CurtainUp
CurtainUp

The Internet Theater Magazine of Reviews, Features, Annotated Listings
www.curtainup.com


HOME PAGE

SITE GUIDE

SEARCH

REVIEWS

REVIEW ARCHIVES

ADVERTISING AT CURTAINUP

FEATURES

NEWS
Etcetera and
Short Term Listings


LISTINGS
Broadway
Off-Broadway

NYC Restaurants

BOOKS and CDs

OTHER PLACES
Berkshires
London
California
New Jersey
DC
Philadelphia
Elsewhere

QUOTES

TKTS

PLAYWRIGHTS' ALBUMS

LETTERS TO EDITOR

FILM

LINKS

MISCELLANEOUS
Free Updates
Masthead
Writing for Us
A CurtainUp London London Review
Triptych



I'm getting rather fond of my jealousy.— Wife
Triptych
Terry Norton as Pauline and below Orla Brady as the Clarissa
(Photo: Ellie Kurttz)
At the Market Theatre in Johannesburg in 2007, Sean Mathias first directed Irish writer Edna O'Brien's three handed play, aptly called Triptych, about the three competing women in a man's life. He brings the star, Terry Norton, to a London fringe venue, the Southwark Playhouse, for a thoroughly absorbing battle of women. It is the rangy, leggy South African actress with such an interesting presence that everyone is talking about. Her character Pauline is an alcoholic, driven by her husband's serial infidelities not to leave him, but to drown her sorrows. We never see the man, only hear about him through the voices of the women.

Elyse Sommer reviewed this O'Brien play in New York in 2004 (go here) and Laura Hitchcock saw it in Los Angeles in 2006 go here). I found it quite a satisfying play. It seems to be improving with age!

The poignancy of the crazy wife's performance as she stalks the younger mistress is a little pathetic and the plot screams out for both wife and mistress to dump this miserable specimen of a man who sets up the women against each other for his own gain. Terry Norton is an alpha female, a lioness full of determination, manipulative and intelligent but unable to resist her own destructive urges. We see Orla Brady's mistress, the actress in the first act taking the part of the doomed Duchess of Malfi and although she is a strong woman she is unable to fight off Pauline. Jessica Ellerby's Brandy has the least satisfying role and seems a little mature to be playing Pauline's daughter who takes refuge in her drum kit.

The ending of the play sees Pauline in charge of Henry's writing legacy, his having moved on to another mistress, other than Clarissa that is. It is a tragedy which takes its theme from the great Euripidean plays about women in impossible relationships. The Southwark Playhouse long strip set has a reproduction of a stunning Caravaggio at either end with one eye peering in on the proceedings behind the sumptuous wood panelling. This makes us think of the presence of Henry as this figure spies on his effect on the women.

This play was made all the more interesting because sitting next to us in the audience were another Nobel prize winner Harold Pinter with his now wife, Lady Antonia, themselves the subject of a divorce scandal in the late 1970s with Vivienne Merchant as the actress wife destroyed by a man, a writer, who left to spend his life with his (then) mistress.

Southwark Playhouse has a creative pricing policy with seats priced at £7, £13 and £20. As the venue has unreserved seating, the earlier you get there the better the seat and the earlier you book, the more inexpensive the ticket. Oh, and a cautionary note, the Playhouse has moved to a new location, from Southwark Bridge Road, close to London Bridge station on the corner of Tooley Street and Bermondsey Street under the railway arches which makes for an attractive and intimate venue, although the odd rumble of trains above has to be made allowance for by the cast.

Triptych
Written by Edna O'Brien
Directed by Sean Matthias

Starring: Terry Norton
With: Orla Brady, Jessica Ellerby
Design: Paul Burgess
Lighting: Katherine Williams
Composer: Phillip Miller
Running time: 95 minutes with no interval
Box Office: 0844 847 1656
Booking to 10th May 2008
Reviewed by Lizzie Loveridge based on 11th April 2008 at The Southwark Playhouse, Shipwright Yard, Corner of Tooley Street and Bermondsey Street London SE1 2TF (Rail/Tube: London Bridge)

London Theatre Tickets
Lion King Tickets
Billy Elliot Tickets
Mighty Boosh Tickets
Mamma Mia Tickets
We Will Rock You Tickets
Theatre Tickets
Google
 
Web    
www.curtainup.com
London Theatre Walks


Peter Ackroyd's  History of London: The Biography



London Sketchbook



tales from shakespeare
Retold by Tina Packer of Shakespeare & Co.
Click image to buy.
Our Review


©Copyright 2008,

GUCCI

|

Aluminium Chronograph

|

PEAK new fashion ladies venting air spring heighten casual sport shoes P8004E

|

Tiffany & Co Hook and Eye Ring

|

mbt shoes

|

MBT Shoes

|

Tiffany&Co Daisy 925 sterling silver rings

|

Rolex

|

Louis Vuitton

|

Affliction Boots

|

Nike Shoes

|

Nike Dunk

|

MP5 Wholesale

|

Atlanta Falcons

|

Abercrombie Pants Wholesale 002

|

Louis Vuitton

|

UGG Boots Mulberry Genuine Australia classic Tall Ugg Boots

|

GUCCI Handbags

|

UGG Boots Classic Argyle Knit Chocolate 5879

|

Louis Vuitton Business Card Holder Ebony

|

MBT Men's Kisumu Tan Sandals

|

MBT Chapa

|

ugg boots

|

MBT Kisumu 2 White Men's Sandals

|

Nike Shoes

|

Louis Vuitton Monogram Denim Messenger Bag PM m95865

|

Bailey Button Uggs

|

Sexy Costume QS0169

|

Phone Wholesale

|

Bikinis Sets

|

Wholesale

|

Car DVD Player

|

LV

|

Tourbillon

|

Tiffany tiffany replica ring

|

Superleggera J12 White

|

Tiffany

|

rolex

|

Mouse Wholesale

|

Nike Air Max 2003

|

Monogram Groom

|

GUCCI

|

Wholesale

|

Nike Air Max LTD (dark blue/white) No.372340

Elyse Sommer.
Information from this site may not be reproduced in print or online without specific permission from esommer@curtainup.com