Meeting of minds
When Henri Met Oscar, by Michael Gannon @ Barons Court Theatre, Curtains Up Pub By John Dunne - 24/11/09
Michael Gannon has written an interesting play about supposed meetings between Irish playwright Oscar Wilde and French painter Toulouse-Lautrec.
The first act opens in Lautrec's studio in 1894, with both men at the height of their fame and fortune. Populated with scantily-dressed prostitutes and soaked with lashings of 'Green Fairy' absinthe, the sense of dangerous decadence and arrogance exuded by both men was tangible.
The second opens six years later, with Wilde a broken man after his prison sentence, disgrace and subsequent banishment from London society. Lautrec, on the other hand, presented himself a bitter figure after a lifetime worshipping at the altar of Venus, only to end his days topped up with doses of mercury and alcohol. In the end. both men were to die lonely and dejected deaths within two years of their second meeting.
Steven Rodgers’ portrayal of Lautrec held one’s attention throughout the show which was remarkable since he spent the whole play seated, either in his
studio or in a wheelchair parked in a Paris cafe.
Special mention should also go to the two key prostitutes of the play who not only played 'ladies of the night' with conviction, but were able to breathe credibility and emotion when relaying their own concerns and stories.
This was no mean feat, given the proximity of the cast to the audience. Both Amy Malherne and Liz Balmford played Marie and Yvette with style and subtly. A lovely production, and well worth catching.
Runs till Sun 29 Nov, Box Office 020 7602 0235.
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