“Music does not excite until it is performed,” declared Benjamin Britten and it’s perhaps this need to see his music publicly played that lay behind his acceptance of a commission to compose a new opera marking Elizabeth II’s Coronation.
OUR VERDICT
Ellie Kurttz
As Mark Ravenhill’s absorbing play- an RSC production- opens, it’s 1952 and Britten (Samuel Barnett), riding high after his early success with Peter Grimes, is embroiled in the early, rather painful stages of composition, torn between patriotism and his desire to recoil from the larger stage.
Into his comfortable home in Aldeburgh, Suffolk, walks Imogen Holst (Victoria Yeates), herself a gifted composer and dedicated guardian of her father Gustav’s legacy. She’s been invited to help Britten with Gloriana, and, for the next few months, whilst storms engulf Aldeburgh, it’s also musically tumultuous as the pair embark on a project that will prove exhilarating and deeply challenging, one shaping their friendship for years ahead.
They are two very different people united by their passionate devotion to music. Soutra Gilmour’s simple, effective set has echoes of the coastal setting reflected in the pebbles found under the front row of seats, and a piano occupies centre-stage, signifying its pivotal importance.
Ellie Kurttz
Britten found the art of composition taxing and indeed would acknowledge, “Composing is like driving down a foggy road toward a house. Slowly, you see more details - the colour of the slats and bricks, the shape of the windows. The notes are the bricks and the mortar of the house.”
He was fortunate in having the assistance of someone as efficient and musically adept as Imogen Holst with whom to construct the all-important foundations, but, as Ravenhill makes amply clear, Britten could be a contrary individual, alternately endearing, petulant and sometimes downright cruel when in the grip of his muse.
As Britten Samuel Barnett is really superb, caustic about contemporaries like Ninette de Valois and Vaughan-Williams and dismissive of Holst herself when she attempts to curb his histrionics and focus on the project at hand.
Both leads are absolutely terrific.
Ellie Kurttz
Vivaciously dancing an Elizabethan galliard or bolstering Britten’s flagging motivation, Yeates captures Holst’s unusual mixture of professional self-deprecation and personal confidence with palpable verve, and Barnett ( so memorable in The History Boys), persuasively conveys every nuance of Britten’s character, giving his portrayal a vitality and veracity that’s truly outstanding.
Erica Whyman’s direction brings out the best in both actors and it’s fascinating to see such a deft two-hander, Ravenhill’s script successfully combining many interwoven strands, from Britten & Holst’s tempestuous friendship, the embryonic days of the Arts Council and the importance of arts within the wider community, it’s an exciting and potent blend that produces a play to savour.
Orange Tree Theatre
1 Clarence Street, Richmond, TW9 2SA
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Monday 12pm - 6pm Tuesday 12pm - 6pm Wednesday 12pm - 6pm Thursday 12pm - 6pm Friday 12pm - 6pm Saturday 12pm - 6pm Sunday Closed
