Messrs Boswell and Hampton have done it again; a laser cut production of wit, depth and intelligence to swell the heart. Mr. Boswell has become the dragoman of choice for our forays into European theatre – and further afield, whilst Christopher Hampton is the go to translator to dress plays fit for a British sensibility. Daniel Kehlmann already has an international reputation as a novelist (Measuring the World) and the present show will undoubtedly excite expectation for more of the same quality of work for the stage. One corollary of the high standards we are now used to at the Ustinov is that, since reputation feeds on itself, the theatre becomes a magnet for talent of similar renown.
F Murray Abraham, a widely experienced classical actor, yet mostly known on these shores for darker roles on screens small and large, turns out to have a comic touch which is given full exercise in this sharply defined descant on age and value. His character, Benjamin Rubin, the mentor, is a one hit dramatist sunk into a shabby cupidity and a lifestyle fed by turning out film scripts (though not for some time). Hired by a cultural foundation to mentor an up and coming dramatist, Martin Wegner (Daniel Weyman) over the course of a week at the foundation’s rural retreat he is more concerned to bank the ten thousand euro fee than offer any helpful advice on improving what he considers to be a hopeless script. That however doesn’t stop this seasoned roué from making a (successful) pass at Wegner’s attractive wife, Gina (Naomi Frederick) after Wegner stomps off angrily deflated.
As with any Laurence Boswell production we enjoy the interplay of characters. Rubin looks daggers and spits blended scotch – being a malt man – and like any halfway decent spider knows exactly where the prey is in his web. Considered in his movements, Mr. Abraham is an actor who knows exactly what his body is doing and when and how to use it; there’s no waste and nothing lacking. Did he plan the seduction or just seize the moment? It’s not clear, but the twinkle in his eye suggests either is possible, for success and decline have taught him the true meaning of Horace’s, carpe diem. For seducing a woman half his age there are ways and means. Does she fall for his line for the right reasons? Again it is not clear and Ms Frederick doesn’t close off either reading, her Gina, looking at times like an ancient Greek priestess, is no fool. It is the oddest seduction. And because the play takes the form of an extended flashback we know that Martin, by now a success, has taken to heart Rubin’s central message that self-belief is all when the value of a work may be subject to mere whim and there is no limit, ‘to the lack of taste of the nouveau riche’.
Jonathan Cullen’s taut, nervous little failed artist is a clever foil to the other characters and he shows a nice arc as concern turns to exasperation. Polly Sullivan’s spare and stylish set has a wit of its own in its suggestion of cultured seclusion. ★★★★☆ Graham Wyles 12th April 2017
THE MENTOR opens in the West End at the Vaudeville Theatre on 24th June
