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The Father |
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| Premiere | 26 October 1988 |
By Nobby Clark |
| Theatre | Cottesloe Theatre (National Theatre), London | |
| Playwright | August Strindberg; new version by John Osborne | |
| Director | David Leveaux | |
| Role | The Captain Lead role |
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| Also Starring | Susan Fleetwood as Laura; Jean Heywood as the Nurse; Alan Downer as the Pastor; Colin Stinton as Dr Östermark; Sarah-Jane Fenton as Bertha; Stefan Escreet as Nöjd; Laura Shavin as the Maid | |
| The Captain wants his daughter Bertha to be raised to be an atheist and a teacher, but his wife Laura disagrees. She begins an insidious campaign to make it seem like he is losing his mind so she can gain custody of Bertha. She suggests to him that Bertha is not his daughter, and she convinces the Doctor and the Pastor that the Captain is insane. In the end, the Captain starts to believe it himself and has a breakdown. He sits on his old nurse's lap and suffers a stroke, while Laura is left to raise Bertha as she pleases. | ||
| Reviews | "At its imploding center is the superb actor Alun Armstrong... 'To eat or be eaten, that is the question,' says the captain. By evening's end, Mr. Armstrong seems to have been devoured alive by his inner demons..." - Frank Rich, The New York Times | |
| Nomination | Alun Armstrong was nominated for an Olivier Award for Actor of the Year in a Revival for The Father and The Jew of Malta. | |
The Baker's Wife |
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| Dates | 17 November 1989 (preview); 27 November 1989 to 6 January 1990 - 56 performances | |
| Theatre | Phoenix Theatre, London | |
| Playwrights | Stephen Schwartz (music & lyrics) and Joseph Stein (book) | |
| Director | Trevor Nunn | |
| Role | Aimable Castagnet Lead role |
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| Also Starring | Sharon Lee Hill as Geneviève; Drue Williams as Dominique; Jill Martin as Denise; James Villiers as the Marquis; George Raistrick as Claude | |
| Songs | Main songs: "Merci, Madame";
"Plain and Simple"; "Any-Day-Now Day"; "If I Have to Live Alone" Also on: "Serenade"; "Buzz a-Buzz"; "Gifts of Love (reprise)"; "Chanson (reprise)" |
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| Aimable Castagnet
arrives in a French provincial town to be the new baker. The
villagers are excited about the prospect of fresh bread for the
first time in six weeks since the death of the previous baker.
They are also intrigued by Aimable's beautiful young wife Geneviève,
who is at first mistaken for his daughter and quickly becomes
the subject of gossip. Settling into the bakery, Aimable
anticipates their new life together in the song "Merci, Madame."
As he explains the simple pleasures of making bread in the song
"Plain and Simple," he recalls the long years caring for his
mother and his chance meeting with Geneviève in a café
where she was crying over another man. Geneviève attracts the amorous attention of Dominique, the Marquis's chauffeur, who comes to "Serenade" her outside the bakery. Aimable mistakes the song for praise of his baking skills. Geneviève tries to send Dominique away but then succumbs to his charms and agrees to run away with him. The next morning, the bread is burned and the village is "Buzz A-Buzz" with gossip. Aimable first thinks Geneviève has gone in search of their missing cat Pompom. The Marquis tells him the truth, but Aimable chooses to believe she has gone to visit her mother. He starts a new batch of bread but decides to fortify himself with a cognac and toasts the "Any-Day-Now Day" when Geneviève will return. Returning to the bakery, the villagers find that the bread is ruined. They try to cheer Aimable up and the Marquis offers him the companionship of his lady friends. Aimable finally accepts that Geneviève has left him but offers his life savings to stop the Marquis from searching for her. He resolves to try to carry on in the song "If I Have to Live Alone." Geneviève meanwhile has second thoughts, realising that although there is passion with Dominique there is no warmth. She leaves him, intending to go to Marseille, but the villagers find her and convince her to return home. Aimable pretends nothing is wrong but chastises the cat who has also returned. Geneviève assures him that the cat will not leave again, and they start to bake the day's bread together. |
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| My Rating | 5 out of 5 stars, based on the CD. A touching and amusing story easily followed through the songs. Alun Armstrong has quite a lovely voice, singing in a different style from Les Misérables. | |
| Reviews | "In Alun Armstrong, the
creators have an ideal baker - a ruddy, classically trained
performer at home both with Strindberg and Shakespeare (he was a
