Look, look! It's another theatre review! Once I've done this one, I'll be up-to-date. Well, except for the eight plays I saw before the whole blog review resolution thing, and the one I saw on Sunday. But other than that - UP. TO. DATE.
So, anyway. Spring Storm. It's an early play by Tennessee Williams and it's about a lot of things, but basically boils down to a girl deciding between a respectable, rich suitor and a wilder, brutish boy who has (unknown to everyone else) already been her lover for a year and more. It's a production brought to the National from the Royal & Derngate in Northampton and is apparently a European premiere of the play.
There is a great deal to enjoy, particularly in the performances of Liz White as Heavenly Critchfield (never short of excellent names, old Tennessee) once she'd recovered from her accent wobbles in the opening scene and Jacqueline King as her mother (also Donna's mother in Doctor Who, fact fans). It's also fascinating to see proto-versions of later Williams characters - the dialogue and characterisation is good here, but I imagine it would have even greater resonance if the play was in rep with Streetcar.
All that being said, I enjoyed the play less than most reviewers seem to have - the Northampton production picked up four stars from most critics. For me... Not so much. The first half meandered and pootled along. It wasn't until the second half, when the plot starts to move with some urgency, that I felt any real engagement. When it's good, though, it's very, very good and the second half contains a couple of scenes with recognisable Williams themes (suppressed female sexuality, the clash between past and present, courtliness and brutality) that pack a real punch.
All in all, if you're offered a ticket, I'd take it. But I wouldn't necessarily kick down doors to get one.
Verdict: Je dis, "Comme ci, comme ca."
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