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Leamington Letters #5: The power of performance

24/11/2011

6 Comments

 

I was 15 when I first saw John Neville, who died on Monday, aged 86. The obituaries rightly mention his magnificent Richard II, which I saw on that occasion; but they don’t mention that the following night at the Nottingham Playhouse, he gave an equally compelling – but wholly different – performance as Willie Loman in Death of a Salesman.

These were life-enhancing, indeed life-changing, experiences for me. For the first time, I appreciated the power of performance: the power to educate, elucidate and transform. It was a lesson which has stayed with me, as have those two seminal performances, throughout my life.

I have read most of the Greek tragedies and comedies in translation, but only when I saw Thesmophoriazusae by Aristophanes at Epidaurus did I get it. I have no understanding at all of ancient Greek, but it didn’t matter: the power of performance in that beautiful theatre was more than sufficient to communicate the absurdities and subtleties of the Old Comedy.

I have thousands of hours of Grateful Dead shows, but none of them can compare with the experience of that first live concert in April 1972 at Wembley.

I have almost everything Dylan has ever recorded, but would exchange them all for the opportunity once again to stand a yard away from him at Hammersmith Apollo as I did on Sunday.

These days, I can and do watch almost every Sox game on mlb.tv. But to be present at Fenway for a single game is to experience something profoundly and fundamentally different: something visceral.

I can remember vividly the churning of my stomach, the heart palpitations, the nervous apprehension as Jon Lester came out in the 9th to complete his no-hitter against the Royals back in 2008.

In such circumstances, one is not merely a witness to the action, a detached and disinterested observer of the play, the band, the game, the spectacle. 

One is an active participant. The involvement is not intellectual, but physical.

Today is Thanksgiving. I am listening to one of the great Thanksgiving shows – The Band’s Last Waltz. I have – thanks to a wonderfully generous American friend – part of Scorcese’s 200 page lighting cues script for that concert, and I am listening to the complete four hour plus show on number 211 of a limited edition of 3000 from Cool Daddy Productions.

But what would it have been like to be there? To be one of the 5,000 who ate Thanksgiving dinner, and then took their seats, not knowing who The Band’s guests were? And then to be present at one of the great shows of all time, with legend after legend taking the stage?

I don’t usually quote Van Morrison, but: 

“It was pure situation. That show couldn’t be done – it was something that happened.”

Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends in and from North America - especially Michelle with whom we shall be eating and celebrating this evening. I suspect it will be quite a performance ...

6 Comments
Charlotte
24/11/2011 10:12:26

When aged 12 , I was taken to see a Trevor Nunn production of TheTaming of the Shrew. I loved it, and was delighted to find that Shakespeare was for me and his work was so alive.

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Ann Wood
24/11/2011 11:24:04

I experienced Gielgud in The Tempest at the Old Vic about 1974/5ish. Jenny Agutter was Miranda. He came from the rear thru a totally black set wearing a black cape and he just took command - It was like Darth Vader several years early!! I think I stopped breathing for the rest of the play.... I've seen it many times since and nobody has come close. Then I saw Spacey as Richard III earlier this year and it happened again. I came out with very wobbly legs .... a bit like after seeing Pink Floyd do DSotM at Earls Court in 1973..... Happy days xx

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Ann
24/11/2011 11:34:01

I should add that Sam Mendes directed Richard 3 and he with KS are a match made in heaven. I suspect Hall may have directed Gielgud/Tempest. Finally, the OV took Richard 3 to Epidaurus last summer - was awesome allegedly and all cast incl Spacey were bowled over....

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myers
24/11/2011 18:48:01

You have not lived unless you have seen Kenneth Branaugh @ RSC in Henry V - powerful and mesmerising aided only by sitting next to the woman I love. I did call for KB to be knighted not knowing he had turned down a CBE and gone off on holiday; still as he would say " once more unto the beach my friends, once more"

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kevin phelps link
4/12/2011 04:01:10

On the Shakespeare theme, Branaugh, Thompson, Briers, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Tokyo, 1990.

Very intimate 'in the round' performance, enthralled and 'in the action', until belief was completely unsuspended.

As one, the Japanese in the audience (90%) fell asleep, and dropped their translation machines onto the wooden floor, simultaneously waking themselves up again. Imagine the crash on to the floor and then the commotion of100 or so Japanese waking up and wondering where the hell they were, in a magical forrest, surrounded by fairies, and some chap prancing around with an Asses head!

Come to think of it, shouldn't have been that strange, similar environment to many of the bars I visited in Tokyo at that time.

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Alan frith
22/12/2014 17:44:49

Remarkable that you mention john Neville's performance as willy loman at Nottm Playhouse back in the sixties. I too was there for that electrifying performance by john neville with john shrapnel as Lomans son. Don't think I've ever seen better,

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     Max Smith

    European writer, radical, restaurateur and Red Sox fan. 70-something husband, father, step-father. and grandfather. Resident in Warwick, England.

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