memorable Thersites in the Royal Shakespeare Company's 1985
Troilus and Cressida) and in musicals (he was the original
Thénardier in Les Misérables). Like Jonathan
Pryce and Rober Lindsay, two other performers to move recently
from straight theater to musical bravura, Armstrong further
proves that versatility in the best British actors knows no
bounds." - Matt Wolf,
Chicago Tribune "Alun Armstrong manages to make a dull fish remarkably charismatic, not least in his gymnastic rendering of 'Merci Madame' ..." - London Theatre Record "Alun Armstrong, as the forlorn baker, is the play's strongest human asset. His joy in the wife who makes him feel 'like a kid of 43 again' melting into bewilderment, denial, anguish, and disgust is pitiful and terrible to behold, both in its violence and in its restraint." - Rhoda Koenig, Punch |
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| Nomination | Alun Armstrong was nominated for an Olivier Award for Outstanding Performance of the Year by an Actor in a Musical. | |
| Notes | Although The Baker's Wife received positive reviews, it did not attract large audiences and closed after 56 performances. | |
| Availability | A single CD with highlights of the Original London Cast Recording is available at Amazon UK. Used copies of the complete 2-CD set may be found at Amazon here (includes audio clips) or here and at Amazon UK. The full recording of 23 songs can be downloaded from iTunes here (includes audio clips). | |
| By John Haynes from the theatre programme. | ||
With Sharon Lee Hill |
Tipsy Aimable |
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Sweeney Todd |
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| Dates | 2 June to 19 October 1993 (London); 16 November to 20 November 1993 (Bath) |
| Theatre | Cottesloe Theatre (National Theatre), London; Theatre Royal, Bath |
| Playwrights | Stephen Sondheim (music & lyrics) and Hugh Wheeler (book) |
| Director | Declan Donnellan |
| Role | Sweeney Todd Lead role |
| Also Starring | Julia McKenzie as Mrs Lovett; Adrian Lester as Anthony Hope; Denis Quilley as Judge Turpin; Carol Starks as Johanna; Barry James as Beadle Bamford; Sheila Reid as Beggar Woman; Adrian Lewis Morgan as Tobias Ragg; Nick Holder as Alfredo Pirelli |
| Songs | "No Place Like London"; "The Barber and His Wife"; "My Friends"; "Pirelli's Miracle Elixir"; "Pretty Women"; "Epiphany"; "A Little Priest"; "God, That's Good"; "Johanna (Quartet)"; "Wigmaker's Sequence"; "The Letter"; "Searching"; "The Judge's Return"; "Final Scene"; |
| After 15 years in Australia,
Benjamin Barker returns to London under the name Sweeney
Todd. Embarking from the ship with sailor
Anthony Hope, Sweeney is approached by a mad beggar woman who
seems to recognise him ("No Place Like London"). Before they
part, Sweeney tells Anthony the story of "The Barber and His
Wife," which is in fact his own story. He was wrongfully
transported by Judge Turpin, who coveted his wife Lucy. Sweeney
returns to his old lodgings above a meat pie shop run by Mrs
Lovett. She guesses his identity and tells him that Lucy was
raped by Judge Turpin and then poisoned herself, leaving behind
an infant daughter Johanna who became the Judge's ward. Sweeney
vows revenge on the Judge, and Mrs Lovett returns his old razors
to him ("My Friends"). Sweeney exposes a charlatan barber promising a cure for hair loss ("Pirelli's Miracle Elixir") and wins a contest against him judged by Turpin's henchman Beadle Bamford. He invites Bamford for a complimentary shave. But first Pirelli drops his disguise and reveals that he was once Sweeney's assistant and threatens to blackmail him. Sweeney kills him and hides the body. Beadle Bamford brings Judge Turpin for a shave and Todd prepares to exact his revenge ("Pretty Women"). He is interrupted by Anthony Hope, who has fallen in love with Sweeney's daughter Johanna. Anthony announces that he is eloping with Johanna to save her from the Judge's lecherous plans. The Judge overhears and departs in anger. Sweeney is livid that he missed his chance to kill the Judge and decides to wreak vengeance on everyone ("Epiphany"). Mrs Lovett suggests they use Pirelli's body - and Sweeney's future victims - to make meat pies ("A Little Priest"). They devise a special barber chair and a chute down to the bakehouse to facilitate the process. People flock to Mrs Lovett's shop for the tasty new pies ("God, That's Good"). As Sweeney carries out his grisly task, he resigns himself to never seeing Johanna again ("Johanna (Quartet)"). But Anthony discovers that the Judge put Johanna in an insane asylum, and Sweeney suggests that Anthony pose as a wigmaker buying hair from the inmates ("Wigmaker Sequence"). Sweeney send a warning to the Judge, hoping to trap him ("The Letter"). Pirelli's helper Tobias, who now works in the pie shop, becomes suspicious of Sweeney. He tries to tell Mrs Lovett, who locks