The Daily Telegraph from London, Greater London, England • 28

28 THURSDAY MAY 18 2000 THE DAILY TELEGRAPH ARTS REVIEWS Picture: ALASTAIR MUIR Bravura not bombast A case of pastiche Pinter Music MARTIN CRIMP is a constantly intriguing writer whose plays almost always create an atmosphere of creepy menace and alienation He uses language that is spare to the point of impoverishment and there is a firm sense of authorial control You feel that characters ever take him by surprise He plots their every move and then seems to observe them from an immense distance but with great clarity as if through the wrong end of a telescope All this is well and good and fashionably minimal but there are two disadvantages The first is that his dramas may generate interest but they never generate warmth The second is that he often appears to be up to his ears in debt to Harold Pinter That debt is particularly burdensome in The Country and at times the piece seems less like an original play than an immensely skilful parody of dear old Harold The setting is one of those vaguely forbidding rooms that are such a feature of work and Crimp quickly wheels on the old device of the intimidating stranger who threatens another possession of the territory The action begins at night deep in the country Richard whom we gradually realise is a doctor has brought home a young woman whom he has found lying unconscious by the roadside Or so at least he says His wife Corinne is troubled by this intrusion especially since her chldren are sleeping upstairs and becomes even more anxious when she discovers that the bag contains drugs and syringes As in Pinter much of the dialogue is clipped and self-consciously stichomythic As in Pinter single words acquire a sinister resonance As in Pinter an unseen character in this case partner in the medical practice Morris assumes increasing significance Crimp also combines the unsettling menace of the early Pinter plays with the sexual anxiety that informs his mid-period masterpieces Old Times and Theatre The Country ROYAL COURT THEATRE Betrayal This is homage or pastiche of a very high order The trouble is not sure that Crimp realises how derivative the play is He differs from Pinter in a crucial respect Pinter would have left everything ambiguous Crimp obligingly spills the beans so that we eventually learn the precise and squalid nature of the relationship between the doctor and the young woman deliberate obfuscation often irritates yet frankness with the audience proves disastrous Once we know what is going on the mysterious detached quality of the writing seems merely absurd and we long for the flesh-and-blood drama of real people in real relationships rather than all this chilly artifice However Katie production bleakly and suggestively designed by Vicki Mortimer holds attention throughout its 90-minute running time She builds the tension effectively and the final moments are truly unsettling Owen Teale memorably combines shiftiness and charm as the doctor you would least like to attend you in a crisis Juliet Stevenson plays the wife ith the tense clenched misery that seems to be second nature to her Indira Varma seizes all her dramatic chances and they are good ones as a house guest who spells real trouble But Crimp is capable of more than wan Pinter parody A few years ago he wrote a free and savagely funny