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The London Stage in 2008 (2)Dateline: 28th December, 2008The National, the RSC, the Barbican and the GlobeIncreasingly, these large theatres and particularly the National Theatre under the custodianship of Nicholas Hytner, are taking on the mantle of the guardians of serious theatre. Where once the West End and the new writing theatres could be relied upon to produce much of the best work in any year, most lovers of high-quality theatre, as opposed to star-driven productions, would probably be more comfortable in relying on having a good night out at the National or the RSC. Having said that, this year the RSC cast Hamlet with David Tennant and Patrick Stewart, although the former did not make it to the starting line in London, let alone the first hurdle. Even so, Greg Doran's lively modern dress production still garnered praise from almost all who had the opportunity to see it. This did not necessarily include that many members of the public, when tickets were going on the Internet for up to £303 each, ultimately to see a sub for Doctor Who. Elsewhere, the RSC followed two very diverse paths. At the Roundhouse, Michael Boyd reprised a full cycle of the history plays, which proved commercially popular and was critically acclaimed. This reviewer had the chance to see Henry V and Richard III, the latter containing a great central performance from Jonathan Slinger, and both proved gripping. The other strand has been far more hit and miss, as the company commissioned contemporary playwrights to write responses to the Bard's work. The pick of these were Days of Significance by Roy Williams, a modern play about the effects of war at the Tricycle and The Tragedy of Thomas Hobbes by Adriano Shaplin, an overly long but fascinating portrait of a latter-day polymath at Wilton's Music Hall. The Globe has had by far its best year under Dominic Dromgoole, with a stream of fantastic productions and only one minor, modern disaster along the way. David Calder proved to be an inspired choice as King Lear, while the Globe's version of A Midsummer Night's Dream was the best that this critic has seen. The triumphs continued with one of the less popular plays, The Merry Wives of Windsor proving, like the first two mentioned plays, extremely funny. These were followed by a first for the venue as Ché Walker's The Front Line eschewed the past by looking at the lives of a rich panoply of Londoners today. At the Barbican, there is now a heady mix of international work of every type from dance to serious theatre as well as creations from the UK, including those from the semi-resident company, Cheek by Jowl. The highlight of any year was always going to be the long-delayed London transfer of Gregory Burke's monumental portrait of the war in Iraq, Black Watch. It proved just as devastating second time around and is a brilliant advertisement not only for Burke and his director John Tiffany, but also all at the National Theatre of Scotland. That company might be in its infancy but it has already outstripped almost all of the competition. In addition to their Russian revivals, Cheek by Jowl offered a refreshing new version of Troilus and Cressida featuring a team of young actors who are likely to be stars of the future. The best thing about the Barbican is that it gives one a chance to see work that would never otherwise come to Britain. The best example of this year was Thomas Ostermaier's Hedda Gabler, which brought the play right up-to-date and suggested that Ibsen might have had in-yer-face leanings. That saves the best till last, at least in terms of strength in depth. It is always a pleasure to go to the National Theatre and expectations are so high that occasionally, productions will disappoint. In many cases, this year visits to the South Bank proved eminently worthwhile. They had the new play of the year (at least on these shores) in August: Osage County, an epic modern drama by Tracy Letts which featured outstanding performances from a number of actors and actresses but particularly Deanna Dunegan, who might well follow her Tony with a number of British equivalents. The Pitmen Painters by Lee Hall was also a strong competitor for Best New Play and returns at the end of January, this time in the Lyttelton Theatre where some of the intimacy will be lost but at least everybody who wants to will have the chance to see a truly touching drama set in the North-East. Continuing the modern theme, Gethsemane must be Sir David Hare's best play for some years shedding light on the seamy world of British politics today. Earlier in the year, another of his plays The Vertical Hour, which had first seen the light of day on Broadway, made its British debut at the National too. The Cottesloe has had a very good year as in addition to those two plays, Lucinda Coxon's Happy Now premiered in the smallest of the theatre's spaces as well. This was another contemporary drama that looked at the sometimes empty lives of affluent British thirtysomethings. It could be compared and contrasted with Harper Regan by Simon Stephens, which explored the lives of the less well blessed through the eyes of the excellent Lesley Sharp's titular anti-heroine. Rebecca Lenkiewicz earned a deserved promotion to the Olivier with Her Naked Skin, a political play if ever there was one, about the suffragettes, starring Lesley Manville and Jemima Rooper. Vanessa Redgrave demonstrated how to hold an audience in the largest of spaces when she performed Joan Didion's solo eulogy to her dead husband, the writer John Gregory Dunne, The Year of Magical Thinking. In addition there were two modern plays taking biographical form. These were Michael Frayn's portrait of Max Reinhardt, Afterlife and Howard Brenton's Never So Good about Harold Macmillan, respectively starring Roger Allam and Jeremy Irons. The National is also renowned for its ability to put on works from the past and this year covered a number of different eras from the ancient Greek to a few decades back. The one thing that was missing was Shakespeare. Ralph Fiennes made a moving Oedipus, while Simon Russell Beale got just the right balance as Andrew Undershaft, playing opposite Claire Higgins in a production of Major Barbara. This also showed off the talents of Hayley Atwell, who is now likely to be lost to the big screen forever after her performance as Julia Flyte in Brideshead Revisited. Russell Beale got a second night out in company with Claire Higgins in what turned out to be an acting masterclass using the medium of Pinter's A Slight Ache and Landscape. Melly Still brought us The Revenger's Tragedy by Thomas Middleton starring Rory Kinnear in the Olivier, proving that it is a strange play with the ability to amaze and amuse, as well as confuse. Despite the efforts of Katie Mitchell in the intriguing Some Trace of Her, a vision of Dostoevsky's The Idiot, at times the medium seemed far more important than the message. The oddest play of the year though was Peter Handke's The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other, featuring a large cast who did not utter a word between them. The effect in James MacDonald's production was truly mesmeric.
Philip Fisher
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