Donmar Warehouse
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The story is presented in a series of long flash-backs. They take us to the school days of Sandy Stranger (played by Rona Morison). Each one is connected by a short snippet of an interview in which adult Sandy is the interviewee, talking to a journalist about her recently published book before she takes the vow of silence and becomes a nun. To accommodate these two settings, the imposing set perfectly creates the atmosphere of both the school and the convent, meaning there is always some eerie sense of Sandy's past and future hanging over her. The transition between the two different time periods are mesmerizingly smooth and intricate.
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Miss Jean Brodie, the titular character, is an inspirational teacher. She purposefully veers off the prescribed curriculum in order to create an exciting and memorable experience of learning and education, changing the girls' perspective of school. She tells the girls stories of her travels, and introduces her group of elite students to art, theatre, and sherry. Her magnetic and intriguing personality not only attracts the loyalty of her girls which she so desperately desires, but also the attention of two male teachers at the school. Sandy Stranger is her favourite student, and in many cases, the relationship she has with Sandy appears to be more important to her than her romantic relationship with music teacher Mr Lowther. The young girl craves Miss Brodie's attention as much as Miss Brodie craves the girl's loyalty. Miss Brodie's ability to captivate and engage her audience is impressive and almost admirable. That is until, due to her admiration of Mussolini and the fascists, she persuades Joyce Emily (a very vulnerable young girl played with excellence by Nicola Coughlan) to take a train to Spain and fight against Franco. Two weeks later Joyce is reported dead. She is killed by the fascists.
The acting is superb from the whole cast. In my opinion, some parts of the play are presented with less importance attached to them than I thought they should have, and were therefore slightly less interesting than the could have been. However, it is the energy and commitment of the cast which continues to push the play forward and ensures that it does not drag. Overall, this is an interesting play with so many layers to the story that, very gradually, begin to peel away and show new dimensions to the plot. At times, the developments in the plot are too little, too late. It is the performance that the cast gives which gives this play it's own unique stamp. |