The Hollow Crown
Wimbledon News, 5th September 1975
The anti-smoking campaign got an unexpected boost at Wimbledon Theatre this week
when King James I joined the ranks.
The right royal “Counterblast to Tobacco” which was written by James himself, in
true rip-roaring 17th Century style, was delivered with all the gruesome conviction
of the 20th Century by James Grout of the Royal Shakespeare Company, who raised several
laughs and a few tell-tale coughs.
But James was just one of the many monarchs on parade in “The Hollow Crown”. A tight
little jigsaw of royal sketches fitted perfectly together by five members of the
Royal Shakespeare Company.
The only woman in the cast was Sara Kestleman and she was splendid in all parts.
As the girlish Jane Austen she presented a potted history of the English Monarchy
under the teasing title of “A Partial, Prejudiced and Ignorant Historian”.
And as novelist Fanny Burney she artfully describes a brief meeting with George III
which gave her a chance to show off a marvellous talent for mimicry.
The music was provided by Adrian Harman and the old melodies went down very well
with the audience.
Both Paul Hardwick and Michael Pennington gave stirring performances and with careful
timing and good delivery made the most of what might have been hard going.
All the actors were dressed in a soft brown and the backdrop was a deep flame red.
And with all of them seated around a coffee table enjoying the occasional sip of
Meade – it was a very cosy performance.
The Newcastle Evening Chronicle, 26th March 1979, Phil Penfold
I don’t envy the task to any actress who has to play the little girl of eight one
minute and an old maid the next.
A daunting task, by any standards. But I admire – immeasurably – Miss Brenda Bruce,
who carried the thing off beautifully in ‘Pleasure and Repentance’, the second of
the RSC’s selected group of readings on Saturday.
In fact, I admire all the actors who took part in both the anthologies of verse and
prose – as well as their entire orchestra Bill Homewood.
Indeed, Mr Homewood had a few about-turns to achieve himself. Starting off as a wolf
cub, he turned quite nicely into a troubadour, and also managed to squeeze in, at
one point during the day, a guitar version of the national anthem.
What these programmes illustrate so neatly is the beauty of the English language
– whether it be descriptive of the responsibilities of royalty – as in ‘The Hollow
Crown’ – or of the stormy seas of love, as in ‘Pleasure’.
It gives us the full range of writing from the romantic to the acid-edged. And far
from being a po-faced series of reading, there are some quite delightful vignettes:
Jane Austen (as played by Lisa Harrow) bubbles enthusiastically for “that wonderful,
tragic woman” Mary, Queen of Scots, but would have had Elizabeth I beheaded, soon
as look at her.
There is also a rather revolting account, divided between Michael Pennington and
Richard Griffiths, of how Edward II met his extremely unpleasant end at Berkeley
Castle. Mr Pennington and Mr Griffiths sit – a la Norman Evans – like two old gossips
over a garden wall, and go through every gory detail.
The pay-off line is superb. With an inflection that beggars description, Mr Griffiths
observes after a pause: “He was buried at Gloucester” – as if that excused all the
tribulations of that sad monarch.
It is that sort of manoeuvre that makes the RSC selections so appealing. Combine
with that some delicious material (some familiar, some as fresh as paint) and you
have two remarkable experiences.
John Barton devised ‘The Hollow Crown’. Terry Hands was behind ‘Pleasure and Repentance’.
Both directed their own productions and both are lit with distinction by Michael
Taylor, who achieves a wealth of effects without appearing to do very much at all.
That is the hardest task in all these shows – to make the difficult (a handful of
actors, a modicum of set dressing) look deceptively easy. As a corporate effort,
it is achieved without any fuss o bother. But it is later that one realises what
superb shows these are and what influences they have on one.
As entertainment they are unsurpassed.
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