adaptation of Le Misanthrope in stinging rhyming couplets in which he seemed to discover a reckless hugely entertaining dramatic voice that was entirely his own We could do with another dose of this unfettered Crimp Tickets: 020 7565 5000 Charles Spencer PMIharmoniaPletnev FESTIVAL HALL THE one predictable thing about a performance by Mikhail Pletnev is that it will be thoroughly unpredictable At the moment this most marvellously audacious of pianists is turning his attention to the four works that Tchaikovsky wrote for piano and orchestra the three concertos (or two-and-a-half since the Third has only one movement) and the Concert Fantasia While the First Concerto has tended to outstrip all the others in the popularity stakes its companion pieces are not exactly unfamiliar However if you thought that you knew this music inside out Pletnev is just the artist to reveal it in a new light In this opening concert he coupled the First Concerto with the Concert Fantasia the Second and Third Concertos follow on Saturday The programme began inauspiciously with a shapeless passionless account of Romeo and Juliet Overture In its favour it did at least sound as though the conductor Vladimir Conta was attempting to craft some sort of personal interpretation but the novelty of it seemed to unnerve the Philharmonia to the extent that the playing was uneasy and by no means unanimous In fact even in the concertos there was a sense that the performances would have been all the more absorbing with an orchestra more accustomed to ways more pliable to his ideas He is a pianist inspired by the moment he is the very epitome of spontaneity But the accompaniment was not always convincingly alert to his colour changes Pletnev looked beneath the surface of the First Concerto and Concert Fantasia to find the seams of expressive poetry His playing can be dazzling powerful electrifying in its bravura But he abjures bombast preferring to adopt moderate tempos and to draw the ear towards the Romantic warmth Last week there was a preview of this approach in his performance of the Second Concerto with the Halle Orchestra in Manchester There as here he took nothing in the score for granted Music that can sound grandiose in less sensitive hands takes on a compelling grandeur Detail that can go unnoticed is brought to light through subtle inflection Even such a bizarre and potentially lame work as the Concert Fantasia found fresh credibility in the way Pletnev etched in its delicacy and brought to it an impromptu element of thoughtful beguiling rhapsody Tickets: 020 7960 4242 Geoffrey Norris Shiftiness and charm: Owen Teale and Juliet Stevenson in Martin new play The Country First steps on a journey through confession and consciousness battles This provided justification enough for traversing these works in such an intensive way The one performance where this cohesion broke down and then only in a minor way was in the Piano Quintet that filled out the first concert Pianist Joseph playing failed always to jell with the quartet and the result was intermittent untidiness Continues at the Barbican (020 7638 8891 tomorrow and Sunday Matthew Rye music the innocent little theme that opens the war-torn No 3 for example playing straight what others might exaggerate Far from negating the dramatic Mahlerian interplay of different musics that characterises