55 Days (1/11/12)

One thing I'm always bemused about is staging a play so that the audience are seated either side of the action. Personally I find it distracting (in a lull I spotted a sleeping man and a Vic Reeves Lookalike) and a little bit annoying, as the audience are either treated to the back of the actors' heads or the actors in question shouting their lines so as to be heard by everyone.



55 Days fell into that trap, and it was, at least in my view, something that really let down a solid, interesting piece that was, in the main, fantastic.

Douglas Henshall was marvellous as a near-tortured, trenchcoated Oliver Cromwell, periods of pained silence as he waited for the word of the Lord to pass through his head, his native Scots accent turned on its head into a solid English, whilst Mark Gatiss returned to his Recruiting Officer form as the imprisoned King, wonderfully foppish as he strutted around with his cane, and fantastically distanced from the modern, Cromwellian era through his velvet cloak and traditional dress.

The supporting cast were just as marvellous, and the scene changes were some of the best, and neatest I've seen in a production for a very long time. The filing cabinet construction along one wall was also a neat trick, carefully concealing a host of bibles, files and other tricks.

Though not the most brilliant modernisation of a historical event (points go to the NT's Antigone for that masterpiece), its certainly interesting, funny and somewhat thought provoking.

55 Days @ The Hampstead Theatre

Runs Through 24th November

Whose side are you on?