The Week - UK (2022-02-19)

26 ARTS

THEWEEK19 February 2022

Drama &Podcasts

Theatre: The Chairs

AlmeidaTheatre,LondonN1(020-73594404).Until5March Runningtime:1hr45mins(approx.) ★★★★

It’s25 yearssinceLondon

wastreatedtoThéâtrede

Complicité’s“superlative

account”ofTheChairs,the

1952 “absurdistmasterpiece”

byEugèneIonesco,said

Dominic Cavendishin The

Daily Telegraph.That version

starred GeraldineMcEwan

andRichardBriersas the

nonagenariancouple,marooned

on awater-loggedisland, and

fetchingmore andmorechairs

forastreamofinvisible guests.

InthissuperbnewAlmeida

production, which equalsand

perhapsevenoutshinesthe

1997 show,theleadsare two

Complicitéveterans:KathrynHunterandMarcello Magni.“For

casuallybrilliant buffooneryandsweetgrotesquery,Hunterand

Magni,dressed totheninesinabuttoned-up archaicfashion,

makeanunbeatable double-act.” Andtheyarewellservedby

another Complicitéalumnus, Toby Sedgwick,astheintrusive

stage-hand whomakes“multiplefunny-businessinterruptions”.

Thisisthetheatreof the absurd atits“most absurdist”,said

SarahCromptonon What’son Stage.Director(andtranslator)

OmarElerianhasadded new layers ofstagebusinessandchaos.

Atthestart, wehearMagni(Hunter’s real-life husband)over the

tannoyhavingapre-showattackof nerves and refusingtogoon.

The interventionsfromSedgwick’shangdogstagemanageradd an

“edge ofvaudevillianslapstick

to theBeckett-likebleaknessof

the couple’s existence”. And

together,thecentralpair

“weavepure magic”.Theyare

“spine-shiveringlygood”,agreed

ArifaAkbarin TheGuardian–

producinga“gloriouslyfizzy

cocktailofslapstick,physical

theatreandsilliness”.Thisis

not“arch,head-scratching

absurdism, butscintillatingly

sadcomedy”.

Momenttomoment, the play

is“exquisitelydone”,said

Dominic Maxwellin The Times.

But ultimately,itseemsrather

empty:ajourney down adated“metatheatrical cul-de-sac” that

soonwearsthin“over twohours,no interval”.Cananightat

the theatre beboth“tremendous and torturous”?Boldand

distinctive, yetalsodeadening? “It absolutelycan.”

The week’sotheropening

The Da VinciCodeCoventryBelgradeTheatre until 26 February,

thentouringuntil 12 November

Directedby LukeSheppardand starringNigelHarman,this show

representsa“decentcrack”at stagingDanBrown’scompulsive

conspiracythriller.Its chiefstrengthslie in its impressivevisual

effects,stagecraftand strikingdesign(Guardian).

©HELEN

MURRAY;

LIZZY

JOHNSTON;

EVA

K. SALVI

Starsreflectthe overallqualityof reviewsand our own independentassessment(5 stars=don’tmiss;1star=don’tbother)

The new US podcastThis Is Dating

bills itselfas aseriesofrecordings

of first dates,but it’s “waymore

interestingthan that”,said Fiona

Sturgesin the FT. It’s madeby the

teambehindthe hit podcastWhere

ShouldWeBegin?withEstherPerel,

whichlistensin on couples’therapy

sessions.And althoughThisIs

Dating“isn’tnearlyas brutal”as

that–ithasamore“funandhopeful

vibe”–itoffers the samecompelling

mix of eavesdroppingand analytical

insight.Thereis a“fascinating”gulf

betweenwhatthe listenerhearsand

the participants’own interpretations

of how the dateswent;and Logan

Ury, abehaviouralscientistand

datingcoach,is on handto discuss

whatmightbe hamperingtheir

questsfor love.But it is all very

gentlydone:no one is “hungout to dry”–and “we all emerge

alittlewiser aboutthe nuancesof humanrelationships”.

InDoingIt Right,apodcastspin-offfromher bestsellingessay

collectionHowDoWeKnowWe’reDoingIt Right?,the

journalistand broadcasterPandoraSykesinterviewsarangeof

thinkersaboutthe “myths,anxietiesand trendsof modernlife”,

said OteghaUwagbain The Guardian.The mostrecentseason

is “especiallyrich”,coveringtopicsincludingpornography,

hook-upcultureand the futureof work.Am INormal? with

MonaChalabibrilliantlyuses statistics,chartsand graphs

to explorecommonquestionsabout

how we live our lives:how long it

takesto get over abreak-up;how

manyfriendsone oughtto have,

and so on. The idea is to extract

“meaningfullife advicefromhard

data”–atrickyfeat that Chalabi

accomplisheswith experthelp

fromdoctors,psychologistsand

scientists;thereare also “charming

interludes”fromher own mother,

aretiredmedic.

WhenIheard aboutthe new

AudiblepodcastStephenFry’s

InsideYourMind,it“was hard

to avoidthe thoughtthat Idonot

wantStephenFry insidemy mind”,

said JamesMarriottin The Times.

The ubiquitouspolymathis already

“on my TV, on the blurbsof most

of the booksIown, and on abouthalf the podcastsIreview.My

mindwas one of the last havensunoccupiedby Fry.”Whatnext,

Iwonder? “StephenFry’sSuddenlyTurnedUp in YourKitchen?

StephenFry’sNowSleepingat the Footof YourBed?”Still, the

podcastis impressive:it’s an illuminating12-partexploration

of the humanbrain.The only troubleis that it is bedevilledby

constant,unnecessary,over-elaborateand distractingsound

effects.By the time Fry got to the evolutionof the brainsof

cavemen–accompaniedby cracklingflamesand “improbably

sonoroussubterraneanechoes”–IfeltasthoughIwere in a

gameof “sound-effectbingo”.

Podcasts... insights into dating,and more Stephen Fry

MagniandHunter:“spine-shiveringlygood”

Guidesto modernlife:MonaChalabiandPandoraSykes