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Theatre

London,

Duet For One

Description: Juliet Stevenson and Henry Goodman star in Tom Kempinski's drama about an acclaimed violinist suffering from multiple sclerosis. Directed by Matthew Lloyd.



Rating: 5 out of 5 Nicholas de Jongh's rating
Rating: 4 out of 5

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Dir: Matthew Lloyd.

Cast: Juliet Stevenson, Henry Goodman

Almeida Theatre Almeida Street, Islington, N1 1TA

Phone: 0207359 4404

Website: www.almeida.co.uk

Email: ticketenquiries@almeida.co.uk

Opening hours:

Extra info: Food, Pub

Transport: Rail/Tube: Highbury & Islington; Tube: Angel Transport for London , Tube / Bus: 4, 19, 30, 38, 43, 56, 73, 341, 476 Transport for London

Performance of a lifetime in Duet For One

Duet For One
Overwhelming emotional power: Juliet Stevenson with Henry Goodman who plays the perfect epitome of a psychotherapist in Tom Kempinski’s Duet For One at the Almeida
Duet For One Duet For One

By Nicholas de Jongh
30 Jan 2009


I WAS pained, enthralled and finally exhilarated by Matthew Lloyd’s superb production of Tom Kempinski’s Eighties play, in which a famous, married violinist, forcibly retired by multiple sclerosis at 42, seeks therapy from a German-born psychiatrist. How can she live the remaining years of a now curtailed life, all joy gone?

Today, when celebrities enjoy few things more than exposing intimate aspects of their private lives to the prurient public, Duet For One comes as a fresh antidote to such posturings and phoneyness. It is enhanced by performances of overwhelming emotional power and conviction by Juliet Stevenson and Henry Goodman. The play’s source of inspiration may have been the great cellist, Jacqueline du Pré, who died after years of MS, but thereafter the similarities end.

Kempinski gives a searing impression of the anguish and disturbance involved in probing the regions of the subconscious, whose secrets may help illuminate our lives if brought to the surface. The Duet For One can therefore be likened to a drama in which the mind conceals a mystery waiting to be solved.

When Stevenson’s Stephanie Abrahams, wheelchair-bound wife of a fashionable composer, arrives at the consulting room of Goodman’s bearded epitome of the German-Jewish psychotherapist, Dr Feldmann, she maintains a valiant, witty composure. She suggests that plans to act as her husband’s secretary and to teach exceptional pupils the violin are proof of fighting-spirit, to bolster which Feldmann prescribes anti-depressants.

Then as the sessions continue, as the psychotherapist raises questions about her childless marriage, conflict with her father, the early death of a mother who had abandoned a concert pianist’s career and, crucially, about her own marriage, Stephanie’s façade is pierced. As with some Ibsen heroine, who has shielded herself from her past, Stevenson magnificently erupts in a volcanic outpouring of fury and tears and succumbs to hopeless dejection. It’s the performance of a lifetime. But after Goodman’s mint-sucking shrink, perfect epitome of mannered inscrutability, loses his temper, he offers a glimmer of challenging hope that startles her as it does us. A triumph.

Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.

Reader views (2)

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I remember seeing this play in the eighties with Frances de la Tour as the violinist. It had quite an impact on me at the time so much so that I went to see it three times during its run in the West End. Very happy to read about this revival and very much looking forward to seeing this production when I return to the UK next month.

- Andrew Dowling, Libya, 02/02/2009 14:52
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Henry Goodman was powerful but Juliet Stevenson was a bit too showy, her acting skills were a little too visible and it detracted from the emotional power of her part. Good but not as moving as it could have been.

- Derek, London, 01/02/2009 00:40
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