HOUSE OF DESIRES. To 21 March.
HOUSE OF DESIRES: Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz: new translation by Catherine Boyle
The Playhouse, London in rep 27 January-21 March 2005
Audio-described/Captioned 19 March 2pm
Runs: 2h 40, one interval, till 1 October
TICKETS: 0870 060 6631
Review: Rod Dungate, 14 July 2004
Another gem but who brings it to its level of perfection?HOUSE OF DESIRES - another gem the RSC puts on show for us. But how intriguing its success is.
Here's the story synopsis (lifted straight from the RSC programme they've got it to three lines, I couldn't do better). 'A brother and sister are entangled in a web of love with four others. With everyone under one roof, mayhem is created as all six struggle to be alone with their lover and we try to work out who really loves whom.' Things are reported, things are seen, things are overheard. The characters spend their time working out if things are real or not what they seem or not what they think they seem.
The text itself, feels curiously undramatic; it's formal and individual scenes are like icons. The play opens, for instance, with Dona Ana (the sister mentioned above) speaking with her maid: 'Celia, his [her brother] trust in me is so great/ that tonight he opened his heart to me./ As you know . . .' Now you just know she's going to go into a long 'back story'. She doesn't - she goes into an absolutely gigantic one! Undramatic stuff. The play has other such moments.
The production intrigues through director Nancy Meckler's ability to create a style with her team that turns exposition into story; in consequence the entire production becomes a marvellously controlled celebration of theatrical story-telling. It's a cracking cast each performer delicately and dangerously balances their performance between the comedically stylised and the OTT; none falls over into OTT not even Simon Trinder (more of him anon.) Everyone seems to be slightly tongue-in-cheek; the effect, far from lessening the play's comment on honour-duty, strengthens the satire.
The two young women, Dona Ana and Dona Leonor (Claire Cox and Rebecca Johnson) encapsulate the style perfectly. They take us into their confidence with ease, portray them as spirited young women. I particularly like Joseph Millson's Don Carlos; his aristocratic certainty, second only to his aristocratic looks and bearing, is constantly undermined by his hilarious mental contortions convincing himself that his lover is really totally pure and faithful (which of course she is but he doesn't know it.)
Katherine Kelly (Celia, the maid servant) is a gem. Kelly wastes not a jot; her earthy wit and social freedom is exploited to make a telling contrast with Ana and Leonor. Simon Trinder, the RSC's current not-to-be-missed clown, is as hilariously on the ball as ever. In this play he has a glorious scene of his own in which he dresses up in disguise. A comic tour de force.
Don Pedro: William Buckhurst
Dona Ana: Claire Cox
Celia: Katherine Kelly
Nuns: Emma Pallant, Joanna Van Kampen
Don Rodrigo: Peter Sproule
Dona Leonor: Rebecca Johnson
Hernando: Julius D'Silva
Cloaked Men: James Chalmers, Vinta Morgan
Don Juan: Oscar Pearce
Don Carlos: Joseph Millson
Castano: Simon Trinder
Directed by: Nancy Meckler
Designed by: Katrina Lindsay
Season Stage Designed by: Es Devlin
Lighting Designed by: Ben Ormerod
Music Composed by: Ilona Sekacz
Sound Designed by: Martin Slavin
Movement by: Liz Ranken
Fights Directed by: Malcolm Ranson
Assistant Director: Tom Daley
Music Director: Michael Tubbs
Voice and Dialect Work by: Jeannette Nelson
2004-07-14 21:34:10