This piece on dementia or a similar degenerative brain disease already was at a disadvantage in my mind as it had to follow a truly special production on the same subject at the Royal Court. Both plays address the issue in similar ways, even though Florian Zeller's play seems to be a more traditional and common form of the disease yet this doesn't detract from the impact, if anything creating a shorter gap between fiction and reality. Miriam Buether's set design is a tad alienating in the expense and emptiness of it yet none of it is a problem to an emotionally charged, intentionally confusing and upsetting play about the deterioration of Kenneth Craham's André from a strong and often unpleasant father to a distressed and alone patient. The play is intended to filter the world through André, even though at times it breaks his own rules by giving time without him. You don't who his daughter is and what the real truth is and achieves in a similar way to Nicola Wilson's play an insight into the mind of someone with dementia. Craham is extraordinary as the central character, being unsympathetic and yet compelling to watch. Claire Skinner does a fine job as his daughter who is tired and feels almost abused by her fathers increasing dependence on her whilst Nicholas Gleaves has the malice and decisiveness in Pierre that spices up the play, with the rest of the cast enhancing and adding depth to a highly emotional, clever and sophisticated play.
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The 39 Steps is efficient enough to tell a spy caper in the space of 100 minutes, including an interval, and is extremely fun, but I am not sure it is anything more than that. True to say that the four actors are extremely admirable, with character changes which are incredibly amusing. However, the fact that it is not the funniest play on the west end is difficult as that is really what it relies on in it's advertising. Therefore, now the only pull it has for staying in the west end is the appeal to tourists for the over-use of union jacks in all forms of advertising. The tricycle theatre is known for experimental stuff, but this just feels a bit safe for the group, with all members of the cast being white and very stereotypically 'British'. It doesn't seem to challenge the rules of theatre-going to make this particularly interesting. That being said, it is fantastically fun for the duration, with the actors mocking the whole absurdity of the piece throughout. I certainly did not feel like a wasted any money or time coming to see this fun sow, even if it wasn't quite as funny or different as I would have liked.
