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The Dazzle
Jan. 24th, 2016 03:17 pmWell, the trains ran on time, hooray! I got to have lunch with friends, because it was SHAM 2016 (Sherlock Holmes Annual Meetup) - they had various other activities to go to, I moved on after lunch, but it was good to see them all.
This was a play which I had ummed and erred about seeing for various reasons, but finally decided to go. I'm very glad I went, but I'm not sure I would necessarily recommend it to everybody, it's quite a strange play.
The play venue is called Found 111, and is on the top floor of what was the St Martin's School of Art, in Charing Cross Road (next to Foyles Bookshop). To get to the top floor means walking up 71 steps of a spiral iron staircase. The room is small, having an audience of only 132 people, sitting on a selection of wooden and metal chairs, which look as if they've been collected from various parts of the building. The chairs are set up on three sides of the central area, which is full of furniture and where the play is acted out.
As can be imagined, this sets up a claustrophobic atmosphere which suits the play perfectly. There are only three actors, Andrew Scott as Langley Collyer, David Dawson as his brother Homer, and Joanna Vanderham as Milly.
Of the three I thought Andrew Scott the best. I know many people were extremely taken with David Dawson, and he was good, but the way Andrew Scott played Langley was impressive. Langley's behaviour is autistic and Scott caught the obsessive nature without overdramatising it. Both the lack of understanding of the effects of his actions and the inability to grasp why certain things needed to be done, were captured. I felt there were more questions with Homer, with the doubts as to whether he too was on the spectrum, although he showed clearly the frustrations of caring for someone like Langley, especially when there is no-one else to share those frustrations.
I'm glad I went - seeing an actor of Andrew Scott's calibre is always worth it.
This was a play which I had ummed and erred about seeing for various reasons, but finally decided to go. I'm very glad I went, but I'm not sure I would necessarily recommend it to everybody, it's quite a strange play.
The play venue is called Found 111, and is on the top floor of what was the St Martin's School of Art, in Charing Cross Road (next to Foyles Bookshop). To get to the top floor means walking up 71 steps of a spiral iron staircase. The room is small, having an audience of only 132 people, sitting on a selection of wooden and metal chairs, which look as if they've been collected from various parts of the building. The chairs are set up on three sides of the central area, which is full of furniture and where the play is acted out.
As can be imagined, this sets up a claustrophobic atmosphere which suits the play perfectly. There are only three actors, Andrew Scott as Langley Collyer, David Dawson as his brother Homer, and Joanna Vanderham as Milly.
Of the three I thought Andrew Scott the best. I know many people were extremely taken with David Dawson, and he was good, but the way Andrew Scott played Langley was impressive. Langley's behaviour is autistic and Scott caught the obsessive nature without overdramatising it. Both the lack of understanding of the effects of his actions and the inability to grasp why certain things needed to be done, were captured. I felt there were more questions with Homer, with the doubts as to whether he too was on the spectrum, although he showed clearly the frustrations of caring for someone like Langley, especially when there is no-one else to share those frustrations.
I'm glad I went - seeing an actor of Andrew Scott's calibre is always worth it.
