Theatre Review: The Lady from the Sea (Play)

The Lady from the Sea
16 September 2005
Bridge Theatre
London
Play

(This is a late review for a show I saw last year. I was too tired and had back pain when I got back from my trip, and then I forgot I had not yet done this review until I was penning a new theatre review for this year. So, I am now catching up.)

The Lady from the Sea was a huge disappointment. I was inspired to see it both because I like Ibsen's plays and for the casting, since I have seen both actors many times on screen and wanted to experience their performances on stage. I knew this was a modern-set production, but I hadn't realised until the play started that the play had been rewritten and 'modernised' in its entirety. The dialogue was dull and annoying through this attempt, and it wasn't helped by the performances. Andrew Lincoln was fine, but Alicia Vikander mumbled her lines so much that it was often hard to make out what she was saying. None of this was helped by the fact the seats we had were up against a railing, with no room to move our legs, and my mother and I both have knee issues, so we were uncomfortable throughout. I also found the staging a problem. It was my first time in the Bridge Theatre, and the stage is central, with seats on all sides. The lighting was bright enough that I could clearly see the audience opposite, and their movements kept distracting me from the action on stage. By the interval none of us were particularly enjoying it, and we decided to leave without watching act two. We apparently then missed rain falling and the stage turning into a swimming pool, but while that might have looked cool, I cannot see it would have saved this production. So, the evening was a bit of a waste for us, and I can only give this 2 stars, mainly for Andrew Lincoln's performance in the part we saw. I would note, this is the one and only time I have ever walked out of the theatre without seeing a performance through to the end, which indicates how little I was enjoying it (though granted the uncomfortable seating also played a part in the decision).