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La revue de presse

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Message  Luce Ven 20 Mar 2009 - 21:43

Social satire on phoney liberalism hits its target
Par Michael Billington (The Guardian, 22 juin 2007).
Dominic Cooke is as good as his word. When he took over the Royal Court he promised us plays about the aspirational middle-classes. And, even if one wishes his first directorial choice had dealt with our native breed, Bruce Norris's play offers a wittily ingenious satire on the American brand of phoney liberalism.
Norris's play starts with a well-heeled couple, Clay and his wife Kelly, consoling an Asian guest on some undefined personal loss. But, although the mystery is ultimately revealed, Norris's prime concern is with the unravelling of the hosts' domestic camouflage during a disastrous Thanksgiving dinner. A sinisterly gnawed avocado is connected to the genital inflammation of Clay and Kelly's daughter; and this exposes profound marital rifts, intense sibling rivalry and the condescension shown by Clay's plastic-surgeon brother to his East European girlfriend.
Norris's target is a broad one but he hits it plumb centre: these are the affluent middle-classes who fail to practise what they preach. Clay is a guilt-ridden househusband who, looking round his opulent living room, protests: "You call this rich?" Kelly is so politically correct that, on seeing her daughter being given a cosmetic makeover by the visiting bimbo, she screams: "Let's not indoctrinate her into masculine objectification just yet." Even Clay's mother, while voting for the Socialist Workers' party, treats the Asian visitor as if he were some strange specimen from one of the TV documentaries she ardently watches.
As social satire, in the style of Jules Feiffer, the play is very funny. It over-reaches itself only when it turns into a comedic version of Ibsen's Ghosts and suggests that the child's skin complaint is a symbol of an inherited moral infection afflicting middle America.
But Cooke's production has the right poisoned elegance, aided by a two-tier set by Robert Innes Hopkins that uncannily echoes that for The Lady From Dubuque. And the acting is a constant pleasure. Matthew Macfadyen's Clay is like a petulant child trapped inside an adult body, resorting to playground foot-stamping as he reveals his brother's supposed Republican sympathies. Sara Stewart's Kelly, while ostentatiously nursing an infant at her breast, exudes the steeliness of the corporate high-earner.
Peter Sullivan has a laconic style reminiscent of Dustin Hoffman, as Clay's laid-back brother. Even funnier is Andrea Riseborough as his East European lover who spits blood at the mention of socialism and who fits snugly into her designer jeans. And Amanda Boxer lends the mother a neat mixture of schoolteacher earnestness and fascination with the popular culture she apparently despises. A special mention also for Shannon Kelly who, sharing the role of the afflicted child, plays her with great dignity.
Starting its life at Chicago's Steppenwolf, this is a play that earns its keep on the Royal Court's main stage and dents the theatre's faintly puritan image. But, given that the English Stage Company began its life with a play by Angus Wilson, The Mulberry Tree, that attacked bien-pensant British liberals, I just hope Cooke can come up soon with some big plays that examine our own native hypocrisies.
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Message  Luce Ven 20 Mar 2009 - 22:28

Superbly staged savage satire of liberal hypocrisy
Par Paul Taylor (The Independent, 22 juin 2007). Extraits.
He (Dominic Cooke) certainly honours that in his brilliant inaugural production of an American play, The Pain and the Itch by Bruce Norris. This is a savage satire of the hypocrisy of affluent liberals. At its centre, there is a family Thanksgiving dinner whose hosts are Clay, an insecure, aggrieved house-husband (the superbly funny Matthew Macfadyen) and his spouse Kelly (Sara Stewart), a high-powered, bitter corporate exec.
I don't see how Cooke could have directed this play any better. Highly recommended.


Dernière édition par Luce le Sam 21 Mar 2009 - 20:51, édité 1 fois
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Message  Luce Sam 21 Mar 2009 - 9:15

Une brassée de revues de presse par le Royal Court Theatre, dont les deux précédentes.
Nouveaux extraits :