him in the bakehouse. Beadle Bamford comes to investigate strange smoke from the chimney and Sweeney kills him and sends him down the chute to where Tobias is. Realising they now have to kill Tobias, Sweeney and Mrs Lovett go looking for him in the cellars ("Searching"). Anthony rescues Johanna and leaves her at the pie shop in disguise while he goes off to hire a coach to escape. Johanna hides when the beggar woman appears, trying to warn Sweeney about Mrs Lovett. The Judge arrives looking for Johanna, and Sweeney kills the beggar woman to get her out of the way so he can complete his revenge ("The Judge's Return"). He leads the Judge to the barber chair and reveals his identity before slitting Turpin's throat. He nearly kills Johanna as well but is distracted by Mrs Lovett's screams. In the bakehouse, Sweeney realises that the dead beggar woman is his wife Lucy, who went mad from the poison she took. Mrs Lovett claims she lied because she loves Sweeney. He pretends to forgive her and then throws her in the oven. While Sweeney is holding Lucy's body, Tobias comes in and cuts his throat ("Final Scene"). |
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| Review | "But the best production I've so far seen was Declan Donnellan's at the National's Cottesloe Theatre in 1993. A nine-piece band ensured that every word of Sondheim's lyrics was crisply audible. The chorus was on stage throughout, laying supportive hands on Alun Armstrong's manic Sweeney as if he were a mythic hero. And Julia McKenzie as Mrs Lovett, who helps Sweeney turn his tonsorial victims into meat pies, went about her task with the practicality of a Victorian Delia Smith." - Michael Billington, The Guardian |
| Award | Alun Armstrong won the Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical, 1994. |
| Availability | No recording of this production featuring Alun Armstrong was ever released. (A recording was made for radio starring Denis Quilley, who took over as Sweeney from Armstrong when the play transferred to the Lyttelton Theatre.) |
| By Michael Le Poer Trench from the Bath theatre programme. | |
With Julia McKenzie |
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Note: For Les Misérables - The Dream Cast in Concert see the main entry for Les Misérables.
Insignificance |
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| Premiere | 1 June 1995 |
The Actress & the Professor; from the programme cover. |
| Theatre | Donmar Warehouse, London | |
| Playwright | Terry Johnson | |
| Director | Terry Johnson | |
| Role | The Professor (Albert Einstein) Lead role |
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| Also Starring | Frances Barber as The Actress (Marilyn Monroe); Ian Hogg as The Senator (Joseph McCarthy); Jack Klaff as The Ballplayer (Joe DiMaggio) | |
| In 1953, Albert Einstein receives an unexpected visit to his hotel room from Marilyn Monroe, who shows a surprising interest in the Professor and his Theory of Relativity. Senator Joseph McCarthy and baseball legend Joe DiMaggio - to whom Marilyn was briefly married - also turn up to further complicate matters. | ||
| Review | "Armstrong attempts, and pulls off, a subtler piece of scene-stealing than anything written for the actress. He portrays the man famous for measuring energy, but like the nucleus of an atom Johnson's direction leaves him all but static while the more proactive characters whirr around him, fighting, divorcing, having miscarriages and causing mini bubblegum explosions. Armstrong can scarcely have moved so little on a stage, and yet you can't take your eyes off him." - Jasper Rees, The Independent | |
| Notes | On 5 October 1999, Insignificance was performed as part of the National Theatre's One Hundred Plays of the Century Platform. Armstrong and Barber reprised their roles, joined by Ron Cook as the Senator and Larry Lamb as the Ballplayer. Armstrong and Barber also recorded a radio version in 1997. | |
Death of a Salesman |
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| Dates | 25 October 1996 (preview); 31 October 1996 (London premiere); 25 February to 1 March 1997 (Newcastle); 4 March to 8 March 1997 (Edinburgh); 14 April to 19 April 1997 (Bath); 21 April to 26 April 1997 (Nottingham) | |
| Theatres | Lyttelton Theatre (National Theatre), London; Theatre Royal, Newcastle; King's Theatre, Edinburgh; Theatre Royal, Bath; Theatre Royal, Nottingham | |
| Playwright | Arthur Miller | |
| Director | David Thacker | |
| Role | Willy Loman Lead role |
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| Also Starring | Marjorie Yates as Linda Loman; Mark Strong as Biff Loman; Corey Johnson as Happy Loman; Colin Stinton as Howard Wagner; Louise Jameson as The Woman; Martin McDougall as Bernard; Shane Rimmer as Charley; Ed Bishop as Uncle Ben | |
| In the late 1940s, traveling
salesman Willy Loman returns home to Brooklyn
from an unsuccessful business trip.
