Review: KRAPP'S LAST TAPE, Starring Gary Oldman, Royal Court Theatre
Leo Simpe-Asante's Godot's To-Do List is an entertaining curtain-raiser
First staged last year at Theatre Royal Bath, Gary Oldman directs, set-designs, co-produces and performs Samuel Beckett’s 1958 one-act play, Krapp's Last Tape at London's Royal Court, the theatre where the play made its UK debut back in 1958. But this production is no exercise in ego, but an emotionally involved and truly captivating performance.
Beckett's one man monologue sees a 69-year-old man called Krapp sitting down on his birthday to record the events of the past year. This is a ritual he has done every year, so when he begins to listen to previous recordings, he becomes captivated and surprised by the attitudes and ambitions of his younger self.
Until the run in Bath, Oldman had been absent from the stage for 37 years, having built up an extraordinary body of work in film and television. His performance in Krapp's Last Tape is mesmerising: the role requires the actor to bring so much to the act of a cough, a sigh or eating a banana (or three) and Oldman imbues all actions with huge purpose. As he plays the tapes, he is at first amused, recalling his life with affection. As the tapes go on, he becomes increasingly uncomfortable with the memories they throw up, afraid that he rejected the colour of life, assuming more was to come.
Photo Credit: Camilla Greenwell
Oldman displays huge vocal skill; the recordings of his younger voice have a brighter, more lyrical tone, contrasting with the creaky gruffness of older age. It's a haunting performance, as Oldman's Krapp appears to be haunted by the past, his version of the role less clown-like than others, with more loneliness and regret coming through.
Oldman enters by climbing stairs to the room, out of breath, he has to climb over piles of books, papers and boxes that surround his rather clear desk, hemming him in, rather like his memories. Malcolm Rippeth's glowing lighting uses two ceiling lamps to illuminate the scene, with a haunting fade to black at the end as the recorder stays lit up, as if still alive after Krapp has entered the darkness. Poignantly, the production features the same tape recorder used by Michael Gambon and John Hurt in their turns as Krapp.
Godot's To-Do List, by 19-year-old Leo Simpe Asante, was one of the winning plays from the inaugural year of the Royal Court's Young Playwright's Award. It acts as the curtain-raiser for Krapp's Last Tape, a fun and quirky opener, with nods to Godot with a bowler hat and a small tree. Exploring what Godot was doing when he was being waited for, a voice (Flora Ashton with melifuous tones) commands him to do a list of seemingly never-ending tasks.
But the night belongs to Oldman.
Krapp's Last Tape and Godot's To-Do List runs at The Royal Court Theatre until 30 May
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