Review: The House of Special Purpose
The worst has happened, says Tsar Nicholas in Heidi Thomas's thoughtful and gripping new play. 'An emperor can only abdicate once,' he explains.
Of course, we know abdication was not the worst that could happen in revolutionary Russia in 1918. Knowing sharpens a drama in which expected tensions are counter-balanced by moments of unexpected tenderness between royals and revolutionaries.
If the ending will mostly leave the audience's sympathies with the former, there are hints along the way to suggest the rebels were not without a cause.
The play, whose title refers to the Romanovs' place of imprisonment in Ekaterinburg, is skilfully structured and fluently directed by Howard Davies.
The mostly brief scenes are linked by snatches of specially-composed music by Dominic Muldowney evoking the Russian setting.
The sole weakness, attributable to both writer and director, is that only one of the four sisters emerges as a clearly-defined character.
Kate O'Flynn (Emily in Kingdom on ITV1) both builds on the wicked humour Anastasia is given and shows that she like any other human desperately needs to be loved.
Adrian Rawlins and Clare Holman give beautifully-measured performances as the Tsar and Tsarina, ranging from dignity to despair.
At the end, Gerard Monaco and Kieran Bew share a poetic scene in which some kind of hope of a new beginning is suggested.
In repertoire until August 22.
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Sunday 12 February 2012
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