His wife Linda suggests he ask his boss Howard Wagner for a
local job in New York. Their son Biff is visiting, and Willy
complains that he has wasted his life and potential. Willy's mental state is deteriorating and he drifts from the present into daydreams about past events. He recalls his sons when they were younger and Biff was a high school football star with a promising future. He also reflects on his own lost opportunities and a Woman from his past. He starts talking so loudly to himself that he wakes up the rest of the house. Linda confides in her sons about their financial troubles and Willy's suicide attempts. Willy is temporarily appeased when he learns that Biff plans to ask his former employer Bill Oliver for a loan to start a business. The next day, Willy goes to see Howard Wagner who turns down his request. Willy tries to convince Howard by offering to work for less money and reminding him of promises made by Howard's father Frank. He launches into a reminiscence about a legendary salesman who inspired him and who was publicly mourned when he died. But instead of giving in, Howard tells Willy it's time for him to leave the company. Willy visits his friend Charley to ask for another loan but turns down an offer of a job. From Charley's son Bernard he learns that Biff's downward spiral began after Biff visited Willy on a trip to Boston. He goes to a restaurant to meet Happy and Biff, whose request for a loan failed because Bill Oliver couldn't remember who he was. Willy drifts into a recollection of the trip to Boston when Biff discovered him in a hotel room with the Woman. Later that night, Willy imagines talking to his brother Ben about his plans to kill himself to get the $20,000 life insurance payout for his family. He thinks Biff will respect him when he sees all the people who will attend his funeral, but Ben warns him that Biff will consider him a coward. Biff meanwhile has decided to leave home. He argues with his father and confronts him with the rubber hose Willy had connected to the gas heater to kill himself. Biff tries to get Willy to face reality and recognise that they are both just ordinary men - "a dime a dozen." Biff breaks down and cries, and Willy is amazed to realise that Biff loves him. He decides to go through with his plan, believing that Biff will love him even more with the $20,000 insurance payout to start a new life. He drives off in his car and kills himself. At the funeral, Linda cannot understand why no one came. |
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| Review | "Alun Armstrong gives a superb performance as Loman. It's not so much the despair as the terrible way he clings to the possibility of hope that is so moving. The final bruising scenes, in which he finally realises that his son Biff loves him, are almost unbearable to watch. Loman's sudden happiness is even more harrowing than his humiliating suffering." - Charles Spencer, The Telegraph | |
| Notes | After the run at the Lyttelton, the production went on tour to Newcastle, Edinburgh, Bath and Nottingham. | |
| Availability | A video recording of the play is available to be viewed by researchers visiting the National Theatre Archive. | |
| By Alastair Muir from Plays & Players Dec. 96/Jan. 97 (left) and the theatre programme. | ||
As Willy Loman |
Rehearsal with Marjorie Yates |
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The Front Page |
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| Dates | 10 December 1997 to 28 February 1998 | |
| Theatre | Donmar Warehouse, London | |
| Playwrights | Ben Hecht & Charles MacArthur | |
| Director | Sam Mendes | |
| Role | Walter Burns Supporting role |
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| Also Starring | Griff Rhys Jones as Hildy Johnson; Rebecca Johnson as Peggy Grant; Simon Gregor as Earl Williams; Ian Bartholomew as Sheriff Hartman; Lizzy McInnerny as Mollie Malloy; Hilton McRae as Schwartz; Tilly Tremayne as Mrs Schlosser/Mrs Grant; Adam Godley as Bensinger | |
| In 1928, reporters are gathered in the Press Room of the Chicago Criminal Courts Building awaiting the execution of Earl Williams, an alleged Communist revolutionary convicted of killing a black policeman. Hildy Johnson of The Herald Examiner arrives late. He's intending to quit for a more respectable job so he can marry Peggy. Word arrives that Earl Williams has escaped, and the reporters rush out of the room leaving Hildy behind. Suddenly, Earl Williams comes in through the window and tells Hildy he's innocent. Realising he has a major scoop, Hildy hides Earl in a roll-top desk and consults his unscrupulous editor, Walter Burns. Meanwhile Peggy arrives wanting to know what's taking Hildy so long. | ||
| Review | "As for Alun Armstrong, we don't meet him until late in the second of three acts but he dominates the entire evening. He barks, bleats and bellows across the stage, grabbing Hildy and the show by the scruff of the neck and hurtling through to a zinger of a climax." - David Benedict, The Independent | |