style such an approach seems to offer the players greater interpretative freedom Technically the quartet performances in these first two concerts were spotless yet not at the expense of communicating their hard-won recesses of the expressive imagination they effectively begin as they mean to go on Even so it is perhaps only with No 3 written in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War that special combination of personal confession and collective consciousness comes fully into focus Number 4 from 1949 with its use of Jewish modes and melodies can be heard as a response to the Holocaust The Emerson takes a more concerts in New York in February the American ensemble is traversing the same journey in a concentrated cycle divided rather bizarrely given their highly different capacities and ambiences between the Wigmore and Barbican halls Tackling the quartets chronologically the first two concerts reached No 5 Given that the First was written in 1938 a year after the Fifth Symphony these works are hardly immature In their exploration of the deepest PERFORMING a cycle of 15 string quartets is a mammoth undertaking for any ensemble the equal in its journey through an eventful composing life of performing the Haydn Beethoven or Bartok quartets The Emerson Quartet has spent the past few seasons bringing these 20th-century masterpieces into its repertoire in the rarefied air of the Aspen Summer Festival performances that were captured live for its CD set just out Now following a series of Emerson Quartet VWGMORE HALL circumspect line through the interpretative minefield of these works than some rivals no lack of emotional commitment but the playing is earnest and gutsy rather than full of heart-on-sleeve sentimentality The players also tone down the musical irony and subversive wit that periodically invade the Entertainments OPERA AND BALLET ST MARTINS 020 7836 1443 (no bkg lee) 020 7420 00007344 4444 (bkg fee) Eves 8 Tues 245 Sat 5 8 48th YEAR OF AGATHA CHRISTIE THE MOUSETRAP HER 24hr7494 5400 (bkg fee) CC 020 7420 0000 7344 4444 (bkg fee) Grps 020 7494 54547413 33117436 5588 ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER AWARD WINNING MUSICAL THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA Directed by HAROLD PRINCE Eves 745 Mats Wed Sat 300 Good seats available Wed mats APOLLO VICTORIA cc 020 7416 6055 cc 24 hrs 7344 44447420 0000 Groups 7416 60757413 3321 OUT OF THIS WORLD STARLIGHT EXPRESS Evenings 745pm Tue Sat 3pm Tickets from £1300 NOW BOOKING TO MARCH 2001 wwwstarlight-expresscouk ALDWYCH 020 7416 6000 cc 7957 4001 7420 00(H) (bkg fee) Grps 7416 60757413 3321 best show since DTel WHISTLE DOWN THE WIND BEST NEW MUSICAL IN completely Capital Radio Now booking to April 2001 Mon-Sat 745 Mats Thur Sat 300 wwwwhistle-down-the-windcouk 020 7494 5040 MAGGIE SMITH in ALAN THE LADY IN THE VAN Directed bv NICHOLAS HYTNER Mon-Sat 730 Mats Wed Sat 230pm 3 Apr 27 May no Wed Mat wwwladyinthevancom 09061 992 030 NEW LONDON Drury Lane WC2 BO 020 7405 0072 (bkg fee) CC 24 hrs 7344 4444 Grps 7400 50077413 3311 THE ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER TS ELIOT INTERNATIONAL AWARD-WINNING MUSICAL CATS Eves 745 Mats Tue Sat 300 From 26 June eves at 730pm Discount car park on site 09061 992 022 COLISEUM 020 7632 8300 (24hr) ENGLISH NATIONAL OPERA Ton't 730 (LAST PERF) MADAM BUTTERFLY