Summerfolk (and a bit of art)

 Maxim Gorky’s play, first performed in 1905, puts his own spin on dissolute Russians hanging out in the countryside, oblivious to the plight of the peasant class.  With period dress, but with the language ostentatiously modern (reworked by Nina and Moses Raine), and covering similar ground as Chekhov, (apparently this was written as a response),  for a moment or two I wondered if we had accidentally wandered into The Cherry Orchard or Uncle Vanya instead.  

Varvara (Sophie Rundle) and Sergei (Paul Ready) are hosting a large party at their summer retreat, and they and their guests spend their time bickering, and idly talking about life’s pointlessness and poetry whilst in the background (and sometimes in the foreground too) love affairs are played out.  A famous writer is coming to the house, and the party are putting on their own performance of A Midsummer Nights Dream.   These people are not aristocrats, but born into poverty, self made, and educated, who have made something of their lives, but now they are turning a blind eye to the people they have left behind and spend their time in bored nonsense instead. It’s funny, although for the first half there was a strange tone as if the listlessness of the people on stage was clashing with the humour.  The peasants spend their time circling the outside edges of these groups, largely disregarded by the summerfolk until they want something, and, although they don't often have a voice, when they do get the chance to speak, we can see that, in their turn, the peasants/workers treat the summerfolk with disdain.  

The second half picks things up a bit as the party head to the woods, a sort of Forest of Arden where love affairs came to a head and truths are spoken. The women in this are largely intelligent and sympathetic, the men almost universally are not:.  The misogyny at the end, called out by Varvara brings things nicely to a head  and the women making a stand was satisfying although I don't think they were particularly off to man the barricades for the revolution.  I liked the quiet revolt of the peasants which brings things to a close.

The set is very clever, giving great sight lines even in the cheap seats, and there was an actual gasp from someone in the audience when it became clear the cast could actually paddle in the water.  The play itself is funny and looks good with great performances from this ensemble cast - the leads are great, and I really enjoyed Doon Mackichan's dry delivery as Kaleria, a self regarding poet, which made me laugh quite a lot.  And the age gap romance between Maria (Justine Mitchell)  and Vlass (Alex Lowther) was nicely done too.  

Apparently an hour has been shaved of the original version of this play but it still feels a bit too long, although that's probably because there’s only so long you can watch people taking about how meaningless their lives are before you start to question your own life choices.  Despite, that, even at 2 hours 45 minutes, this is still worth a watch.

Catherine Opie - To Be Seen

Earlier in the day I went to see this exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery.  Opie has worked as a documentary photographer as well as a portraitist, and with a consistent thread of understanding identities from a different perspective. I really enjoyed this.  

Here are a couple of the documentary images, showing the relationship between protest and identity 

A couple of the documentary projects brought us some interesting portraits, for example these young footballers acting out their versions of masculinity but you can sense their uncertainty beneath.  

There were also some lush portraits that sit well with other more traditional portraiture.   I particularly loved the portraits of children capturing their personalities so beautifully

And there were a few lovely portraits documenting the growth of her son.  I liked Opie herself and her son Oliver as a different type of Madonna and child  

but then this is of a much older Oliver with Mr Nibbles.  

And in more traditional portraiture, this one of Diana Nyad while she was training but before she made her epic swim

The gallery had also done an interesting thing of dropping Opie's work in amongst the other collections, inviting comparisons between all sort of other works.  There was this one of Gillian Wearing (the artist who plays with identity in her own work), sitting amongst 19th and 20th century portraits which establish status and identity of the various sitters. 

And I liked this really traditional portrait of Elton John and his family in the contemporary portraits gallery

Finally, this one about British identity, taken at the time of Brexit, this out of focus shot of the white cliffs of Dover 

The exhibition runs until the end of May, and you can find out more here