Hot on the heels of the Young Vic, the Print Room is the latest London theatre to present a play by the celebrated European playwright Jon Fosse.
At a recent memorial for the French director Patrice Chéreau, David Lan, artistic director of the Young Vic, praised the beauty of Fosse's latest production, 'I am the Wind' and asked why the Norwegian dramatist is worshipped across Europe, but has achieved no such status in Britain. Initially presented at the Royal Court in 2002 with 'Night Songs', Fosse was savagely reviewed in the UK. 'Wretchedly pretentious, interminably boring' was the Daily Telegraph 's verdict, with the paper's theatre critic Charles Spencer enjoying the fact that Jon is pronounced 'Yawn' ('a splendidly apt name for the blighter').
Yet Fosse's work has been performed more than 900 times in more than 40 languages and last year he was nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature.
So why don't the British get him? Possibly because his plays are abstract theatre-poems, in the spirit of Samuel Beckett or Harold Pinter. Certainly, they are in a different league from the well-made naturalistic plays of which the British are so fond. 'I am the Wind', the 2011 Chéreau production translated by playwright Simon Stephens, was aesthetically beautiful, both enigmatic and poetic. Although quite lengthy at times, the impact of the performance lingered with us long after we left the theatre.
Just as 'I am the Wind' had just two characters (two young men on a sailing boat, called 'The One' and 'The Other'), so with 'The Dead Dogs'. The plot centres around a woman and her son living beside a fjord, who discover that their beloved dog has disappeared. This production is presented by Oberon Books as an existential suspense story. It is directed by Simon Usher, who has extensive credits at the Royal Court, the RSC, Bush Theatre, National Theatre and in the West End. Prepare yourself for a thought provoking and contemplative evening, in one of the most intimate theatre spaces in West London. We reckon this will be a highlight of London's upcoming theatre calendar.
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CULTURE WHISPER DISCOUNT: From 15-22 March Culture Whisper readers get 2 for 1 tickets (usually £23 each) by calling the Box Office on 020 7221 6036 and quoting "Culture Whisper Offer". Book by 22 March - subject to availability.
| What | The Dead Dogs, The Print Room |
| Where | The Coronet Theatre, Print Room, 103 Notting Hill Gate, London, W11 3LB | MAP |
| Nearest tube | Notting Hill Gate (underground) |
| When |
14 Mar 14 – 12 Apr 14, Mon-Sat 19.30; Sat matinees 15.30 |
| Price | £17.00 - 23.00 |
| Website | Click here to book via the Print Room |
