The 2013/14 Michael Grandage Company Season

So over this last year Director Michael Grandage has set up a high profile theatre company in his name and directed 5 pieces to be presented in the Noel Coward Theatre.
I was lucky enough to see three of these. Missing Privates on Parade and Midsummer Night's Dream. Looking at the reviews I almost regret not seeing Midsummer though David Walliams makes my skin crawl.

The season seems to have given established high profile actors a chance to return to the stage and stretch there acting wings in some seriously good roles. And none of them disappointed.

Peter & Alice
The first of the season I saw was Peter & Alice. A new play by John Logan (writer of Hugo, Skyfall and The Aviator to mention a few) which explores a fictitious meeting between Alice Liddell Hargreaves (Inspiration for Alice in Wonderland) and Peter Llewellyn Davies (Peter Pan). In which they both explore their relationships with the writers of the respective books and how their lives were affect by them. 
Starring Judi Dench and Ben Whishaw it seems the roles were almost designed to be played by these two who fitted them perfectly. 

At first I thought this to be a completely straight play and indeed the first scene is set in a scruffy looking lawyers office as Peter and Alice meet and talk for the first time both revealing how they've coped with the attention over the years. But as they start to tell their stories the whole room is lifted to reveal a mock theatre stage behind and the piece starts becoming more stylized as episodes of their lives are acted out by themselves.
The piece becomes darker and darker as the true nature of the writers and the effects of the books becomes clear and it becomes clearer that both Peter & Alice do what they can to survive.
The set, costume and lighting design were incredible. Fitting in with every turn and emotion displayed in the play. I can imagine the designers having fun with this one as parts of the design match with the sometimes abstract movements in the play.  
My only reservation was that I wished the Dench fans in the stalls had not felt compelled to laugh at everything.

The Cripple of Inishman

This was the third in the season but the second I saw. The Cripple of Inishman is a dark comedy drama set in a small island community off main land Ireland (Think less extreme version of Craggy Island). It tells the tale of Cripple Billy and the effect a visiting film crew has on him and those around him. 
Set in the 1930's the play shows the fascination and draw that a film crew can have a remote poor community at the time. Cripple Billy is seen as second class by most of the islanders (though their is some affection toward him) and he see's the visiting crew as a means of escaping the island.
Billy is ably played by Daniel Radcliffe. The role is a very tough one physically and Radcliffe does well never to forget the posture or disability through out the play. Even during the fight scenes he never drops out of his characters physicality. 
The rest of the cast are excellent as well with some larger than live characters being played without missing a comic beat or dropping an awkward dramatic second.
Like with the Peter & Alice the design isn't just great for the play it's great for the audience too. The Lighting and costumes make you believe in the scenes that are acted out on the three part rotating stage. As each scene is revealed, whether it's the make shift outdoor cinema or Billy's LA bedroom you get a real feel for the environment and atmosphere. A good combination of lighting and set allowed the audience to feel like they were almost there. 

Henry V

As the final production of the season Henry V was also the most traditional. I'll admit from the start that I'd never seen this play before (though I have seen Henry IV Part 1 & 2) so can't really draw comparisons with other versions of the play. 
For me the play itself feels like propaganda in parts and seems to lack Shakespeare's instinctive insight into human nature at times. That being said I still enjoyed it and found it stirring and entertaining in equal amounts. Henry V's speeches are clearly the stand out pieces of the play but the representation of the common folk through Pistol and his colleagues give welcome respite through the seriousness.
Jude Law played the title role and was very good in the role. Balancing the levels of righteousness, melancholy and mischievousness at the right levels to keep the audience engaged. It was a different experience for me to watch him as well. Previously I had mainly seen Shakespeare's large historic roles played by RSC/ classically trained actors who always bring a certain type of pronunciation and delivery to the roles. Law's execution of the role brought what felt like a more modern air to the role which made it most entertaining to watch.
Like with the other plays in this season the cast were hard working and entertaining but I thought that Ron Cook as Pistol deserved special mention. His rendering of the role brought the self serving greedy character to live.
The design ascept of the play added so much to the play that it's effect can not be under estimated. The set itself was comprised of a wooden slated semi circle facing the audience with hidden doors that were opened at different points to form each different location when added to by the lighting. Being painted a distressed white the set would pick the colour of the lighting and take of that characteristic, an effect that I felt worked very very well. Impressively they where able to create the effect that the whole set was gold one minute and a brisk morning the next.
 
All these pieces were great to watch. I personally think that you always get a better result if you let a play take on a life of its own and come together naturally which is what these all seem to do. You can really tell that the designers, director and actors have all been part of the collaborative efforts in making these all a success. I must admit that I'm kind of jealous of all those involved in making this season. Looking forward to another season!