Tomor 730 ERNANI 09061 992 020 DONMAR WAREHOUSE 020 7369 1732 PASSION PLAY By Peter Nichols Eves 730 Thu Sat Mats 300 09061 992 061 DRURY LANE THEATRE ROYAL 020 7494 5000 fee 7316 4766 fee Groups 7494 54547413 3321 Cameron Mackintosh presents IAN McSHANE Lucie Maria Joanna Arnaz Friedman Riding THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK A SPECTACULAR MAGICAL MUSICAL COMEDY Reduced price previews from 24 June Opens 18 July wwwwitchesofeastwickcom 09061 992 007 09061 992 039 THE ROYAL OPERA at THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL DIE MEISTERSINGER VON NURNBERG in concert semi-staged for the concert platform of the Royal Albert Hall Wed 31 May 500 One performance only Prom it for £750 RAH Box Office 020 7589 8212 09061 992 017 09061 992 003 ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY BO 020 7928 6363 Young Vic: MACBETH Mon Sat 730 mats today 27 May 1 June at 200 09061 992 008 CAMBRIDGE THEATRE 020 7494 5080 Grps 020 7494 5454 THE BEAUTIFUL GAME By Andrew Ben Lloyd Webber Elton Prevs from 5 Sept Opens 26 Sept BOX OFFICE OPENS 4 JUNE 09061 992088 LONDON PALLADIUM 02074945020 cc 020 7420 00007344 4444(bkg fee) wwwthekingandicouk ELAINE JASON PAIGE SCOTT LEE Rodgers and THE KING I FOR A KING AN UNSTOPPABLE Express SUMPTUOUS" Times Mon-Sat 730 Weds Sat mats 230 Air cooled theatre OLD VIC 020 7369 1722 (no bkg fee) The Abbey Theatre Dublin production of DOLLY WESTS KITCHEN ELECTRIFYING NEW Observer Mon-Sat 730pm Mat Wed Sat 3pm No Mat Wed 17 May 09061 992 023 ALMEIDA AT THE ALBERY 020 7369 1740020 7494 5495 GLORIOUS EStd A COLOSSAL DTel Wonderfully Ind CRESSIDA Nicholas new DMail Mon-Sat 730pm Thurs Sat 3pm LAST 4 WEEKS 09061 992 009 09061 992 041 ROYAL OPERA HOUSE 67 Day Seats from 10am on the dav Box Office: 020 7304 4000 The Royal Opera DIE MEISTERSINGER VON NURNBERG Gdh Tomor Mon 500 Wed 31 May semi-staged for the concert platform of the Royal Albert Hall 500 one perf only Prom it for £750 RAH BO 020 7589 8212 NORMA IN CONCERT Wed 730 (F Night) The Royal Ballet THE DIAGHILEV LEGACY Les BichesJeuxL'Apres-midi fauneThe Firebird 730 Sat 700 (L Night) 09061 992 018 SAVOY cc no bkg fee 020 7836 8888 020 7344 4444 (bkg fee) DONALD SUTHERLAND JOHN RUBINSTEIN ENIGMATIC VARIATIONS a new play by ERIC-EMMANUEL SCHMITT FROM 24 MAY 09061 992 072 CHICHESTER FESTIVAL THEATRE BO 01243 781312 HotelTheatre: 01243 539435 THE RECRUITING OFFICER By George Farquhar 09061 992 002 VAUDEVILLE THEATRE 020 7836 9987 SIMON WARD 1 CHRISTOPHER BLAKE HELEN HOBSON in ANTHONY thriUer MINDGAME Dare you play? Reduced price prevs from 24 May VICTORIA PALACE 020 7834 1317 cc 020 7420 0224 OLIVER TOBIAS JULIE-ALANAH BRIGHTEN LA CAVA A passionate new musical Prevs from Mon Opens 8 June 7pm Mon-Sat 730 Weds Sat Mats 300 wwwlacavacouk DUCHESS 020 7494 5075 cc 020 7420 0000 (bkg fee) The Royal National Theatre production of MICHAEL MULTI AWARD WINNING PLAY COPENHAGEN Dir by MICHAEL BLAKEMORE play of the Independent to be Times 2ND YEAR IN THE WEST END Mon-Sat 730 Mats Thu Sat 230 PALACE THEATRE bo 020 7434 0909 (bkg fee) cc 24hrs (bkg fee) 020 7344 4444 (bkg fee) Groups 020 7413 3311 wwwticketmastercouk THE MOST POPULAR MUSICAL LES MISERABLES NOW IN ITS 15th RECORD-BREAKING YEAR Eves 730 Mats Thu Sat 230 Tickets from £700 COMEDY 020 7389 17317344 4444 MAUREEN LIPMAN DTel PEGGY FOR YOU wonderfully funny new