A swan-song - but what a swan!
At the National Theatre for a preview of ‘Here we are’ – the last of Sondheim’s musicals.
Well, sort of – not that it isn’t the last thing he wrote for performance, but that it’s really only the first half that is a musical. The second half, with incidental music, is more accurately a play, with all the same characters that were in the musical first half.
Both halves are somewhat surreal, but the second half is also a sort-of horror story.
The music is definitely Sondheim, as are the clever lyrics, and Sondheim libretti are never going to be obvious.
But the show is full of puzzles that aren’t, by any means, all resolved (no surprise then that it’s been inspired by the works of Luis Buñuel), and it has, which is also no surprise, an unfinished feel. It’s not even clear if the show ends on an up or a down.
The cast, as usual for Sondheim is an ensemble, with excellent performances from all, even this early in previews, but then many are old hands at this, with Rory Kinnear, Tracie Bennett, Jane Krakowski and Denis O’Hare standing out.
The set makes full use of the Lyttelton capabilities, the first half very modernistic and stark with the second mainly set in a very traditional and detailed library set. Several settings are used for just minutes, but didn’t look cheap! The direction is at times even balletic, and certainly seems ‘right’ for the piece.
Is it great Sondheim? – no probably not, it needs work (and more music) – is it too long? – yes, although I think Sondheim would have tightened it up – is it then worth seeing? – yes, absolutely, even less than perfect Sondheim is still, well, Sondheim.