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Article source: The Stage
Originally reviewed by: Robert Gore Date Published: 5th October 2000 Copyright: The Stage Article Provided by: Juliet Bravo The question that will immediately come to mind is "Is the Blue Room just as good without Nicole Kidman?" To which the answer is obviously "Yes of course it is". Not that David Hare's free adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler's La Ronde is necessarily a good play. Nor should one expect it to be. It is a cyclical sexual romp in which the novice tart gives herself away to an off-duty cab driver, who moves on to an au pair and so on, until a year later the same tart, older and much more experienced, spends the night with an aristocrat who has found this bit of rough trade more satisfying than the constantly role-playing actress he has just left. Intended as a comedy, it lives up to its aims in a chuckling rather than belly-laughing way. Along its circular route it has a good deal that is wise and witty as well as cynical. None of the ten encounters outstays its welcome, though 'The Married Woman and The Politician' has the most to say about the nature of marriage, particular one involving a husband who puts his career first. The most charming is 'The Au Pair and The Student', something of a learning process for both the young people; the most cynical, and the most artificial, 'The Model and The Playwright', a clash between two egos, though the male is the preening peacock of the pair. Loveday Ingram and her designer, Colin Falconer, give it a different look from the Donmar Warehouse production, necessary because of the larger stage, and there is an intriguing music score from Martin Lowe. The relative unknowns who play the two roles, Michael Higgs and Camilla Power, suffer little in comparison with their forebears, Higgs offering a neat contrast between the ardour of the younger men and the suavity of the politician and aristocrat. Power is more of an English rose type than her predecessor, but has the versatility necessary for her range of roles. Robert Gore |