"Kane without rage", a review of Phaedra's Love at Arcola Theatre, London. The review is by Miriam Gillinson from Culture Wars, 7 Oct 2011. You can read the full review here
www.culturewars.org.uk/index.php/site/article/kane_without_rage"... When Kane is done well, the theatre burns with a raw energy few other playwrights can conjure. But when Kane is done badly, the theatre feels empty and lifeless. Kane’s words, which have the potential to pierce so painfully, sound crass if not delivered with economy and understanding. And Kane’s plot, if handled clumsily, just feels preposterous. Above all, Kane’s writing demands a clawingly strange atmosphere that digs deep inside you. Unfortunately, Carr’s production tingles only with embarrassment, both on stage and in the audience.
There just isn’t any conviction here. The actors seem lost, all clutching at wildly contrasting performance styles... The best Kane performances pulse with a desire for something more – but Shaw’s Hippolytus seems to welcome the abyss that engulfs him.
"... Kane without rage makes for near-impotent theatre. When the anger – so important in this play – is finally revealed (not unleashed) in the final mob scene, its impact is only in its incongruity. A mob of youngsters, clean and clear cut, ‘storm’ the stage. They look like a bunch kids on a field trip and, even when they’re ripping out intestines and raping ladies, it all feels depressingly sanitised."