Bodies

Glad you enjoyed it, Parsley, though I'm not sure whether that's an indication that others will. Sounds as though the territory it explores is similar to that of "Made In India" which had a brief tour earlier this year and which I saw when it reached Soho Theatre. Seeing this soon so shall return to post my view afterwards. I hope that for me it will represent a return to form for the writer as after liking the first play of hers I saw, I loathed Pests.

I see. So I wonder which of the two will prove, for me, to be the more entertaining and engaging? I may be insufficiently discerning to appreciate in full the merits of the superior version!

Do see it

I am still thinking about it

It would make an excellent TV programme

One of those 2 part things

The performance Justine Mitchell gives

For me was on a par with

Denise Gough

And Billie Piper

Perhaps even better as the writing is more interesting here

I hope you also find it as rewarding as I did

The upstairs theatre really can be a miracle sometimes

People queuing to see rubbish like Harry Potter

And things like this gem playing to less than 100 per night

I too, on the strength of Parsley's praise, have booked for this next Saturday.
Really loved The Witness and Pests, but hated her take on The Snow Queen at Bristol this past Christmas - I did a Parsley and scarpered at the interval for that one.
Looking forward to this, though. Fingers crossed cancellation not anything too serious.
Thanks for the recommendation.

Cast member in hospital.

After Parsley's paean I, too, have booked.

The Royal Court may well be puzzled by this sudden spike in bookings!

Approximate running time, please, those who have seen it? Going soon but still no info on Royal Court site. Thank you.

ThanK you very much - seem once again to have ended up with a short matinee & possibly a long evening performance.

Have you seen it Samuelwhiskers? If so do you concur with Parsley?

An issues play that tries hard to balance it's agenda with compassion for the characters, and fails, because the fix is so obviously in.

I do love Vivienne Franzmann, but of the four plays I've seen by her, I liked this the least.

"Mogadishu," I loved. Perhaps because she herself was a teacher, and lived and breathed the milieu, Franzmann constructed a "Children's Hour" type narrative, about a false accusation by a pupil against a teacher, that was not only dramatically enthralling, but also compassionately discovered the complex and confusing humanity behind the motivations of every character.

"Pests" I liked almost as much, but for a different reason. Franzmann constructed a unique language for her characters that perfectly reflected their isolated and marginalised world, an experimental choice that worked so well, the Royal Court production left an indelible imprint on me.

Some spoilers follow. . .

Franzmann's willingness to be experimental results in the most rewarding plot point in "Bodies," that one of the characters is not real, but the fantasy projection of another character. This fantasy character, established as such in the first ten minutes, becomes a conduit and a focus, a prism reflecting all the hope, love, need, despair of all the other characters. A brilliant idea that works brilliantly.

Also intriguing are the different ways Franzmann looks at "bodies," how they fail, and how those-whose-bodies-work can aid those-whose-bodies-fail. Justine Mitchell and Philip Goldacre are both terrific as characters whose bodies fail them, Mitchell's Clem unable to conceive, and Goldacre's David (Clem's father) unable even to feed himself. The mirroring of the father's and daughter's plights offers much useful food for thought.

Unfortunately, like a hungry shark, Franzmann then allows the issues of her issues-play to devour the complexity of her characters, till there's nothing left but the bloody entrails of liberal guilt. . .



Justine Mitchell is typically great as the Yerma-desperate Clem, Jonathan McGuinness endearing as her supportive husband (he seems to have the role fulltime now, on the Royal Court site). So too does Hannah Rae make a wonderful stage debut as Clem's daughter, empathetic and mercurial, and Lorna Brown offer gravitas and humour as Clem's father's carer. But it is Philip Goldacre, as Clem's father, David, whose performance I will most treasure, his juddering movements and slurred speech suggesting bodily degeneration, while his playful humour and eagle eyes suggest a diamond sharp mind.

All in all, this is an issues play that eats itself, and it's a shame, as Franzmann's ability to think round issues, as well as her experimental and innovative ways of presenting them, are generally terrific.

3 stars.

I always get home too late to write a proper review (am quite knackered and emotionally drained from this).

Some quick thoughts

- The script is mostly excellent, as are the acting performances, especially from Lorna Brown and Justine Mitchell

- I thought the first half was stronger. The 'journey' is very convincing and I think it's much like the train of thought most people go through when contemplating the issue. First thinking it's a business transaction, before opening pandora's box of ethical and moral difficulty that comes with commercial surrogacy

- For me the weakest scenes were the ones with the surrogate. It seemed like she was sometimes doing random things that didn't serve much purpose beyond being a very long metaphor. I found myself being taken out of the action, and there were several scenes in the second half that I thought went on too long without furthering the play much.

- The strongest scenes for me were the ones between the protagonist, her father and her father's nurse. Some of the dialogue was razor sharp and really got to the heart of the extent we've detached ourselves from direct responsibility for the family - both the duty to look after her father and the carrying of her child had been outsourced, in the name of capitalist efficiency. It reminds me of the people I know in China and Hong Kong who work non-stop and have their childcare AND parental care needs outsourced to a plethora of nannies and servants. Confucius weeps in his grave.



- An obvious comparison is the recent version of Yerma. For me Bodies is a much more realistic and convincing story. Although it's not quite the visual spectacle, this is a much more thought provoking play that will stay with me longer.

Moderately enthusiastic reaction from the crowd. No standers or anything but definitely an appreciative audience.

3.5/4 stars out of 5 for me.