Review of 13

Other reviews can be found at:
http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2011/oct/26/13-review
http://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/review.php/33998/13
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-reviews/8848998/13-National-Theatre-review.html

Now if you know me well then you know how harsh and critical I can be especially about Theatre shows so when I give high praise to something I have seen then you can trust me it is worthy! Out of the 4 common ground shows I saw 13 had to be the best. Frontline failed to peak my interests and don't get me started on the singing, Our Country's Good had the best acting in it but I was very aware I was sitting in a theatre, and 100 years was a well structured albeit minutiae on the love side of war and less on the tragic conflict. 13 was as close to a perfect show I have seen in my entire life.

The opening immediately put me 100% in the action. I was greeted with this amazing sit design with a different levels and dark lightening exciting my senses making me anticipate the events to come. We see all these different characters enter mysteriously and they just start having a full-scale terror attack with chilling screams connecting voice and body. The swinging pendulum was an inspired idea as the light fixed to it gave off a sort of an alarming feel for me as an audience member like I too was having a bad dream. The way the actors used the stage with such familiarity and the transitions between sequences were absolutely flawless there were no lulls in energy that took me out of it, I was always engaged and focused. The cut from the opening sequence to the protesters was very well done which is mostly down to the brilliant writing.

It was excellently cast. All of the actors gave unique performances that showed high technical skill. If I was to pick out a few to critique I would have to give one of my only (I say only even though I have more) negative comments on the actor playing the lawyer. He brought a certain charisma and charm to the character and I so desperately wanted to like him but... I couldn't understand a word he was saying. His mere presence was simply formidable but what did that matter when all I could hear was "well erm blarslfslsaaal eh ehemm" *sniffs gratuitously. Granted that was an idiosyncrasy that his coke-addict character had but if only he could have done it in a way that didn't make me confused about what the hell was going on. On the other hand we get a pair of actors that have such a wonderful on stage chemistry that I don't even question their relationship at all. I am obviously talking about the bond between the psychotic mother and her precious little angel. From the moment the entered I didn't even doubt for a second that they were mother and daughter. I could feel the back stories they had it just came through effortlessly and that takes real artistry.

The portrayal of the themes were just excellent. I felt like an idiot when I found out the TRUE extent of the bibliography within the text but that was not to the fault of the actors. The sense of doom and despair and the tension and suspense never dropped even though it kept on swapping between all these different stories there was always the flying of this impending bomb about to drop and it was always in the back of my mind. The way in which it made me think and make me genuinely worry about political affairs that could possibly be happening right this second was phenomenal. The commitment to the piece was all there. I noticed that during one of the fight scenes one the actor who played Amir had actually cut himself and was bleeding but instead of coming out of character he incorporated it into his piece seamlessly.

I only briefly mentioned it but the scenery and props were top notch. The elevated levels of the government scenes gave a sense alienation and division from the rest of the "normal" everyday stuff was cleverly envisioned. The big white box seriously took the creativity of the staging to a new level although it was quite annoying as it sometimes did cover the actors speech in awkward screeches. The costumes were simple yet effective. Everything worked, all the formally dressed characters had perfect dress and suit design, The youth type characters had perfect clothing and that one mysterious character dressed all in black didn't draw focus like you though he might have.

The directing style was good. I feel like the actors probably had more of an input on the project but I'm not quite sure why. Maybe it's to do with the freedom I felt each character had and the way there were so realistic. I feel that more of the action so have taken place centre stage. The couch was placed far stage right and so for some sitting in Left Block much of the action in the family setting was lost. The sequences were genius as I have said before but the way it incorporates you into the piece post-interval is stunning. One other complaint I had was the use of multimedia felt a little bit unnecessary, The video recording of John's speech may have seemed like a good idea but to be honest it kind of felt a tiny bit contrived. It just didn't click with the rest of the piece.

The most memorable part of the whole performance was when Ruby was murdered. I will never forget the way she just starts banging the knife against the chopping board in such a menacing fashion making me fear her. Up until this moment all we had seen was a mum and her child but then suddenly you see this change in the atmosphere and it's just blood-curdling and simple and one of the best moments of Theatre I had ever seen.

All in all 13 was a magnificent play well worth the money I spent. I would recommended it to anyone in a heartbeat!