The Ashes of Great Men
Sun, 28 Apr 2002, 09:15 amPamela6 posts in thread
The Ashes of Great Men
Sun, 28 Apr 2002, 09:15 amI ran into Fred Lawson, who plays Harold in this Dan Archibald play, just outside the Blue Room on Friday night. He asked if I'd seen Geoff Gibb's review. Apparently GG quite liked David Meadows, who plays DC Hewitt, and Fred and nothing else.
I hadnÂ’t read GeoffÂ’s reviews and it wouldnÂ’t have swayed me from seeing the play if I had. It stars three actors whose work I admire tremendously (ok, IÂ’ve worked with all three of them so IÂ’m biased) and is directed by Grant Malcolm, with whom IÂ’ve also had the privilege of working (youÂ’ve still got my phone number, havenÂ’t you Grant? Hint, hint.).
Rosemary Longhurst is wonderful as Grace, a woman who after 15 years of marriage, 14 of them caring for her elderly defeated parents, realises sheÂ’s free. Her parentsÂ’ deaths, two days apart, have brought a taste of possibilities to Grace, as well as guilt. For 14 yeas she was trapped in the house, not leaving in case they needed her, and trapped in her room in case they did need her. The light that shone from RosemaryÂ’s lovely face as she described her memories of her one visit to the seaside and her desire to do it again, was a joy to see.
Unfortunately for Grace, she’s still trapped – by Harold, her timid, terrified husband. Fred brought to life a man so horrified of the perceived dangers and evil of the outside world, that he spends his days cataloguing in the basement of a library that is only four blocks walk away, won’t drive his car and had the newspapers cancelled. You get the impression that Grace and Harold don’t have a television either. Harold doesn’t want to break free and he certainly doesn’t want Grace to.
When Grace’s parents (in blue urns on the verandah) are stolen they ring the police. Unfortunately they get DC Hewitt whose arrival is heralded by him running into the back of Harold’s car after he swerves to miss a small white/large black dog that belongs to them/their neighbours/the people down the road. Hewitt’s a nut case – an initially rather sad, ultimately very evil nut case and I rather suspect David Meadows enjoyed bringing out the “inner bastard” to play him. The character could so easily have been a stereotype of every bad cop you’ve seen in The Bill or Hill Street Blues but David played him with such conviction as to turn the later scenes with Hewitt from very funny to very unsettling indeed.
Discussing the play in the bar afterwards, it appeared that most of us recognised Grace and Harold in our parents or grandparents. And while Grace and Harold are not elderly, they already inhabit that twilight world that a lot of older people find themselves in – a world that is regimented and where every day is the same.
Ashes of Great Men has a lot of humour and a lot of heart. WARNING – partial nudity!!
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I hadnÂ’t read GeoffÂ’s reviews and it wouldnÂ’t have swayed me from seeing the play if I had. It stars three actors whose work I admire tremendously (ok, IÂ’ve worked with all three of them so IÂ’m biased) and is directed by Grant Malcolm, with whom IÂ’ve also had the privilege of working (youÂ’ve still got my phone number, havenÂ’t you Grant? Hint, hint.).
Rosemary Longhurst is wonderful as Grace, a woman who after 15 years of marriage, 14 of them caring for her elderly defeated parents, realises sheÂ’s free. Her parentsÂ’ deaths, two days apart, have brought a taste of possibilities to Grace, as well as guilt. For 14 yeas she was trapped in the house, not leaving in case they needed her, and trapped in her room in case they did need her. The light that shone from RosemaryÂ’s lovely face as she described her memories of her one visit to the seaside and her desire to do it again, was a joy to see.
Unfortunately for Grace, she’s still trapped – by Harold, her timid, terrified husband. Fred brought to life a man so horrified of the perceived dangers and evil of the outside world, that he spends his days cataloguing in the basement of a library that is only four blocks walk away, won’t drive his car and had the newspapers cancelled. You get the impression that Grace and Harold don’t have a television either. Harold doesn’t want to break free and he certainly doesn’t want Grace to.
When Grace’s parents (in blue urns on the verandah) are stolen they ring the police. Unfortunately they get DC Hewitt whose arrival is heralded by him running into the back of Harold’s car after he swerves to miss a small white/large black dog that belongs to them/their neighbours/the people down the road. Hewitt’s a nut case – an initially rather sad, ultimately very evil nut case and I rather suspect David Meadows enjoyed bringing out the “inner bastard” to play him. The character could so easily have been a stereotype of every bad cop you’ve seen in The Bill or Hill Street Blues but David played him with such conviction as to turn the later scenes with Hewitt from very funny to very unsettling indeed.
Discussing the play in the bar afterwards, it appeared that most of us recognised Grace and Harold in our parents or grandparents. And while Grace and Harold are not elderly, they already inhabit that twilight world that a lot of older people find themselves in – a world that is regimented and where every day is the same.
Ashes of Great Men has a lot of humour and a lot of heart. WARNING – partial nudity!!
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Re: The Ashes of Great Men
Thu, 2 May 2002, 05:22 pmNice performances from David and Fred, Rosemary was also quite good but I sometimes felt like her portrayal was not delving into the power games being played in the play's words.
Nice realistic set and distancing effect created by the use of paint was brilliant. The lighting was fantastic, too - not complex but very well designed and professional. Only problem was a square of light around the coffee table before the start of the show that was really aggrevating me. But otherwise one of the better lighting designs I've seen at the Blue Room.
Interesting script, it was like an dark English comedy version of Endgame. By focusing on the triviality of the couple's life, when stuff did happen (and happen it did, mmm, yes) it was put into sharp relief, so the whole second half of the play, without trying to give too much away, was like a punch in the face. Very tidy indeed. I like being punched. This show made me giggle quite a lot.
A pretty well thought out and constructed production that offered a bit of food for thought for the audience and a few odd twists and turns. Good good.