The Sea Outing - 21 January
On January 21 Whatsonstage.com took 175 Theatregoers to the Theatre Royal to see director Jonathan Kent’s production of Edward Bond’s modern classic The Sea. All of our Theatregoers received a free programme on arrival and were able to enjoy their free drink as they settled down to watch Eileen Atkins and David Haig tackle this delightfully dark comedy.
After the show Whatsonstage.com Theatregoers were able to attend a post show question and answer session with director Jonathan Kent and members of the cast, including David Haig, Russell Tovey, David Burke, Marcia Warren and Mariah Gale. Our Theatregoers were able to shed some light on the performance as they quizzed the actors and director about their thoughts on the play.
Jonathan Kent shared his views on Edward Bond, claiming that his work is often neglected by London’s West End theatres. The Sea is the second production in this season at the Theatre Royal, and Marcia Warren took a moment to commend David Haig on his energetic performance in both shows, particularly as this enatiled performing The Country Wife during the evening and rehearsing The Sea during the day. Marcia claimed that he never gave less than his best efforts, even when no one was in the audience to watch.
Terri Paddock led the discussion, asking Jonathan Kent how he had persuaded Edward Bond to allow him to stage The Sea. Previously Bond has turned down requests from many London Theatres including the National and the Old Vic. Kent claimed that he is lucky enough to have directed another of Bond’s plays some years ago so when he asked Bond if he would allow the revival at the Theatre Royal he was given the thumbs up almost immediately.
Terri commended Jonathan on the way he had brought out the comedy aspects of this dark play. The Sea is the only play that Bond has self titled a comedy. Jonathan claimed that he had been struck by how funny the audience found the performance and commented that David Burke’s character makes the statement that withouth tragedy there could be no comedy. He suggested that this was why The Sea was so succesful as a comedy.
Russell Tovey discussed his character, Hollarcut and his relationship to David Haig’s Hatch. Tovey claimed it was clear that Hollarcut finds a father figure in Hatch which he does not seem to have at home. He claimed there is a true bond there that grows through the performance. Marcia Warren also discussed her character, Rose. She claimed that the most moving lines for her were actually lines that Edward Bond had taken from a conversation he had had with a recently bereaved lady. When asked if she had brought anything from her time at the Royal Shakespeare Company to the play she said that she found one strong similarity between the two playwrights. She claimed that when playing Shakespeare she learnt to trust the words of the text. For her, Bond’s words had the same quality to them. Jonathan Kent agreed that there was something very Shakesperian about Bond’s work. He also compared the way Bond combines the comic and the tragic with Chekhov.
David Haig made a brief and welcome arrival on stage to thank our Theatregoers for their support. He briefly thanked the audience for their support and told them they had been a very welcoming and receptive group. David Burke invited the audience to ask David Haig all the awkward questions they could think of before he left and Haig made a hasty retreat to spend time with his oldest friend and his godson who were visiting London.
David Burke discussed his role in the play, claiming that when he was a young actor he would seek out roles where he would be on stage for three quarters of the play, but now that he was somewhat older he would seek out plays where he was off stage for three quarters of the play. He claimed that he had recelty finished a play where his part was over after half an hour. He had it written into his contract that he would be allowed to leave when he was finished so he would get changed, get the train home and and pour a glass of wine, before looking at the clock and thinking of his fellow cast members who were still performing.
Conversation turned to Marcia Warren’s character Jessica Tilehouse and her hatred for Mrs Rafi. Warren claimed that she suspected that Jessica was a widow who saw Mrs Rafi as a nice meal ticket but she reffered to Jessica’s moment of excultation when she believed that Mrs Rafi might have been murdered and claimed that it was more than likely Jessica would seek revenge if the opportunity came.
Terri wrapped up the discussion with a brief mention of Eileen Atkins performance as Mrs Rafi, said to be one of the great female roles of contemporary theatre. Jonathan Kent claimed that he had her in mind for the role from the outset and was thrilled to have her as part of the cast. He briefly discussed her merciless and often cruel character but claimed that her redeeming feature is that she is also merciless about herself. Jonathan thanked all of our Theatregoers for coming and reminded them that the Theatre Royal’s next production will be a musical production of Marguerite starring Ruthie Henshal. He finished by claiming that he firmly believes there is an audience for Bond’s work and that he feels privelidged to be part of the Theatre Royal Haymarket which stands out in the West End as a producing theatre. He lamented that serious plays are often pushed out to fringe venues and hoped that the Theatre Royal would stand as an exception to the rule.
You can add your own comments about the event either here or in the main Discussion Forum. You can also add your verdict on The Sea to our user reviews for the show -
http://www.whatsonstage.com/index.php?pg=206&action=users&show=l01395926839
I look forward to seeing you all at future Outings.
-Kate Jackson (Editorial/Sales and Marketing)