‘EVERYMAN’: (left to right) Amy Griffiths, Chiwetel Ejiofor & Clemmie Stevens in the hit show at the National Theatre in London. Photo: Richard Hubert Smith

EVERYMAN
By Bernard O’Donoghue
A new adaptation by Carol Ann Duffy
Directed by Rufus Norris
Through August 30, 2015
National Theatre
Olivier Theatre
Upper Ground, South Bank
London, United Kingdom
(020 7452 3000), http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk

Broadcast in select U.S. cinemas nationwide on July 16, 2015.

Visit http://ntlive.nationaltheatre.org.uk/ for details

By David NouNou

Don’t let the words “based on a medieval morality play” scare you off. If anything, this modern-day translation is an epic feast for the eyes and ears. Similar to the Vivian Beaumont Theatre in New York, the Olivier can house shows that would not be shown in a regular theater. The stage is massive and has plenty of room for every conceivable idea and effect desired.

Upon entering the theater, we see a scrubwoman sweeping clean the length and breadth of the stage. As the lights dim, she descends down the bowels of the stage and a body falls splat into the open pit. Talk about a theatrical jolt…wow.

There is a moral message here: Earthly comforts are fleeting only good deeds and God’s grace can provide salvation. God decides that Everyman, Ev to his friends (a character representing everyday man), needs to be taught a lesson in piety and sends a character named Death to teach him that lesson.

Ev (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is basically good, extremely prosperous and an affable person who overindulges in a hedonistic lifestyle. He wears designer clothes, dines on the finest foods, cars, jewelry, and enjoys the best life has to offer. Sex is casual and drugs are aplenty. Meanwhile, he never gives a thought to his elderly, ailing parents or his sister who takes care of them. Ev is carefree all the way.

On this particular night, Ev is celebrating his 40^th birthday with his friends, all of whom are allegorical characters/senses and wits: Sound, Passion, Vanity, Strength, Smell, Sensuality, Conscience, Touch, Taste, Sight, Deception, and Insecurity. Plenty of booze and drugs are consumed until Ev passes out cold face down.

God (Kate Duchene) is the weary scrubwoman who sends Death (Dermot Crowley) to claim Ev’s life and show him what an irresponsible life he led and how meaningless all his worldly possessions were. Worst yet, not one single person will stand beside him on judgment day; not his parents, sister nor any of his friends or acquaintances.

Upon viewing the cover of the program and knowing the title of the play, one can surmise the show’s premise but cannot imagine the impeccable theatricality of it, thanks to Rufus Norris’s brilliant direction. With the use of music, splendid costumes and masks, remarkable sets and special effects, the whole event springs to life. The surprise element here is how vividly everything unfolds. This you must see for yourself.

Chiwetel Ejiofor, best known in America for his Oscar-nominated role of Solomon Northup in the 2013 Oscar-winning film 12 Years A Slave, is remarkable. From his partying mode entrance to his final defeated and penitent moments, he is consistently riveting and fascinating to watch.

We kind of know that God can be vengeful, but a woman as well? Kate Duchene imbues her character with exact weariness. Ms. Duchene is a supreme being who is oh so tired of the whole mess. On the other hand, Dermot Crowley as Death loves his job and plays him with relish. He can’t wait to claim his next victim.

Everyman will be broadcast live this July 16, 2015 in theatres across America. Visit http://ntlive.nationaltheatre.org.uk/venues for information. If you cannot make it to London this summer, do catch the show at one of the U.S. cinemas showing it. Should you be in London through November 30, 2015, catch “Everyman” live to experience its complex theatricality.

‘EVERYMAN’: Chiwetel Ejiofor & company. Photo: Richard Hubert Smith

‘EVERYMAN’: The cast of the show. Photo: Richard Hubert Smith

‘EVERYMAN’: Chiwetel Ejiofor & Kate Duchene. Photo: Richard Hubert Smith

‘EVERYMAN’: Dermot Crowley & Chiwetel Ejiofor. Photo: Richard Hubert Smith

‘EVERYMAN’: (left to right) Sharon D. Clarke, Michelle Butterly & Philip Martin Brown. Photo: Richard Hubert Smith.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published June 25, 2015
Reviewed at performance on June 17, 2015 in London

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PERFORMANCE OF THE SEASON: Alex Sharp is brilliant in ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.’. Photo: Joan Marcus

THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME
Written by Simon Stephens
Based on the novel by Mark Haddon
Directed by Marianne Elliott
Barrymore Theatre
248 W. 47th Street
(212-239-6200), www.curiousonbroadway.com

 By Scott Harrah

Over the past decade, there have been very few truly great stage dramas. The History Boys, August: Osage County and now, direct from the United Kingdom, add The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time to the preeminent list.

This explosive story demonstrates that great original theater— the type that overwhelms the senses and restores one’s faith in quality, live entertainment that actually says something— is definitely possible. Based on Mark Haddon’s eponymous 2003 bestseller, the story starts out with a proverbial bang and, for the most part, never lets up. Christopher Boone (the outstanding Alex Sharp) is a troubled 15-year-old in suburban England. As the play opens, we see that a big, furry dog named Wellington has been brutally murdered with a pitchfork. Christopher desperately tells the dog’s owner, Mrs. Shears (Mercedes Herrero) that he didn’t kill Wellington, but she still calls the police.

What follows is a series of disturbing events, all of which take the audience on a theatrical roller-coaster ride. Everything is shown from the perspective of this scared young lad, moving from an English garden to a train station to fast-paced London. The boy is determined to find the dog’s killer, but this proves to be no simple task because Christopher isn’t your average teen. Although it is never clarified, he has all the signs of Asberger’s syndrome or autism, for he has trouble communicating, screams if anyone touches him, but yet he is a genius at mathematics.

The Curious Incident is a rare blend of traditional and experimental theatrics and high-tech special effects, adapted by Simon Stephens, along with painstaking direction by Marianne Elliott (War Horse), and innovative scenic and costume design by Bunny Christie, lighting design by Paule Constable and video design by Finn Ross. Yes, the scenic and technical designers are as much the stars of the show as the actors because we are treated to a visual feast of everything from starry skies and geometric patterns to a pulse-churning scene on the rails of a London Underground station, using projections, eerie music and lighting on an ever-evolving set.

Gimmicky? Not really, because all the technical wizardry gels beautifully with the storyline, fleshed out by 15 actors, some playing multiple roles. Because the lead is so demanding, Taylor Trensch plays Christopher at certain performances.

Beneath the flashy phantasmagoria before us is a solid narrative, with a cast giving their all, for at its core, The Curious Incident is a story about a boy’s rocky relationship with his complicated parents. Of particular note are Ian Barford as Christopher’s caring father, Ed; Francesca Faridany as his bighearted teacher, Siobhan; and Helen Carey as the kind, elderly neighbor lady that offers him cake and orangeade and tries to be his friend.

Perhaps there’s a little bit of Christopher Boone in all of us: Facing life’s daily battles, having to be brave, uncertain of what lies ahead. It is the ingenious depiction of these very human emotions that makes The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time so heartbreakingly real, touching and exhilarating, and unlike any drama Broadway has seen (or will likely see) in many years.

AN ILLUMINATING THEATRICAL EXPERIENCE: (left to right): Helen Carey, Mercedes Herrero, Alex Sharp (kneeling), Richard Hollis, David Manis & Ben Horner in ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.’ Photo: Joan Marcus

FLYING HIGH: (left to right) Mercedes Herrero, Alex Sharp (above), Richard Hollis & Jocelyn Bioh. Photo: Joan Marcus

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published October 10, 2014
Reviewed at press performance on October 9, 2014

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