Show: Prism
Society: Richmond Theatre (professional)
Venue: Richmond Theatre, The Green, Richmond, Surrey
Credits: By Terry Johnson. Co-produced by Hampstead Theatre and Birmingham Repertory Theatre
Type: Sardines
Author: Chris Abbott
Performance Date: 14/10/2019
Prism
Chris Abbott | 15 Oct 2019 09:19am
Robert Lindsay as Jack Cardiff in Prism. Photo: Manuel Harlan
It can sometimes be a mistake for a writer to direct his own work, but Terry Johnson makes a spirited defence of the practice in the programme notes for Prism, his play about cinematographer Jack Cardiff, and his production makes the case just as convincingly. We see Cardiff in his later years at first, befuddled by age and fearing the loss of his sight, and beginning to live as much in the past as the present.
That past is brought alive in the play not just through astonishing work with video and set design from Ian William Galloway and Tim Shortall but through inventive re-use of dialogue in past and present. The cast, too, portray both time periods and do so most effectively. In the lead role, Robert Lindsay is a convincing Cardiff at the height of his powers and in his declining years. His final transition from the young Cardiff to the older one is almost instant and achieved with nothing more than a wrongly buttoned cardigan and a great deal of acting skill.
As Cardiff’s wife, Nicola, Tara Fitzgerald seems at first hesitant and in the shadow of those around her, but comes into her own playing the figures from the past for which her husband has mistaken her. Playing Cardiff’s son, Mason, Oliver Hembrough presents the exasperation of the man who is desperate for his father to write down the wisdom of a lifetime and also appears convincingly as key figures from the past.
Alongside Robert Lindsay’s virtuoso turn as Cardiff is a stellar performance – or set of performances – from Victoria Blunt, particularly affecting as a well-meaning but needy potential carer. Hers are performances marked by great attention to detail and worthy of an individual curtain call, as are all four players.
It is good to see such an ambitious, technically complex and serious play embarking on a tour, although the complexities did mean a late start on press night, the second time at this venue recently for a touring production opening on a Monday. Although this delay and some early missed lighting cues might be understandable in this case due to the technical demands of the production, this did lead to serious problems for some of the older and more disabled patrons left standing distressed outside in the very cramped front of house of Richmond Theatre; perhaps a Tuesday opening would have been more realistic.
Despite this unfortunate beginning, cast and production rose above it to provide a fascinating glimpse into the mind of an important man and a spirited discussion of light and the importance of looking, in a play beautifully written and directed by Terry Johnson.
- : admin
- : 14/10/2019