Royal Court - All New Seasons

Perhaps I'm getting old but I do like a couple of familiar names in with the new ones.   

Which is exactly what the RC was being criticised for not doing in the other thread.

Not really. This isn't giving a new struggling playwright a big break. This guy is part of the establishment charmed circle. White, male, middle-aged, private school, Oxbridge, wealthy, entitled, Guardian journalist. It is interesting but not surprising that he even thinks he'd be capable of writing a play for the Royal Court with no training or experience but people with backgrounds like him have the unshakeable self-confidence that they can do any job at all even if they can't. Swap "Telegraph" for "Guardian" and you've got Boris Johnson. I mean fair play to him but the Royal Court posing as some sort of anti-establishment subversive organisation giving outsiders a voice is a joke - they're part of it. 

Seems no one is pleased by the announced Freedland play.

I've just become a member as I am hoping and waiting for another Jerusalem and this one is probably the best bet in terms of prices I can afford and how easy it is to get there. Seems like things I loved started their life here (not only Jerusalem but also Death of England) so fingers crossed for another masterpiece soon. Also, the £12 Monday offer is amazing. I've booked for all the things currently on offer. I don't know Martin Crimp's work so well but he adapted Cyrano de Bergerac which is one of the best things I've ever seen so I want to see more of his stuff.

Thanks. I ended up reading the Guardian review of that play and also the one for the 2004 original production, funny to see that the article gives the NT box office number for tickets, not the website! so long ago it was. Don't know if I'll manage to see this one, I've got too much on but thanks for pointing it out to me.

Gosh - Word-Play was meant to have its first night on the 29th - so fairly late in the day.

There are also statements from Featherstone, the writer and director on the website. It sounds like the director is remaining attached to the play,so some other element has gone wrong? Must be gutting. The shows in the downstairs space don't seem to be selling well, so this will be another blow.

Word-Play postponement

After conversations with the writer, director, cast and creative team yesterday and today, we have taken the difficult decision to postpone the production of Word-Play for the moment.

In taking this decision, our priority is, as ever, the wellbeing of the company and creative team.

The Royal Court remains committed to Rabiah’s play and will be including Word-Play in future programming – we are currently in active discussions about when that will be.



From Vicky Featherstone, Artistic Director at the Royal Court:

“It is very necessary for the public to see this important and brilliant play. The subject Rabiah is exploring in the play, and Nimmo in its production, means that Word-Play, like all the most significant Royal Court plays, will still be as vital as ever when we are able to welcome it back.”



From the creative team:

“I’m so proud of this play. Its message. Its scope. And the power it holds. But sometimes, it’s difficult for all the different aspects of theatre to come together. When the time is right, and when all these aspects align, we will share Word-Play with the world. Watch this space!” Rabiah Hussain, writer of Word-Play

“Word-Play is a profound articulation of the British Muslim experience. I look forward to creating the production that the play deserves in the near future.” Nimmo Ismail, director of Word-Play

Oh dear. I've been holding off booking Jews in Their Own Words. I kind of liked the idea of it, but wasn't convinced Jonathan Freedland was the person to write it - as with The Snail House, success and talent in a related area doesn't always mean someone will be able to write a decent play.

The play I was most looking forward to at the RC this season was Word-Play. I hope we'll see it at some point and aren't meant to have read anything between the lines of the official statements, esp the bit about the wellbeing of the company (thinking of Zoe Cooper's The Flock, which was 'postponed' at Chichester halfway through rehearsals, and seems to have been quietly shelved).

The way they’ve treated Jewish playwrights and other Jewish artists over the past six months has been appalling. They clearly think they’ve ticked off “do anti antisemitism” now and don’t ever need to think about Jews ever again.

I suspect that the experience of this play varies depending on how much you know about antisemitism. For those Royal Court bookers who don't know much, but just book everything, this could be especially eye-opening, gutwrenching and memorable. But for those, like Annette, who know a great deal about it, and who are seeking solutions, not so much. In any event, this is very good on what antisemitism is generally, and Luciana Berger's testimony, about her experiences in the Labour Party, are heartbreaking and illuminating.

Some spoilers follow. . .

There are actually two framing devices here, both of which are interesting, and neither of which pay off properly:-

In one, Alex Waldman plays Hershel Fink, the racist caricature in the original version of "Rare Mettle Earth," wondering how he was created, in a setpiece that reminded me of Terry Gilliam's Monty Python work. There's no end of interest and amusement in having a fictional character become self-aware, especially one as controversial as this, but Freedland just forgets about him, not knowing what to do with his own creation.

In the other framing device, Freedland brilliantly starts by segmenting his twelve testimonies into topics, with the first being "Money," the second "blood-libel," etc, thus giving shape and direction to what might otherwise be twelve unwieldy meandering testimonies. But at some point, he quits, Luciana Berger takes over and devastates us with her personal take on her horror show experiences in the Labour Party (Louise Clein's Berger is pitch perfect in her sentiment and focus, backed up by Debbie Chazen's convincing and succinct Margaret Hodge), and then the show limps on, with testimonies about the backgrounds and hopes and dreams of the other characters, seemingly unshaped by Freedland's initial attempt to segment the testimonies into a controlled direction. So what starts off focused reaches a fever pitch, then drifts apart instead of building to a climax.

There are controversial moments, such as the accusation that Caryl Churchill's "Seven Jewish Children" is antisemitic, which Dominic Cooke has already joined in defending against in yesterday's Guardian. For example, it is said, "why isn't it called "Seven Israeli Children?"" Why tar all Jews with the brush of caring only about their own children and not the children of Palestinians? But I recall that in that play at least two of the children are not Israeli, as they are set in the time of the Holocaust, so in fact, "Seven Israeli Children" couldn't possibly be the title of the play.

On the other hand, I think the overall focus on left wing bigotry (specifically among some Corbynites) rather than right wing bigotry (Berger testifies that she expected to find bigots on the right, but not her left wing family, which is what crushed her) is warranted, as that critique might be harder for a typical Royal Court audience to listen to, which might stimulate thinking, which is one purpose of good art.

For me, one of the most effective testimonies was that of the taxi driver, not at all well off, but stereotyped by tropes as controlling the world. Steve Furst is an amazing actor, and immensely likeable, and his ability to render the taxi driver and his other character, Howard Jacobson, in distinctive, convincing accents means that you always know which character is speaking through him.

This is an interesting, controversial and messy evening, and has a lot worthwhile to say. Part of the reaction to it will inevitability be political whataboutism (as in, yeah, there are racist left-wingers, but there are more racist right wingers), but whataboutism doesn't erase or cure the horrific damage described in this play, and if one member of the audience checks themself after hearing these testimonies, then surely the play is worth it.

3 and a half stars from me.

Another new batch of plays announced!

NO I.D. by Tatenda Shamiso
Hope has a Happy Meal by Tom Fowler
Cuckoo by Michael Wynne
Word-Play by Rabiah Hussain
Dana H. by Lucas Hnath

Very glad we will get Dana H. with Deidre O’Connell reprising her Tony Award winning performance!