06 January 2012

13 by Mike Bartlett

Sarah - Genevieve O'Reilly
Amir - Davood Chadami
Ruth - Geraldine James
Martin/Paul - Nick Blakeley
Shannon - Katie Brayben
Rachel - Kirsty Bushell
Stephen - Danny Webb
Holly - Lara Rossi
Edith - Helen Ryan
Zia - Shane Zaza
Rob - Matthew Barker
Mark - Adam James
John - Trystan Gravelle
Ruby - Grace Cooper Milton
Dennis - Nick SIdi
Liam/Terry - John Webber
Carol - Sioned Jones
Alice - Natasha Broomfield
Sally - Esther McAuley
Esther - Barbara Kirby
Fiona - Zara Tempest Walters
Sir Christopher - Martin Chamberlain
Other parts played by members of the Company.

Directed by Thea Sharrock and designed by Tom Scutt.

Seen in the middle of it's opening run at the Olivier. Bought a side-ish seat under the wonderful GILT scheme & scuttled along the entire length of the otherwise empty row to a centre aisle seat.



I do enjoy Mr Bartlett but I prefer his more claustrophobic pieces, or should I say I enjoy his work when space is at a premium.

Don't get me wrong, I reserve a special part of my brain especially to thrill at the full use of the drum revolve in this stage and in that respect I wasn't disappointed but the material just seemed too big and rambling. I wanted something drum-tight and this seemed to have some frayed edges.

It's cinematic, has something clever and has some lovely performances. Adam James steals every scene he's in. I have a special soft spot for the work of Kirsty Bushell and can't quite work out why we don't see more of her.