Express Mon-Sat 8pm Mats Wed Sat 3pm LYCEUM 0870 243 9000 (bkg lee) or 020 7314 2888 (bkg fee) Groups (15) 020 7416 6093 Disney presents THE LiON KING Now booking through March 2001 Mon-Sat 730 Wed Sat 200 From Oct 2000 Sun 300 no Mon perf A limited number of seats standing room released daily at noon in person at Box Office Online booking: wwwdisneycouk '09061 992 035 APOLLO 020 7494 5070 cc 020 7344 4444 A musical from the creators of FRIENDS PERSONALS Perfs from 13 June Eves 8pm Mats Thu 3pm Sat 5pm wwwpersonalsonstagecom 09061 992 012 09061 992 024 SHAFTESBURY 020 7379 5815 020 7420 02257344 4444 good time had by Ind on Sun LAUTREC A New Musical by CHARLES AZNAVOUR Bettinson's staging is bold and Times Eves 730pm Wed Sat mats 3pm 09061 992 038 09061 992 044 09061 992 010 (vj THEATRES 09061 992 091 09061 992 005 DUKE OF 020 7836 5122 cc24hrs 020 7420 0005 Best New Play Olivier Awards 1999 Royal Court production of THE WEIR by Conor McPherson Telegraph Mon-Sat 730 Wed Sat Mat 330 FINAL 12 PERFORMANCES MUST END SAT 27 MAY PHOENIX bccc 020 7360 1733 cc 7344 4444 7420 0000 (fee) Groups 0800 614903 BEST MUSICAL OlivierDrama Awards Plays PlayersIvor Novello Awards WILLY BLOOD BROTHERS the audience to its feet and roaring its DMail Eves 745 Mats Thu 300 Sat 400 09061 992 026 WHITEHALL 020 7369 1735 020 7344 4444 FRANK SKINNER is Sun Tel Mail on Sun COOKING WITH ELVIS LEE funny touching new DTel A RAZOR-EDGED COMIC GEM DExpress Funny' DMail Times Mon -Thur 8 Thur 3 Fri 830 Sat 530 830 09061 992 048 CRITERION 020 7413 14377420 0000 HILARIOUS 5TH GREAT YEAR REDUCED SHAKESPEARE COMPANY In THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (abridged) ALL 37 PLAYS IN 97 MINUTES! I nearly Times Eves 8pm Mats Thu 3pm Sat 5pm Sun 4 Tuesdays Only 8pm THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF AMERICA (abridged) BOOKING THRU 2000 wwwreducedshakespearecom LYRIC 020 7494 5045 STEPHANIE BEACHAM SARA CROWE JOHN MCCALLUM BEN MOOR in FANNY Rollicking Regency Romp A BUSY DAY Reduced price previews from Thur 8 June ADELPHI cc 24hrs (£1 bkg fee) 020 7344 0055 (bkg fee) 020 7420 0000 on-line wwwchicagothemusicalcom WINNER! OUTSTANDING MUSICAL Olivier Awards 09061 992 031 GLOBE THEATRE 2000 Season 14 May 24 September BO 020 7401 9919020 7316 4703 (24hrs) The Tempest Hamlet The Two Noble Kinsmen The Antipodes APOLLO 020 7494 5517 020 7420 0000 EDIE JASON FALCO FRANK PRIESTLEY WOOD SIDE MAN A New Play IS DIAMOND Gdn LIMITED SEASON MUST END 10 JUNE Mon Fri 800 Wed mat 300 Sat at 500 830 CHICAGO JoseOna GabrieUe Anna-Jane Casey John Diedrich Les Dennis FOR A MOS Mon Thu 8 Fri 5 830 Sat 3 8 09061 992 019 FORTUNE BO CC 020 7836 2238 11th SPINE CHILLING YEAR! CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY GODWIN WATSON Susan THE WOMAN IN BLACK Adapted by Stephen Mallatratt AUDIENCE SCREAMED IN The Independent Mon-Sat 800 Mats Tue 300 Sat 400 09061 992 050 09061 992 006 09061 992 001 09061 992 005 PICCADILLY THEATRE 020 7369 1734 020 7344 4444 WINNER! BEST MUSICAL Standard Critics' Circle Award BARBARA DICKSON BEST ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL Olivier Variety Club Awards SPEND SPEND SPEND LEFT THE THEATRE WALKING ON Ind Mon Sat 745 Thur Sat Mat 300 WYNDHAMS 7369 17367344 4444 The Comedy Masterpiece the play by Yasmina Reza Trans by Christopher Hampton PAUL FREEMAN PATRICK DUFFY RICHARD THOMAS