The Normal Heart // East is East – National Theatre, London

Once again we take a look at two plays currently on at the National Theatre. This time we have The Normal Heart, a passionate and heartbreaking play written during the AIDS epidemic, and East is East, the first production in the National’s Lyttleton theatre since early 2020.

All Three Theatres In Action Once More!

I am very excited to bring you this new double review of productions at the National Theatre; it marks the first time since 2020 that anything has been on at the National’s Lyttleton Theatre. The last few productions (of After Life/Under Milk Wood, and of Paradise/Rockets and Blue Lights have been in the smaller Dorfman and Olivier theatres. But East is East reopens the Lyttleton. The public spaces at the National Theatre (eg. cafes, bookshop, seating) have also reopened. It feels a bit like old times.

The two plays I am reviewing for you today have both similarities and differences. Both are about experiences of communities outside the mainstream. Both have their funny and tender moments as well as addressing serious issues. One may cause you to shed tears while the other will have you laughing out loud (or cringing). And while they are from different countries and decades, both are revivals which seem to have aged pretty well. They have relatively short runs, so get in quick and see them if you read anything below that piques your interest.

The Normal Heart

I knew that The Normal Heart, a mostly autobiographical play by Larry Kramer written in 1985 as the AIDS epidemic took hold, was going to be emotional. I thought I was ready as I had tissues. But I wasn’t quite prepared to cry more than I can ever remember crying in a theatre. This is a desperately sad moment in history, and Kramer’s first-hand experience perfectly captures the fear and tragedy of watching so many people you know/like/love falling sick and dying. Wondering if you will be next. It is of course a very political play, but Kramer’s personal experience also shines through.

What I think is interesting about the fact that this is an autobiographical play is that the character based on Kramer himself (Ned Weeks, the central character), is not easy. He has boundless energy, fights for what he believes in, challenges others to rise to the occasion. But he does this by arguing, shouting, being a thorn in the side of those with the power to effect change. Weeks, like Kramer, is thrown out of the activist group he helped to found. He is devastated. But Kramer also shows immense introspection – he/Weeks understand why events have unfolded in this way. They see the value in a calmer approach, which can use fiery passion as a foil. The Normal Heart is not an indictment of those who did not follow Kramer’s path. It is a lament that things unfolded in this way, along with an insight into why they did.

As an aside, I find it astounding how early this play first appeared. 1985. Only four years after AIDS cases were first reported. No clear idea of exactly what the virus was or how it was transmitted. And yet watching it in 2021, with all of our current knowledge, it doesn’t feel dated or inaccurate. If a playwright sat down now to capture those early days, I wonder if they could do any better.

A Compassionate Production

Since the first performances, bearing witness to the epidemic has been important to productions of The Normal Heart. (For example, by writing key statistics and facts onto the set.) Here at the National, it takes the form of a minute’s silence as the play opens; a remembrance flame burning above the set; a triangle set into the minimalist design. This design (by Vicki Mortimer) also helps to focus attention onto the actors rather than distractions. A friend who sat behind the stage found it was not always well blocked for her to see the actors’ faces and thus connect with them, but from front-on I found it very effective.

Ben Daniels, who plays Ned Weeks, gives a remarkable performance. His grief is so raw that my heart broke for him more than once. This is a play where the characters are really mouthpieces for the playwright’s brain (it brought to mind Beat the Devil, another fiery work based on first-hand experience of a pandemic), and yet Daniels presents us a fully-fleshed out character. The other performances varied – I liked Luke Norris as Bruce Niles and Dino Fetscher as Felix Turner, but was less invested in some of the smaller roles. But it is definitely Daniels who makes it.

This isn’t an easy play, but I am so glad I saw it. It is an important first-hand artefact of a dark time in history. And an important reminder of the many ways that power structures protect their own interests at the cost of human lives and happiness. Do go and see it. Just maybe don’t sit behind the stage.

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 4/5

The Normal Heart on until 6 November 2021

East is East

East is East is celebrating its 25th anniversary. This particular production, which reopens the Lyttleton Theatre, is a transfer from the Birmingham Rep. Like The Normal Heart, East is East seems to have aged fairly well. Perhaps this is due to the fact that, even in 1996, it was already set in the past? The play takes place in 1971, and introduces us to Pakistani husband, father and small business owner George, his British wife Ella, and the majority of their seven children. To a backdrop of news reports about escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, the tensions in the family also rise as George tries to enforce respect from his children. Things eventually come to a breaking point, in a way that was hard to watch in 1996 and is possibly even more so now.

Playwright Ayub Khan Din comments in an interview in the programme that East is East would probably be harder to write today. There was a freedom, he finds, in a lack of representation and visibility, whereas the heightened concern about representing under-represented groups well would today have stifled some of the broader comedic or difficult elements. As Khan Din puts it: “It’s the same people who wouldn’t allow us the platform are now being overprotective about the platform they’ve now given us.” From one issue to another, I guess.

This is a very ‘warts-and-all’ kind of play in the end, which is what makes it work. Khan Din doesn’t shy away from the humour George’s children share at his expense, or from the topic of domestic violence. It’s a bit like a family – there are ups and downs, and the question is whether love is enough to hold it all together.

I Love It When A Design Comes Together

When I saw the revival of The Death of a Black Man at the Hampstead Theatre earlier this year, it was partly the close domestic setting that made the play feel a little dated. East is East has action in more than one location (family home and chip shop), but could easily have fallen into a similar trap. However, Bretta Gerecke’s set, projection and lighting design neatly avoids this. Different domestic spaces are spotlit as they come into use, while an ingenious revolving piece of the set acts as kitchen, coal shed and chip shop. Images projected onto a set of various-sized screens overhead reinforce the setting and the mood as the play progresses. It felt really effective and never boring.

Also very effective and never boring were the performances. Tony Jayawardena as George gives a larger than life performance, while Sophie Stanton as his wife Ella is a perfect world-weary foil. With an amusing, big-hearted friend and outside perspective in the form of Rachel Lumberg as Auntie Annie. Among the Khans’ children, Amy-Leigh Hickman is a feisty and charismatic Meenah, and Noah Manzoor a sensitively portrayed Sajit – insecurities and tics and all. The company overall encourage the audience to invest themselves wholeheartedly in the dynamics of the Khan family. It may have something to do with the fact that I’m still getting used to big, full audiences again, but there was a real connection and response which gave the evening energy.

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 3.5/5

East is East on until 30 October 2021