Evening Standard from London, Greater London, England • 79

THURSDAY 16 APRIL 1998 7 EVENING STANDARD FIRSTNIGHT by Nicholas do Jongh The Unexpected Man RSC Barbican The Pit EBeen Atkins: A grand chBd-Kko amusement Trains of thought that glide Cinema to be £35m in the Square ONE of landmark cinemas the Odeon Leicester Square is to be given a £35 million facelift writes Tim Cooper The building closed on Monday as work began to turn it into the "jewel in the of biggest cinema chain which Is starting a nationwide redevelopment programme The new look to be unveiled when the cinema reopens in the summer is described as simple and and is aimed at turning a trip to the cinema into an After years of decline cinema is once again booming in Britain where audiences have risen more than 150 per cent since 1984 lines Gambon Chronic Indigestion of the soul PEEOM aODWSKHEG TTQD CMOS OH! Pictures: NIGEL NORRINGTON cieci lieu run rn imiit rriHIS HAUNTING question- I Hnark of a play by Yasmina I Reza explores what's really going on during a pregnant more than 70-minute long silence In this time two Michael fiunous novelist and Eileen Martha who recognises him and adores his sit on opposite sides of a railway carriage not speaking a word to each other Yet the stage is still flill of significant noise of two people voicing their intimate thoughts aloud They coast along on parallel streams of consciousness interior monologues with the woman wondering how to break the silence and attract the novelist In her famously popular play Art still running in the West Miss Reza brooded in comic style about the difficulty we have honestly speaking our minds She poked mild fun at the supposedly close friendships men achieve and suggested on what insecure foundations they were based Echoes resound in The Unexpected Man This time though Miss Reza offers an abstruse view of two cutoff people steeped in isolation and loneliness The man conceals The woman reveals The man preserves his wary isolation and the woman recognises how much ofhimselfhe hides in his novels Matthew vivacious production which bounds with theatrical energy opens up this twocharacter play ensuring it never seems better suited to radio The man and the woman are rarely confined to their seats Besides those tantalising questions remain Will the silence ever be broken and how and why? Mark stylish set is worlds away from a realistic railway compartment Upright wooden diairs rest on a perspex floor under which are seen the parallel lines of the track MISS ruminative streams of consciousness whidi run from the pretentious high-flown to the domestic predictable sometimes achieve a sparse eloquence wit and yearning in Christopher translation A grey-suited Sir Michael Gambon looking distinctly Gallic conveys an invincible air of discontent as the author His voice is keyed into complaint Only a touch of invective directed against a thin-voiced potential son-in-law or a hideous secretary pleasures him as if his character suffered from chronic indigestion ofthe not to mention more practical problems whidi neither Ex-Lax or All Bran have solved Sir beguiling portrait of authorial alienation is matched and then quite surpassed by Eileen absolutely vintage performance of late-middle-aged loneliness and longing Her role involves not just the lyric recollection of past lost loves but also her present wit-fuelled campaign to capture the heart and mind With that quizzical speculative voice of hers Miss Atkins dressed in purple chicness and sounding as rigorous as a don rains down a little light mockery upon herself and her world She eyes the author whose works she understands inside out like an estate agent appraising a tricky piece of property A grand child-like amusement becomes her in sight of tiie brazen effrontery of her seduction tactic sheer theatrical flpifght Ratings: adequate it good very good ititit outstanding poor More reviews: Page 44 worst storm in living speechwriter dies onegu a rd-s I and et we n'f ivernen1 and three million dollars FIRST CHOICE TELEPHONE ISA 5P PER MIN FRANCE UPPER MIN GERMANY UPPER MIN JAPAN ISP PER MIN HONGKONG UP PER MIN SOUTH KOREA 45PPERMIN 39PPERMIN UPPER MIN UPPER MIN 59PPKR MIN SSPPER MIN INDIA ISRAEL NIGERIA PAKISTAN CHINA by SANDRA LAVILLE SIR RONALD MILLAR Margaret speechwriter for 16 years died today at the age of 78 Sir Ronald a distinguished playwright and screenwriter before beginning his political writing career at 50 died at the King Edward VII hospital in London His theatre career prepared him perfectly for composing some of the most resonant speeches of the 20th century Lady Thatcher said he was a man of who gave freely of his artistic abilities a great friend of her family and real believer In our whole For cheap instant connections call us now Office hours: Sun-Thur 8ara-10pm Friday 8am-3pm FREEPHONE ACCESS PLEASE HAVE YOUR CREDIT CARD READY ALL MAJOR CREDIT CARDS ACCETTED PLEASE RING 0800 376 6003 Off peik Met wpty Mun-Fri Hpm-JUm and wecUML All prion include VAT and ire coned lime of goin to prew mmm PECXHAM PREMIER 01717311010 WARNER magT WES! BO K7M370U WHITELEYS BOOK NOW (TWO 811 89 90 AND AT A CINEMA DEAR YOU CHECK LOCAL PRESS FOR DEDULS OR CALL SCOOT- 0000 Star Roaald Malar: Began pofltlcal writing at 50.