Nicholas Wright’s illuminating play about Vincent Van Gogh’s early years in London was riveting when it first appeared in 2002 and it’s wonderful to see it revived at the Orange Tree in another stellar production.
OUR VERDICT
Johan Persson
As the theatre begins its exterior transformation the intimate auditorium remains as atmospheric as ever, the perfect fit for a drama that unfolds wholly within the confines of Ursula Loyer’s kitchen in south London.
Charlotte Henery’s inviting design conjures this milieu beautifully, the pots and pans, central sink and dresser forming a cosy domestic world beautifully framing the unfolding action.
Aged twenty and long before embarking on his painting career, young Van Gogh rented a room while working as an art dealer in Covent Garden, staying at this address until September 1874.
Whilst Vincent wrote back enthusiastically about Hackford Road to his brother Theo, little is known of his personal life there and so Wright ingeniously fills in the gaps, imagining a meeting of like minds and melancholy temperaments but chronicling a relationship that transgresses conventional expectation.
Johan Persson
Making his professional stage debut Jeroen Frank Kales is simply superb as the straight-talking, passionate Vincent who alienates some and intrigues others with his unvarnished directness.
Niamh Cusack is similarly first-rate as his landlady and indeed the whole cast in Georgia Green’s transcendent production impress, from Loyer’s daughter Eugenie (Ayesha Ostler), Vincent’s intimidatingly efficient sister Anna van Gogh (Amber Van Der Brugge) and Loyer’s other lodger, Sam Plowman (Rawaed Asde) who is terrific in a supporting role, entirely credible as a genial man baffled by Vincent’s character.
What intrigues most of course are the early intimations of Vincent’s later genius, from his passionate convictions to Ursula’s strict injunction to him to paint more authentically, utilising the strong emotions he’s feeling rather than glossing over them, a telling moment for all those familiar with the intensity evoked within his later art.
Johan Persson
“What I wanted was someday, somehow to be the cause of something remarkable,” Ursula says wistfully, unaware that in fact she will achieve her ambition on a heroic scale.
It's a play that conveys so much within its domestic scope, and offers so much rich food for thought, from the way mental health was perceived in the late nineteenth century to its quirky evocation of an artist’s early inspiration.
When Vincent sits at the kitchen table scrutinizing a pair of boots- later reflected in his work, to the reflective final moments when the snuffing of a candle signals the end, nothing is wasted here, everything is perfectly pitched and beautifully performed.
What more could one possibly ask from the theatre?
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
