of Nye Bevan that is one part Dennis Potter's "The Singing Detective," one part Dr. Who, and all parts committed excellence by Michael Sheen.

It somewhat suffers by not developing any character (they are all either allies or obstacles) other than Bevan, but that (ironic, given that the man fought for others rather than himself) solipsism certainly suits it's Dennis Potter-esque framing device.

It is a work of cumulative power that got me in the end.

Some spoilers follow. . .

In Dennis Potter's "The Singing Detective," Michael Gambon dreams a life from his hospital bed, and here, Sheen's Nye Bevan remains in his striped pyjamas for the duration of the play, as he replays all his significant life moments from his hospital bed. The production pays explicit tribute to "The Singing Detective" by having Sheen's Bevan sing a defining song, in this case, Harold Arlen's "Get Happy," to express his joyous zealous fanaticism.

But this play is not all dreams, it's also an expression of the dramatic battles that Bevan fought to create a Nationalised Health Service, and this is where the play looked a LOT like Dr. Who to me, as Sheen's striped pyjamas perpetually resemble an eccentric Doctor Outfit, with his Doctor pitched somewhere between William Hartnell's irascibility, Tom Baker's know-it-all joviality and Peter Davison's willingness to learn.

As Sheen's pyjama-bedecked Time Lord Bevan travels through all his time lines, we witness his adversaries, such as the Doctors' Union, multiplied on a silver screen background marching relentlessly like ever-advancing storming robotic troops of Cybermen, or Tony Jayawardena's marvellously Machiavellian Master-like Churchill, testing his rival with crafty plots and offered alliances, and most amusing of all, Stephanie Jacob's super-sly Clement Attlee, operating a remote control desk to float in and out of scenes like the Dalek overlord, Davros.

These entertaining elements add a sprinkle of spice to the more mundane, more serious dramas of Bevan's life, such as his early loss of his father, his encounters with injustice at school, his battle with stammering, all the way up to his battle with the Grim Reaper.

Michael Sheen puts such humanity (compassion, confusion, fury, despair, humility) into Bevan's character through all of this, such that by the end, I was in tears.

All in all, despite the sidelining of all characters that aren't Bevan (the Bechdel test is screaming in despair with how little we get to know Sharon Small's heartfelt Jennie Lee, other than as Bevan's wife), this is a terrific epic serious production, spiced up by some entertaining elements, that's 4 stars for me.

PS: The running time was 2 hours 40 minutes (including one interval), with a prompt 10:10pm finish;

PPS: If you want to see what a deathbed Nye Bevan drama looks like without the entertaining elements, the poetic ghostly "Food for Ravens," written and directed by the playwright Trevor Griffiths for BBC Wales, and starring Brian Cox as Nye Bevan is finally on iPlayer, for the next 4 months:-

www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0077ct3/food-for-ravens

Completely agree with this;* very enjoyable. As for the sidelining of other characters: yes, but it is called Nye…

* except for the substitution of “it’s” for “its”, but that’s part of Steve’s branding. 🙂

The usual three stars from the Arifa Akbar in the Guardian - and reading the review, that sounds generous, as if she wanted to like the play more than she did because of who Bevan was.

Anyone interested in Bevan should read Michael Foot's magisterial biography of him. But you have to be interested, it's extremely long.

Managed to get tickets for this, thought I was going to miss it. Not a fan of Sheen's offstage utterances and when I've seen him on stage his performances have been a mixed bag, but the subject interests me although I have a suspicion this will be worthy rather than exciting.

It's not too bad! I was row C and the actors were just above eye level.

I really enjoyed this. Whilst the storytelling was not the strongest, personally I was absorbed throughout. Naturally, the parallels of the NHS then and now were clear.

It still moved me at the end, even though Michael Sheen had been given far more “speech making” than in depth interactions even with his sister, wife and father. There was a missed opportunity in terms of those relationships.

The theatricality of the piece with the use of the large cast to create movement was excellent and projections, similarly to how these methods were well-employed to fill the Olivier stage by Rufus Norris in Small Island and many years ago, Market Boy.

8/10.

PS. Even the use of curtains contrasted favourably to Player Kings!

This was better than I expected and really rather good.

Although inevitably it's more NyeHS than a considered work on Bevan's political career and influence on British politics, it is dramatic and the characters well drawn and sympathetic. Certainly the birth pangs of the NHS are well documented - even if it's later woes are not dealt with.

Sheen is very good in this - what a contrast to Under Milk Wood - and the emotions are tasteful and believable, never mawkish.

Solid production with strong supporting performances.

Reading this they seem to have tightened it ...a bit. Still too many extraneous scenes and other characters being underdevleoped.  Although it's set up in Act 1, Act 11 is a clunkly change of style. And I'm still wondering why he wasn't told the full news of his condition at the end?

It also completely sidelines the other thoughts about a National Health Service going round at the time. The Citadel, The Beveridge Report etc. Yet simultaneously it fails to fully recognise what a revolutionary act this was. My father was a medical student at the time the NHS was set up, and his understanding of what his world would look like in the future, was rewritten in a flash!  The NHS was not why HE went into medicine.


But was it really a Drama? I do wonder how it would play to someone who knew nothing about the NHS? The most dramtic scene, the showdown with the BMA relied on tape!!! As a "docudrama" it left as many questions unanswered as blanks filled in.


So with the actors and the NT displaying all their skills, the time passed relatively quickly but to little real effect. I'm sure there's an really interesting play to be written about Bevan, but sadly this isn't it. Felt like 3 stars on the night, but the material is really only 2 stars.


(The Singing Detective analogies are spot on, lets just say its something of a "homage".)