Review: GRACE PERVADES, Theatre Royal Bath
Photo credit: Marc Brenner
When you go to see a world premiere at Theatre Royal Bath about the lives of Ellen Terry and Henry Irving, probably the two greatest British actors of the 19th century, written by the amazing David Hare and starring the wonderful Ralph Fiennes, you are entitled to expect something special.
Anyone who saw Hare’s brilliant trilogy about British Institutions (Racing Demon about the Church, Murmuring Judges about the judiciary and Absence of War about Parliament) in the Nineties, or the utterly wonderfully Pravda about Journalism in 1985 as we did, will know he is a very clever playwright with something to say about our modern society. As he approaches 80 years old, this latest play is more reflective using the story of these two theatrical greats to examine the nature of theatre and theatrical styles. The title comes from a review of Ellen Terry that “Grace pervades the hussy” and perhaps warns us that this is more about her than Irving and her lifestyle that must have shocked society.
Miranda Raison as Terry conveys that grace and charm throughout, standing up to the domineering Irving, and giving him notes about his playing style in a way that we are sure few others would have dared. From the first moment we meet Irving, when he awkwardly strides into the room of Kate Terry (Kathryn Wilder) and Ellen to ask her to join his company at the Lyceum in 1878, Fiennes creates this curious strong autocratic impresario who appears to genuinely care about his company yet does not even look at his fellow actors when speaking his lines. They create a sense of partnership that would last until his death in 1905, doing 27 plays in those years, but Hare avoids speculating whether they were lovers in that time. Their scenes together are wonderful, respectful and affectionate, jousting over lines and roles but never passionate or physically close. It seems an unlikely conclusion that they were all about the play. We never hear Fiennes give Irving’s ‘The Bells’ speech or really see his acclaimed distinctive style, although Fiennes hints at it in his mannerisms and physicality. There are some interesting observations about how women were seen in theatre and society at the time and how Irving “left them to do as they please on stage” offering no notes or direction and more could have been explored in how the central relationship evolved in this context.
Hare instead focuses too much on Terry’s two children by Edward Godwin, Edith (played as prim and proper by Ruby Ashbourne Serkis) and Edward (played as avant garde by Jordan Metcalfe), and gives them control of the narrative in quite long monologues downstage addressing the audience. We meet Edith in a throuple with Terry’s biographer Chris Marshall (Helena Lymbery) and painter Claire Atwood (Kathyrn Wilder). We see Edward in a relationship with the tragic dancer Isadora Duncan (Saskia Strallen) and in rehearsal in Moscow. The effect is to slow the pace and reduce the drama and focus us away from Irving. While both may have left their own theatrical legacy, their scenes seem detached and full of different ideas from the author. Edward believes “my mother redrafted the art of acting, and I redrafted the art of theatre” but never convinces us that was more than a pipe dream. The scenes are a distraction from the story of Terry and Irving that the title byline promises.
Bob Crowley’s elegant set design assists the fluid play structure with its jumps in time between 1878 and 1966 (when Edward dies) with a helpful flown banner with projected location and dates to help us adjust. We are never far from the theatricality of the piece with an upstage proscenium arch, flown curtains between scenes and visits to Irving’s dressing room. The cast are sumptuously dressed in period costumes by Fotini Dimou, with Irving usually the only one in black, so he stands out. It helps too if you know your Shakespeare as Irving and Terry dress in distinctive costumes that define those characters.
Michael Holroyd’s marvellous book A Strange Eventful History – The Dramatic Lives of Ellen Terry and Henry Irving and their remarkable families is rich in detail on their lives and performances. We expected to see and hear what made Irving the theatrical legend he became. We wanted to understand what bound him to Terry for so long and to see why his creativity and largesse eventually led to the closure of the Lyceum in 1902. Instead, the play portrays the legacy through the eyes and endeavours of Terry’s children and that seems to us to be an entirely different story. However, it is always worth the journey to see Ralph Fiennes on stage, however briefly, and once again, he proves that he is one of today’s great actors just as Irving was over one hundred and fifty years before.
*** Three stars
Reviewed by: Nick Wayne
Grace Pervades plays at Theatre Royal Bath until 19 July, with further info here.