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Review by Paul Nelson |
A most satisfactory evening in the theatre is Life After George, currently
being played at the Duchess.
The play was written by Hannie Rayson, an Australian, and one suspects is
loosely based on her own experiences at Melbourne University. It is basically
a comment on the decay of idealism in modern Australian life and her argument
is that universities should be allowed to remain as places where the student
is urged to think freely, not being constrained by any newfangled economic
ideology. Coming at a time when students here are demonstrating for the return
of government grant funding the play leaps into sharp contemporary focus.
The evening begins with the death, and then centres on the life, of Peter
George, an independent noncomformist and professor at Melbourne University.
It leaps around in time and space giving an almost kaleidoscopic picture of
a life as seen through his three wives and daughter. Scenes in Paris, Tuscany,
Australia and Flinders Island, near Melbourne, where George has a second home,
flash across the stage rapidly under the magnificent direction of Michael
Blakemore. The scenes take place during the entire period of 1969 right up
to George's death in a plane he was piloting on his way to Flinders.
George was the son of a Newcastle on Tyne miner and emigrated to Australia
where he taught history and urged individuality in his students.
His then wife, Beatrix, bore him two children, a son and daughter. However,
George is a hedonistic womaniser, they divorce, and he marries wife two, Lindsay.
Lindsay is an attractive and carefree creature and George finds in her a vibrant
and exciting addition to his life and work. Unfortunately, this ideal crashes
when Lindsay joins the faculty and becomes a corporate woman, running the
university like a business and, in George's words, turning it into a shopping
mall instead of an academy of excellence for everyone.
The tapestry of this complex play gives scope for some exciting performances,
particularly for the wives and daughter. The cast seize these opportunities
with energy and manages to put on a show of talent the West End really needs
these days.
In the title role, Stephen Dillane has the part of a lifetime and he too rises
to the occasion. He is magnificent to watch and hear in his portrayal of a
basically kind, but footloose man. At no point is his performance misunderstood
or muddled. His clarity brings a deeper understanding of the play.
Outstanding among the distaff side are two actresses who are also a delight
to the eye and ear. Joanne Pearce as Lindsay gives to the part what audiences
dream of seeing in the theatre. Her early casual approach to the world juxtaposed
with her fierce attraction to the corporate life as opposed to academe moves
the character from fun-loving sweetness to hard businesswoman. It is rounded
off when the skeleton in her own cupboard is revealed. As Ana, George's daughter,
Susannah Wise excellently portrays the talented dropout. Ana has many skills
that she prefers lie dormant and her deep feeling of rejection by her father
has created a character of true fascination, which is greatly enhanced by
the performance of the actress.
The play, if one had to carp, is too deeply plotted. That's not a bad thing
these days, but there are moments when perhaps a longer discussion between
the characters would throw more light on them and their complicated lives.
In just over two hours, however, the author and Blakemore easily span all
the times and complications of Peter George.
So, as it is, what with the three wives, their love stories and actions regarded
as either jealousy or selfishness, there is more than enough here for an evening.
It is an intriguing and satisfying night out.
Life After George won an award in its native Australia, and little wonder.
The same should befall it here.
Life After George by Hannie Rayson. Presented by Michael Codron and Lee
Dean in association with Mark Bentley and LHP Ltd. Designed by Peter J Davison,
Music by Terry Davis, Directed by Michael Blakemore.
With Stephen Dillane (Peter George) Cheryl Campbell (Beatrix), Joanne Pearce
(Lindsay), Anna Wilson-Jones (Poppy), Susannah Wise (Ana) and Richard Hope
(Duffy). Duchess Theatre, Catherine Street, WC2.
