[theatre] Birdland, Royal Court [26-Apr-14]
Monday, April 28th, 2014 08:33 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tamaranthBirdland, by Simon Stephens
Paul (Andrew Scott) is a rock star at the height of his fame, near the end of a world tour. Johnny (Alex Price) is his bandmate and best friend. Not that Paul really has friends. Everyone knows who he is, except himself.
Towards the end of the play, Paul's manager says 'you make most people feel a little bit sick'. Absolutely: I wanted to scrub my brain after nearly 2 hours in Paul's company. At first I thought he was quite charming and charismatic; endlessly amused by himself and amazed by the trappings of success. But (like Rochester in The Libertine) it's never enough. He always wants (and usually gets) more, never mind the cost. I'm not sure he actually believes that anyone else is real.
'All I wanted to do was find a signal in the noise.'
Set design is fab, with minimal props and a rising tide of dirty black water. Sadly nobody drowned Paul in it.
Gripping play, not cheerful: structured like a Greek tragedy.
Second Andrew Scott in a week -- I hadn't realised he voiced one of the supporting characters in Locke.
Paul (Andrew Scott) is a rock star at the height of his fame, near the end of a world tour. Johnny (Alex Price) is his bandmate and best friend. Not that Paul really has friends. Everyone knows who he is, except himself.
Towards the end of the play, Paul's manager says 'you make most people feel a little bit sick'. Absolutely: I wanted to scrub my brain after nearly 2 hours in Paul's company. At first I thought he was quite charming and charismatic; endlessly amused by himself and amazed by the trappings of success. But (like Rochester in The Libertine) it's never enough. He always wants (and usually gets) more, never mind the cost. I'm not sure he actually believes that anyone else is real.
'All I wanted to do was find a signal in the noise.'
Set design is fab, with minimal props and a rising tide of dirty black water. Sadly nobody drowned Paul in it.
Gripping play, not cheerful: structured like a Greek tragedy.
Second Andrew Scott in a week -- I hadn't realised he voiced one of the supporting characters in Locke.
