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The Normal Heart @ National Theatre - review


This is a brain dump written as soon as I got home from the show. More a more cogent review (which I completely agree with), check out: Review: The Normal Heart at National Theatre, by Hailey Bachrach.

I know lots of people have been raving about this production of Larry Kramer's largely autobiographical play at the National Theatre, but I was disappointed.

Despite being fairly wordy and rather on the long side (at 2hr40), it did sustain my interest and I was never bored. The performances are great (loved Liz Carr) but it's not a great piece of writing to beginning with (the structure is anaemic and it ends very abruptly), and some very questionable directorial decisions didn't help.
 

The Olivier Theatre has been set up to be in the round (centered around the revolve as a the stage), but the director didn't seem to bother to take that into account one bit (it could have been as simple a flipping the switch and have the stage going round all the time, if he really couldn't be bothered). The whole show is plays "straight" to the normal stalls of the theatre. Tough luck if you are sitting on what is effectively the stage.

There were also some crucially emotional scenes (a death scene in particular) that are rushed, and not given space to breath, with the actors scurrying off stage almost before the scene is over.

Finally, the show opens on what appears to be a vigil (this is never explained), where an "eternal" flame is lit that stays hanging over the stage (too high, in my view) throughout the play.

Instead of using its coming back down (coinciding with the illumination of a pink triangle on the floor of the stage - an apt reference to the holocaust, which is mentioned repeatedly during the play - see below), this takes place after the curtain call, when most people have stopped paying attention. It could have been a very powerful visual to end the show. It even feels slightly disrespectful, if you think about it.

In conclusion: a missed opportunity, I think, and a production unworthy of a national theatre.



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