W.O.W. No I mean, really… WOW! Tonight was quite me receiving a bundle of emotions right in the face, my friends...
Right now in Belgium, France, England and many other countries, it currently is a difficult time for the artistic world and culture in general...
In London, the West End has now been closed for several months and is going through the most difficult period of its entire history. Some theaters get little help from government, but not all of them. In order to survive, these have to find solutions. Using modern communication is one of those.
For example, The Old Vic, based at a 15-minute walk from the National Theater, has worked on a new creation called On Camera. The name says it all: people buy their ticket online and receive a link allowing them to watch the performance via Zoom. Of course, the atmosphere, smell and friendly staff of the old bicentennial venue is missing, but it’s just another and different way for me to come back to a place I miss. And another chance to see an actor for whom I have a very special affection perform again.
Originally scheduled in August, Three Kings, written especially for Andrew Scott, has been postponed following the comedian’s hospitalization. Patience is a virtue that brings many rewards. This was definitely what happened here.
Of course, I have to be honest with you from the very start. Those who know me well know that I am showing very little impartiality when it comes to Andrew Scott. I discovered him, like many of you, in the Sherlock series but it was after an surprising encounter that I found out about his theatrical world. The enormous tenderness I still feel today for The Dazzle (2015), played in the late Found111, gave birth to a form of contract with Scott: you go on stage, I leave Belgium for a London stay… Hamlet (2017) Sea Wall (2018), Present Laughter (2019) are pretty good demonstrations, with their very different universes, of the Irishman’s theatrical “spectre-um” (yes, it's a very deliberate pun…)
Three Kings is a one-man play about father-son relationships, in all their complexity. The play is divided into multiple acts, presenting several moments in the life of Patrick, the main character of the story : childhood, where he meets his father for the first time, presenting him with a challenge to accomplish with three coins, three… Kings; adulthood, where he learns of his father's death from one of his acquaintances and, in the last chapter, a meeting with his half-brother… Each part of the story brings its surprises, disillusions and consequences on the life and personality of our central character.
The play shows Life’s harshest sides: a child meeting a father for the first time for an - he thinks - affectionate conversation but who, in the end, cares little for this son who he sees as a thorn in his side he wants to get rid of quickly in order to run away. As far as he can. When his son phones him to say that he has find out about the Three Kings riddle, yet another disappointment awaits him. Resulting ultimately in a few slaps in the face for young Patrick. Again.
Despite a theme not easy to laugh at, Stephen Beresford provides a few lines of humor and sarcasm between the lines of his text, allowing the audience to appreciate even more this moment spent with Scott.
For an hour, the Irishman goes through different emotions depending on the events. In the first part, his gaze and postures give birth to the child he has to be at that moment. Subsequently, he will successively offer us a surprised, disappointed, angry version of Patrick… We will also see him bring other characters into reality, in order to create the interactions Patrick has with them. He will be his father’s only "friend", he will be Trisha, a bar owner who has known her father well; he will be his half-brother whom, again a slap, he shares a same first name, as if his father had wanted to forget he even existed... In the end, our hero will end on a thin-skinned line. Like me. Who have immersed myself in this play fully and completely.
As mentioned above, the theaters’ closure has forced them to be inventive. Matthew Warchus, artistic director of The Old Vic since 2015 and director of Three Kings, therefore had to forget about any classic staging and find a way to reach audiences differently. Andrew Scott is on the Old Vic stage but - probably for the only time in our lives - we are with him on stage and sometimes see, in the background, the venue’s seats… all empty. As if he wanted to remind us for a brief moment the cultural disaster the UK has now been experiencing for several months. Three camera angles for three different time periods. For three kings.
Matthew Warchus welcoming us in the Old Vic
Three Kings... Andrew Scott, with his masterful performance; Stephen Beresford, for the accuracy and perfect balance of his writing and Matthew Warchus for this successful challenge of directing with cameras and Zoom connexions have shown they truly are kings of their own. After working together on Pride - the definitely worth seeing 2014 film - it was nice to have these three working on a new project. I have faith they will work together again in the future. And looking forward to this next project.
Two days ago, Andrew Scott was interviewed by Dermot O’Leary on the Old Vic stage about his life as an actor, theatre, Three Kings and this special period of time we are going through. He mentioned that "theatre is where the thrill is", that "we rely on art to keep us alive and thrive" and that he found it extraordinary that, despite the pandemic, "there's community even though we're all apart." He could not have been more right as people from 72 different countries connected their laptop, TV, smartphones… to attend to these five performances.
For actors, theatre is another
version of family. People sitting in all these theatre seats also feel like
they belong to a family. As Patrick experienced, family chemistry sometimes
works in mysterious ways… But tonight, I thought the Scott-Beresford-Warchus
family chemistry was indeed very much present on stage in all its glory. "One can be touched and moved. One can be
touched but not moved. One can’t be touched and moved. " I was
touched. And I was moved. So… Thank you gentlemen!
The Old Vic does not receive funding from the British government. Ticket
sales are therefore their main income to offer new plays to audiences but also
to pay their staff, support their projects with youth and their community and,
basically, keep the building open. If you want to make a donation, all you need
to do is click HERE.
Of course, the situation is just as problematic for many theaters,
cultural centers, non-profit organizations... in other countries. So do not
hesitate to help them if you can, if you wish to help. Every Euro, every Pound,
every little coin can make a difference.
All pictures : ©
The Old Vic, 2020
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