| Availability | A scene featuring Alun Armstrong shown at the 1998 Olivier Awards is available on Youtube. Funny stuff. | |
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Mappa Mundi |
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| Dates | 2 November 2002 (preview); 7 November to 29 November 2002 |
| Theatre | Cottesloe Theatre (National Theatre), London |
| Playwright | Shelagh Stephenson |
| Director | Bill Alexander |
| Role | Jack Armstrong Lead role |
| Also Starring | Lia Williams as Anna, Jack's daughter; Tim McInnerny as Michael, Jack's son; Patrick Robinson as Sholto, Anna's fiancé; James Hayes as Father Ryan; Alibe Parsons as Portia, Sholto's mother |
| "Jack has a dark secret and only a few months to live. When his family gather for his daughter Anna's wedding, Jack, a passionate map collector, is forced to confront the map of his own life and finds its horizons limited. Research into his ancestry proves him to be related to an eighteenth-century cartographer and plantation owner, but Anna, engaged to a black lawyer, is more interested to discover that they may also be descended from a slave... This intimate play explores the notion of Englishness, and follows the moving journey of a man coming to terms with the parameters of his life." - National Theatre | |
| Review | "In its suggestion that attention must be paid to the humblest lives, Stephenson's play has obvious echoes of Death of a Salesman. And Alun Armstrong, replacing the indisposed Ian Holm, invests Jack with the same quiet magnetism he once brought to Willy Loman. The difference is that Jack's life is all in the past; but Armstrong beautifully suggests the impatience of the auto-didact, the licensed childishness of the old and the terror of nothingness that confronts the agnostic. In one sense, since Armstrong himself is much younger than Jack, it is a brilliant piece of character acting. In another way, the performance draws deeply on the actor's own humanity." - Michael Billington, The Guardian |
| Notes | Alun Armstrong replaced Ian Holm in the lead role on short notice. Trevor Nunn said, "When illness caused Ian to withdraw, the whole of the National united in support of Alun Armstrong who opened the play with very little rehearsal, but with a huge amount of the daring for which followers of the National love him." |
By Ivan Kyncl from the National Theatre Annual Report 02/03. |
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The Royal Hunt of the Sun |
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| Dates | 30 March 2006 (preview); 12 April to 12 August 2006 | |
| Theatre | Olivier Theatre (National Theatre), London | |
| Playwright | Peter Shaffer | |
| Director | Trevor Nunn | |
| Role |
Francisco Pizarro Lead role |
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| Also Starring | Paterson Joseph as Atahuallpah; Darrell D'Silva as Hernando de Soto; Oliver Cotton as Vincente de Valverde; Paul Ritter as Marcos de Nizza; Philip Voss as Miguel Estete; Malcolm Storry as Old Martin; Tristan Beint as Young Martin | |
| Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro promises riches to those he recruits for an expedition to Peru, and priests accompany them to spread Christianity. They kill 3,000 Incas and take their king, Atahuallpah, captive. Pizarro promises to release Atahuallpah if he can fill a room with gold in two months. As Atahuallpah fulfills his task, the aging Pizarro, who is suffering from an old wound, has a crisis of faith. He is drawn to his captive, who believes he is the son of the Sun God. When the task is complete, Pizarro says he will fulfill his part of the bargain if Atahuallpah promises not to harm his men, but Atahuallpah refuses. Pizarro's men threaten to turn against him if he doesn't kill Atahuallpah. Atahuallpah tells Pizarro to proceed with the execution because he will rise again the next day as the Sun God's son. Pizarro is inducted into the Incan religion and waits until dawn with Atahuallpah's dead body, but he never awakes and Pizarro is devastated. | ||
| Review | "... the central human encounter - in which the sceptical, weary, faith-free Pizarro comes briefly to believe in the Emperor's regenerative powers - is, against all expectation, not only persuasive but moving. Joseph is to thank for that, but so, and greatly, is Alun Armstrong: it's hard to imagine anyone who could carry more conviction as Pizarro: grizzled and wary, moving as if his battle scars are beginning to catch up with him, he could have stepped from a Velázquez painting of a distinguished warrior." - Susannah Clapp, The Guardian | |
| By Catherine Ashmore; see more at the National Theatre website. | ||
With Paterson Joseph |
With Paterson Joseph & Darrell D'Silva |
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