Big and Small - 28th April 2012

The Barbican is not one of my favourite theatres so it takes a good reason to lure me to East London. However, a second appearance of Cate Blanchett on the London stage proved too strong to resist. I missed her previous appearance in David Hare's "Plenty" so I was determined not to lose the opportunity to see one of cinema's most intelligent actresses again.

It was only when I realised  I would be watching a 160 minute German surrealist play that I began to have doubts. "Big and Small" ( Gross Und Klein) was written by Botho Strauss in 1978 and is presented by the Sydney Theatre company and will tour to other European venues.

It starts with Cate Blanchett sitting at the front of the stage, listening to conversations (unheard to us) whilst on holiday in Morooco. Following the monologue we entered strange scenes with the Australian actress appearing through bedroom windows and then constantly entering doors for some confusing mini-tableaux.

Eventually though the frenetic nature of the piece died down and as the audience becomes more acclimatised to the pace it becomes apparent that there is a coherent plot. We are following the exploits of Lotte a woman struggling to cope with the collapse of her marriage to Paul and see her (increasingly) desperate attempts to connect with old schoolfriends, family and ultimately the world.

This may sound heavy, pretentious material but the play's triumph is its warmth, humanity and humour. The playwright never allows us to laugh at the characters, only the situations eg a sleeping bag  inhabited by a person avoiding the world, a seemingly normal family barbecue descending to chaos etc. These pieces are not designed to belittle Lotte but conversely show that none of us are totally inter-connected.

This is theatre on a grand scale. The production values are impressive with the scenery changes slik and effortless allowing these vignettes to flow naturally. The cast is surprisingly large (14) for a touring company and although obviously one performer dominates proceedings, her co-stars all have their moments in the spotlight.

But, of course the reason most people are here is to watch the Oscar-winning actress Cate Blanchett and she does not disappoint. Increasingly, film stars appear on the West End stage (often when their career is waning) in well-established plays , "Driving Miss Daisy", "The Sunshine Boys", "The Children's Hour" etc. It is therefore extremely impressive that she selected such an ambitious and demanding (both physically and mentally) piece. ( How she manages to perform twice on a matinee day is beyond me!) A succession of curtain calls from a packed, appreciative audience (no doubt relieved this was not as avant-garde as they had feared) proved she was right.

A wondrous evening was perfectly concluded having spotted Rufus Wainwright sitting next to the Duke & Duchess of Kent . A truly surreal night.