HERE WE ARE • NATIONAL THEATRE LONDON
★★★★☆☆
Photo: Marc Brenner
REVIEW HERE WE ARE: SURREALISTIC SONDHEIM MUSICAL SURPRISES IN LONDON
Steven Sondheim’s last musical, Here We Are, is currently playing at the National Theatre in London and is one of the most peculiar things I have seen on a theatre stage in a long time.
The performance is a witty and dreamlike, but at times also crazy tribute to life, which must be lived but not necessarily understood. The rarely performed musical is delivered at a high level as an incredibly well-produced piece of musical drama with a distinguished cast, led by American television actress Jane Krakowski.
An exceptionally talented orchestra handles Sondheim’s advanced score, which mostly comes across as fluttering vignettes of abrupt tonal progressions in a haphazard composition, like a musical version of cut-up poetry.
Photo: Marc Brenner
The story is difficult to follow, but it is about a married couple who have invited their wealthy friends, a hedge fund billionaire, an actor’s agent, a plastic surgeon and an interior designer, to brunch.
Together they set off to do what seems easy but turns out to be difficult: finding a place to eat. Peculiar circumstances keep making it impossible to get a table, let alone be served.
Photo: Marc Brenner
‘Do you have water? I’ll go and see,’ says the waiter and never returns. At Café Everything, you get nothing. Elsewhere, the owner has just died and is lying in state on one of the restaurant’s tables in the middle of a lavish buffet that blocks further service.
Photo: Marc Brenner
At the otherwise promising French bistro, a waiter inspired by both Edith Piaf and Jean-Paul Sartre would rather sing philosophical campfire songs than serve.
The circle of friends is constantly expanding with new acquaintances, including a highly decorated general, a soldier in combat uniform and a bishop who dreams of a real job.
Eventually, it becomes too much for one of the guests, who turns out to be an ambassador and invites the entire party to the embassy for dinner and (as it later turns out) an overnight stay in the library.
Photo: Marc Brenner
What is actually going on is a mystery. It is all supposedly inspired by two films by the Spanish/Mexican auteur Luis Buñuel, one of the great surrealists of film history, with works such as The Andalusian Dog (together with the painter Salvador Dali), That Year of the Horse, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie and The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie. The latter is the basis for the first act of Here We Are.
Photo: Marc Brenner
The second act, which takes place in the embassy library, is chaotic and characterised by absurd humour, but with virtually no musical numbers. Here, the performance loses momentum and becomes less captivating, despite good acting performances. The next morning, the library turns out to be locked, and necessities must be obtained from an expensive Ming vase.
In a key scene, someone plays furiously on a grand piano without a single note coming out. It is said that Sondheim ended his career in this way.
The unbearable lightness of being seems under intense pressure in delightful group choreographies, perfectly synchronised with the fragmented music. The performance is a funny, unpredictable, and dreamlike exhibition of late capitalism and a kind of search for the meaning of life. Here we are. Why? And why not?
This strangely unfinished piece is worth seeing for fans of Sondheim, who is known for Sweeney Todd, Sunday In The Park With George, the huge hit Send In The Clowns and the lyrics to West Side Story, among other things. Here We Are is an unusual musical experience, which is rewarded with four stars from Got to see this.
PS. The National Theatre is a large theatre complex on London’s South Bank, on the same side as Shakespeare’s Globe and the Tate Modern. The controversial concrete building with its extremely brutal architecture has been criticised for resembling a nuclear power plant that has been erected in the middle of London without anyone noticing.
The theatre houses several different auditoriums, including smart restaurants, cafés, and a very well-stocked bookshop. The theatre offers a wealth of exciting performances and is definitely worth checking out before your next visit to London.
