Details
Venue: Rose Theatre, Kingston
Dates: Tue 6 Nov - Sat 17 Nov
Tickets: From £17 www.rosetheatrekingston.org/whats-on/don-carlos
“Full of sound and fury signifying nothing”, yes, I realise that’s a quote from Macbeth, but I’m afraid it sums up my experience of Don Carlos – which runs at the Rose Theatre, Kingston until November 17.
Our Verdict
Written around 1785, the play by German Freidrich Schiller is a five-act historical tragedy (the tale more popularly performed as an opera by Verdi) recounting the life of the titular Don Carlos, Infante to the despotic King Philip II of Spain; lover to his father’s new wife, Elizabeth and best friend to the would-be revolutionary Rodrigo, Marquis de Paso. The action follows Carlos and his friend as they try to overthrow the King in order to achieve a free Europe and the restoration of the relationship between the prince and the queen, who seemingly the king had stolen for himself, thus setting his only son on a course of revenge.
Except, it doesn’t. What we are witness to is over three-and-a-quarter hours of inaction, where characters bark out line after line for what feels like an eternity. By the end of the evening, the actors are wrung out and the audience near stupefied. We are no nearer resolution at the climax that we are at the beginning, although two characters have met their end.
The play twists and turns through the machinations of court life as dukes and bishops try to win the king’s favour by bringing him news of his adulterous wife. Letters and chamber door keys are repeatedly brandished and bandied about that by the second act you have no idea who was writing to whom, let alone why. On the other side, Rodrigo double crosses and double bluffs until there is nothing else for him to do but fall on his sword. Added to this is a subplot featuring a scorned princess, eager to betray her mistress whom she sees as a romantic adversary.
All of this is carried out in a stripped-back design where chairs and industrial spotlights are marched on and off to form a brutalist set, reflecting perhaps the loveless state and coming inquisition. The actors all dressed in black apart from the virtuous queen who gets to wear navy blue, stomp around relentlessly shouting their reams of text. Speeches are interminably long, leaving you aghast at the actors’ memory skills if nothing else.
Tom Burke, however, does stand apart and in his role as Rodrigo we see a more nuanced delivery – his duologue with the king (played by a masterful Darrell D'Silva) is the highlight of the play. However, even Burke loses his way as he returns for the final scenes as the Inquisitor complete with comical Peter Sellers-style raincoat and sunglasses and an accent that mixes Sir Winston Churchill with Leonard Rossiter’s inept Rising Damp creation, Rigsby.
Sadly the production - from new company Ara (set up by Burke and the play’s director Gadi Roll) and Exeter Northcott – misses the mark. Despite its epic themes, the characterisation - Don Carlos himself, for example, a whiney dullard of a man, never gives us any reason why the other protagonists should give him a second thought let alone their lives – is particularly weak and the staging reminiscent of sixth form drama societies. But the main issue is that it is woefully long and no matter how beautiful the verse a trim would have done this play no harm whatsoever. Sadly it’s a view I suspect the numerous audience members who failed to return after the interval may have shared.
