February 26th to March 1st 2008
Directed by Nathan Chapman and the company
Who is Anne? Is she a lover, a daughter, a terrorist or a whore? An artist, an invention, a symbol, or object (of desire, of ridicule)? Is she a car, an idea, a suicide case, a mental patient, a mother, a consumer, the consumed, a conduit for alien domination, a pioneering scientist, a saviour, a brand, the girl next door, a woman, everywoman.
Attempts to define her? Or attempts to destroy her? Martin Crimp's "17 Scenarios for the Theatre" form a piece of drama that is ultra-modern, challenging, razor-sharp, funny and brutal. Seventeen snapshots of a woman known only as Anne take us through a bizarre array of styles and moods, showing her to be all things to all people.
This exciting and diverse work is a stunning and sometimes scathing series of vignettes depicting modern life at its best and worst.
Suitable for theatre-goers aged 14 +
Born in Dartford in 1956, Martin Crimp developed a love for the theatre at school, and his first play 'Clang' was directed by the now professional director Roger Michell while the two were students at Cambridge. He had written a novel, 'Still Early Days', and a collection of short stories, when the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond ran a workshop and competition for local writers in September 1981. He has said since of his winning script 'Living Remains' that he was "so excited that I didn't think about the space where it was performed [then a room above a pub], but now I realise that the Orange Tree's intimacy and simplicity provided an extra layer of excitement."
The Orange Tree staged many of his early pieces, including a number of translations of European plays. He has been writer-in-residence for both theatre and television, including at Thames Television, the New Dramatists (New York) and the Royal Court Theatre in London and has adapted his own work for radio. He has won the Radio Times Drama Award and the John Whiting Award and his work is popular across Europe.
Crimp describes himself as 'addicted' to theatre, and says that he was attracted by playwrights such as Beckett, Orton and Ionesco by their "total bloody-mindedness".
Crimp's best known play was first staged at the Royal Court in 1997, translated into twenty languages, and revived at the National last year. In the piece, the author gives the lines to be spoken but no guidance about the characters that deliver them, not even an indication of which actor speaks which line or how many people are on stage at any one time. The play is made up of short fragments in contrasting styles and voices, and during the rehearsal process the company of actors and directors must flesh out the gaps to produce a finished work. The pre-conceptions of both actors and audience about what constitues a play are frequently challenged.
The Guardian newspaper featured an interview with Martin Crimp in 2007, when Katie Mitchell's production was staged.
MODERN theatre comes in many forms and in the greater Portsmouth area we are very lucky to have local companies that are prepared to tackle newer, lesser-known, performance pieces.
The Bench theatre company has chosen to present Martin Crimp's Attempts On Her Life which is not so much a play as a theatrical experience. There is no story, only a situation. Anne, the invisible focus of the piece, has disappeared. She - her personality, her life - is defined by the words and actions of people who do not know her. And that's it.
The programme notes, somewhat defensively one feels, leap to rebuff allegations of pretentiousness and there's no doubt that some quarters would raise this point against the piece - but regardless of the truth of that it remains a fascinating exploration of human individuality, nevertheless.
Director Nathan Chapman's cast aren't always successful in their handling of the complex dialogue. Jeff Bone and Hadleigh Harrison's first scene suffered from an overabundance of pace to the detriment of clarity, but both of these actors later got the measure of the dialogue; some voices - a critically important piece of this show - were drowned out by music.
Neil Kendall is impressive in his scenes - particularly the brilliant scene comparing Anne to a car - and Callum West's contributions showed flashes of real skill. Zoë Chapman stood out among the women.
It's good to see theatre like this being presented locally and the Bench's opening night audience was a fair size. This is theatre for the thinking man or woman. Enjoy. The play continues its run until Saturday.
JAMES GEORGE