Eves 8 Mats Wed 3 Sat Sun 5 STRAND Box Of cc(no lee) 020 7930 8800 cc (Bkg fee) 020 7344 44447420 0000 Groups 020 7413 33217436 5588 The Buddy Holly Story Mon Thur 800 Fri 530 830 Sats 500 830 12 PRICE FRI 530 PERF DOMINION 0670 607 7460020 7344 4444 NOTRE DAME DE PARIS The Phenomenal Musical Spectacular has arrived Now previewing Opens Tuesday Eves Mon Sat 745 Mat Sat 230 wwwnotredameonlinecom LYRIC 020 7494 5045 CC 7344 4444 JANIE MATTHEW DEE COTTLE and DAVID SOUL ALAN HITCOMEDY COMIC POTENTIAL JANIE DEE BEST ACTRESS Olivier EStd Awards LAST WEEKS MUST END JUNE 3 Mon-Sat 745 Thur Sat Mats 3 09061 992 049 09061 992 040 09061 992 014 GARRICK 020 7494 5574 The Royal National Theatre Production BRYAN MARJORIE DENIS MURRAY YATES LILL JB AN INSPECTOR CALLS of the most intoxicating theatrically Imaginative experiences of the EveStd Mon-Fri 745 Sat 500 815 Mat Wed 230 09061 992 027 09061 992 019 Take the drama out iff theatre booking 09061 992 015 PRINCE EDWARD 020 7447 5400 020 7413 1708 (24hrsno bkg fee) wwwmamma-miacom SIMPLY A Matt Wolf Associated Press Benny Andersson Bjorn MAMMA MIA! THE SMASH HIT MUSICAL BASED ON THE SONGS OF ABBA Mon-Thur 730 Fri 5 830 Sat 3 730 New Bkg Period Opens 22 May APPLY DAILY FOR RETURNS NATIONAL THEATRE bo 020 7452 3000 Grps 020 7452 3010 24hr cc bkg fee 020 7420 0000 OLIVIER Ton't Tomor 715 THE OPERA after John The Opera by Nick Dear music by Stephen Warbeck LYTTELTON Tomor 700 (PREVIEWS) ALBERT SPEER a new play by David Edgar based on Gitta book COTTESLOE Tomor 730 BLUEORANGE a new play by Joe Penhall LLNOWFOR full discount ON FEW REMAINING SEATS QutejEQQ2 GREAT BRITISH CLASSICAL MUSIC LARK ASCENDING I VOW ToTHGE TOM BOWUMGHQftKHPE POMP ana CfKUMSlSjNCI JERUSALEM ROYAL PHILHARMONIC CONCERT ORCHESTRA Special features Guest Stars CLEO LAINE JOHNNY DANKWORTH THREE SOLO BOY CHORISTERS AMERICAN GUEST COUNTRY FEATURE GOSPEL SINGERS DUELLING (with Orchestra) from ROYAL ALBERT HALL Thursday 1st June at 800pm DISCOUNTED PRICES: £800 £1000 £1200 £1950 GIELGUD 020 7494 5065344 4444 HOTTEST TICKET IN THE EXPRESS KATHLEEN TURNER THE GRADUATE Adapt Dir by Terry Johnson Mon Sat 8pm Thur Sat mat 3pm Best Thu mat some weekday evening perfs APPLY DAILY FOR RETURNS TONIGHT AT 730PM Frank McGuinness's DOLLY KITCHEN see OLD VIC It -I From the cieaiive team behind DANCING AT LUGHMASA 09061 992 028 09061 992 034 09061 992 016 09061 992 033 N0TRE-DAME DE PARIS Dominion Theatre London JMnEZt The hit French musical 'conies to London with new English translation Previews from 15 Mav 2000 Opens 23 May 2000 Tickets subject to competitive booking fee and availability All major credit debit raids and Tickets a fe non-refundabk and non-transferabl call us now on 0870 160 7000 Open 8am 10pm 7 days a week HAYMARKET 020 7930 8800 cc 020 7344 4444 BRIAN ROY BLESSED HUDD CHARLES HARD TIMES HILARIOUS NEW MUSICAL Prevs from Mon Opens 6 June 7pm Mon-Sat 730 Wed Sat Mats 230 wwwdickens-hardtimescom NEW AMBASSADORS 020 7838 sin STONES IN HIS POCKETS The award-winning new comedy By Marie Jones laughed till I DMail "Hilarious Sunday Times OPENS TUESDAY STRICTLY LIMITED SEASON PRINCE OF WALES THEATRE 020 7839 5972020 7344 4444 Sunday Times FOSSE Multi Award-Winning Musical SHEER DANCE SIZZLE AND RAZZLE-DAZZLE THE Daily Telegraph Mon Sat 745 mats Thur Sat 300 online bkg: wwwfosseukcom 09061 992 029 09061 992 004 09061 992 042.