Where's Peen been?
National Theatre, London
Was Peen keen?
****
A cure for tuberculosis has been found, right on time. Louis Dubedat (Tom Burke) is dying of the disease – unfortunately, though, not everybody deems him worthy of curing. Funny that, isn’t it?
Sir Colenso Ridgeon (Aden Gillett), the
recent genius, is being congratulated in his consultation rooms (beautifully
designed by Peter McKintosh) by friends and fellow doctors; all of who love
their job. The doctors engage in friendly debate over their careers and
experiences, including which has killed the most patients in their time: sure
to keep the audience chortling. All the while, we see Colenzo fall in love with
Jennifer Dubedat, wife to Louis Dubedat who only loves himself.
Throughout, the production is crammed with
cracking one-liners and predictable but very likeable gags. The entire audience
has an array of characters to connect to, presented by a cast of flawless
performers both young and old, Burke in particular is a cheeky delight to watch
on stage: a classic case of stealing the show. The performance is funny when it
needs to be funny; biting when it needs to be biting and moves you when you
expect to be moved. Director, Nadia Fall, has created a completely true
realisation of a play that can have you laughing through tears – kudos.
Where the production has flaws is in its
length; presenting what is originally a five-act play in two acts was a brave
decision and it does grow somewhat tiresome. Luckily, the talent shines through
and I for one remained totally admiral of the quality performances I witnessed.
The slick changes between scenes are stunning and smooth, too. Whilst the play
has aged, so has some of the content and comedy, but this also makes it a kind
of celebration. A celebration of British health care and its progression over
time being a country where we don’t have to pay – or in the case of dying
Dubedat, plea – for treatment. It provokes thoughts surrounding love,
commitment and the NHS with a gigantic, beautiful story to tell: the kind of
production where sympathy lies completely in the hands of each spectator to
distribute as they wish.
It is a clever programming decision by the
National Theatre, if a little dated, and has the potential to exude British
pride to any Olympic tourists trying out an evening of London culture at the
Lyttleton. And as observed by the doctors, “we don’t find out nothing without
experiment”. It provides an opportunity for one of Bernard Shaw’s classics to
be enjoyed again, sure to leave whole audiences in complete awe every time.
The Doctor's Dilemma runs at the Lyttleton, National Theatre until September 12th 2012.
The Doctor's Dilemma runs at the Lyttleton, National Theatre until September 12th 2012.
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