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The Country Girl at the Theatre Royal Nottingham
Writer Ian Douglas revisits an American classic.
Living with talent, especially great talent, can’t be easy. And when the talent takes a nosedive to the bottom of the nearest whisky bottle, well, how long before that life starts to crumble?
The Country Girl, by legendary playwright Clifford Odets, begins as this point. Frank Elgin is a liar, a drunk, and a has-been. He nearly made it in Hollywood. Nearly. But nearly doesn’t cut it. Now the only thing he has to hang onto is his long-suffering wife Georgie. The once beautiful housewife walks and talks like an old woman, when she’s anything but. That’s due to a lifetime soothing Frank’s ego, keeping him sober and generally holding his hand in the long dark night of his soul.
And then, just as all seems lost, a ray of hope shines into their dismal existence. Bernie Dodds, an upcoming, ambitious director, flies in the face of common sense. He casts Frank in the lead role of his new theatrical production.
But can Frank keep his demons at bay long enough to rekindle his dormant genius? Can he snatch triumph from the jaws of alcoholic failure? And what chance will he have without his devoted if downcast wife in the dressing room, always on hand to primp up his pride or root out that hidden beer bottle?
If this sounds a little like the Hollywood classic A Star is Born, the resemblance ends there. Odets loathed the shallowness of Hollywood, a place he was forced to work to pay for his disabled daughter’s care. He felt more at home on Broadway, where he had licence to plumb the dark depths of the human soul.
The play grows in complexity with every line of dialogue. The relationship between Frank and Georgie is far subtler than that of oppressed wife and lush husband. To add to the drama, Bernie becomes an unwitting third player in their private drama. The relationship between actor and director is almost a platonic love affair. At the same time Bernie’s ambivalence to Georgie takes an unexpected turn. A play, a marriage and three lives are on course for a train wreck!
Martin Shaw, in the role of Frank, is almost a national treasure after his stunning television career. A few of us older theatregoers remember the impact he made in Helen a Woman of Today. The Professionals and Inspector George Gently are of course more recent accomplishments. Mr Shaw electrifies each scene as Frank. He excels at his character’s gruff, smoky American vowels. He conveys a great creative power, dimmed by alcohol and disappointment, but teetering on the brink of rebirth. If he falls off the wagon it’s going to be a very long fall, into ruin and pathos.
Jenny Seagrove captivates the audience with a performance that is all about grace under pressure, sacrifice, and despair. We ask that same question so often asked in real life. Why? Why does she stand by her man? Before curtain fall we will have an answer.
So there we have it. A revival of one of Odets’ finest and most complex plays. Two famous actors and a flawless supporting cast. Great sets evoking the period feel of America circa 1950. As nights out in Nottingham go, what more could we ask for?
Ian Douglas
www.iandouglas-writer.co.uk
The Country Girl: Till Saturday 4 September.
For tickets call the Theatre Royal Box office on 0115 989 5555 or book online.
www.royalcentre-nottingham.co.uk