Rich pickings beneath the surface
Par Charles Spencer, The Telegraph, 22 Juin 2007
Sara Stewart brilliantly captures the cold steel that underlies the caring, socially-concerned facade of Kelly, frequently putting me in mind of the terrifying Tina Brown, while Matthew Macfadyen hilariously and poignantly suggests the bitter sense of emasculation of her husband [...]
This is a terrifically entertaining, sometimes disturbing play that asks uncomfortable questions about the way the West lives now.
Stylish satire on liberal guilt that shows no mercy
Par Kieron Quirke, Evening Standard, 22 Juin 2007
The smug and joyless Clay is also a great part for Matthew Macfadyen - a comic counterpart of all those over-serious alpha males he plays on screen - and the actor has him down pat, pulling off the trick of showing us Clay's insecurity without making him likeable [...]
Indignity after indignity is piled upon Clay, and there is no progression or redemption for his despised heroes. The frantic action does get less exciting as the play goes on, and at times you can't remember a point where Macfadyen wasn't shouting. No matter - the jokes remain plentiful, plus it's invigorating to see liberal guilt - which theatre so often panders to - subjected instead to merciless dissection.


Dernière édition par Luce le Sam 21 Mar 2009 - 20:52, édité 2 fois
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Message  Luce Sam 21 Mar 2009 - 20:23

Extrait de l'article de Quentin Letts du Daily Mail, dans WHATSONSTAGE (22 juin 2007).
All this is achieve with some excellent acting. Andrea Riseborough is outstanding as the pouting East European crumpet … Sara Stewart is wholly persuasive as Kelly, a tense bundle of right-on nerves. Peter Sullivan is handsome and suave as Cash. Matthew Macfadyen, so often a male romantic lead, is also to be congratulated on undertaking the part of the wet haddock of a house-husband Clay … Well done, the Royal Court.
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Message  Luce Dim 22 Mar 2009 - 9:11

Cette revue en ligne met en regard deux mises en scène : celle de Dominic Cooke à Londres et celle d'Anna D. Shapiro, qui a créé la pièce à Chicago en 2005, avant sa reprise à Broodway, New-York, en 2006.

A CurtainUp Review The Pain and the Itch
The Pain and the Itch Comes to London
Par Lizzie Loveridge. Extrait :
The performances are impeccable. The delightfully whimsical Mathew Macfayden as Clay, his hapless innocence and vulnerability often rising to the surface as his mentally agile brother taunts him. Sara Stewart as Kelly convinces as the hard nosed lawyer, beautifully groomed, tight and determined. Amanda Boxer as Clay's mother is slightly dotty, quirky and so very well intentioned although her politics send her up mercilessly. Andrea Riseborough's tense refugee is brittle and frenetic and terribly outspoken. And then there is Peter Sullivan as Cash, the sardonic bystander and sibling rival to Clay. Mr Hadid remains in the background, waiting and watching until the final act. Acting honours too must go to the remarkable Shannon Kelly as the little girl who has an itch.

The set centres around the dining table in the living room of Clay and Kelly's house with its designer minimalism. The clothes and hair are perfect for each character, Clay's striped apron, Kalina's loud shirt and high heeled boots, Carol's vague style. They are some clever director's touches, glimpses of the family routines. Kelly hoovers the crumbs from the dining table after they have eaten followed by Clay with the spray polish and a cloth, all carried out with single minded efficiency like an unstoppable, household machine.

This is refreshing comedy with plenty to engage the intellect and an intriguing and exciting start at the Royal Court for Dominic Cooke.Elyse Sommer's review of the New York production follows these cast, design and venue notes for the London production:

Cast: Matthew Macfayden, Amanda Boxer, Sara Stewart; also Peter Sullivan, Abdi Gouhad, Shannon Kelly/Hannah Gunn/Angelica Trew, Andrea Riseborough,
Design: Robert Innes Hopkins
Lighting: Hugh Vanstone
Sound: Paul Arditti
Box Office: 020 7565 5000
Booking to 21st July 2007
Reviewed by Lizzie Loveridge based on 21st June 2007 performance at the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs, Royal Court, Sloane Square, London SW1 (Tube: Sloane Square)
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Message  Ambre Lun 23 Mar 2009 - 18:03

Bah si j'avais pas déjà eu très envie d'y aller, maintenant ça serait fait... ouinnnnnnnnnn ! Sad
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Message  Matthieu Sam 12 Déc 2009 - 17:49

London notes: The Pain and the Itch (Broadway.com, 25 juin 2007).
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Message  Luce Mer 15 Juin 2011 - 20:20

The Pain and the Itch (The British Theatre Guide, 2007).
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Message  Luce Jeu 23 Juin 2011 - 19:35

Review – The Pain and the Itch, Royal Court (West End Whingers, 20 juin 2007).
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