The Upcoming
  • Culture
    • Art
    • Cinema
      • Movie reviews
      • Film festivals
    • Food & Drinks
      • News & Features
      • Restaurant & bar reviews
      • Interviews & Recipes
    • Literature
    • Music
      • Live music
    • Theatre
    • Shows & On demand
  • Fashion & Lifestyle
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
  • What’s On
    • Art exhibitions
    • Theatre shows
  • Tickets
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Fund us
    • Contact us
  • Interviews
  • Competitions
  • Special events
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Cannes
      • Sundance London
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • Tumblr

  • RSS


CultureTheatre

The Blinding Light at Jermyn Street Theatre

The Blinding Light at Jermyn Street Theatre | Theatre review
14 September 2017
Selina Begum
Selina Begum
Avatar
Selina Begum
14 September 2017

Theatre review

Selina Begum

The Blinding Light

★★★★★

Dates

6th September - 14th October 2017

Price

£10-£20

Links & directions

TwitterFacebookWebsiteMap

Written by the playwright Howard Brenton, The Blinding Light is an exploration on the life of experimental Swedish playwright Johan August Strindberg. In the Jermyn Street Theatre’s intimate performance space soft antique music emanates from speakers as theatregoers become seated.

Strindberg (Jasper Britton) emerges on stage, with the chambermaid Lola (Laura Morgan) in the Hotel Orfila, Rue d’Assas, Paris, 1896. From the onset, the characters start quarrelling, a preview of what’s yet to come. She attempts to clean his hotel room, which has become the setting for his alchemic experiments in an attempt to discover gold. Fantastical as this seems, there is an element of plausibility as the real-life Strindberg experienced a radical change from a literary life to a scientific one, perhaps occurring due to an artistic block, amongst other societal challenges he faced at the time.

Brenton’s script is humorous and produces copious laughs from the audience. The sharp Wildean wit is particularly significant in the scenes between Strindberg and his wives, Siri and Frida. 

Dealing with the fine line between fantasy and reality with deftness and an experimental vision provided by artistic director Tom Littler, Brenton’s play imitates the real life of Strindberg, who had experienced delusion and paranoia. These changes in his psyche are revealed with the use of Britton’s unsettling “other” voice, the lights and sound effects creating darker moods and atmosphere. Like his experiments in attempting to putrefy the elements, it seems his own self requires putrefaction, to reach a point where he can continue to write again.

Though a wordy script, Brenton adroitly utilises the principal techniques of Strindberg’s work, from the quick-witted use of language to the naturalistic setting that adds a distinct biographical touch. Furthermore, an interesting correlation between Brenton and Strindberg is the experimental themes the piece touches upon, such as homosexuality and the relationship between the genders, which Strindberg himself wrote on extensively.

Like his inspiration, Brenton decides to focus more on characterisation rather than plot, which works in the play’s favour as a detailed and personal reflection on the part of Strindberg’s life he referred to as “Inferno”.

★★★★★

Selina Begum
Photo: Robert Workman

The Blinding Light is at Jermyn Street Theatre from 6th September until 14th October 2017. For further information or to book visit here.

Related Itemsreview

More in Theatre

Bat Out of Hell at the Dominion Theatre

★★★★★
Laura Ewing
Read More

Faceless

★★★★★
Cristiana Ferrauti
Read More

Half Breed

★★★★★
Bev Lung
Read More

Education, Education, Education at Shoreditch Town Hall

★★★★★
Catherine Sedgwick
Read More

Chicago at Phoenix Theatre

★★★★★
Jim Compton-Hall
Read More

Tina: The Musical at Aldwych Theatre

★★★★★
Connor Campbell
Read More

The Encounter at the Barbican

★★★★★
Aidan Milan
Read More

Iliza Shlesinger Live at Queen Elizabeth Hall

★★★★★
Ella Navarro
Read More

Gauhar Jaan – The Datia Incident at Omnibus Theatre

★★★★★
Daniel Amir
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Theatre review

Selina Begum

The Blinding Light

★★★★★

Dates

6th September - 14th October 2017

Price

£10-£20

Links & directions

TwitterFacebookWebsiteMap

Tickets

Theatre tickets

  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • Project Gastronomía: How will Londoners eat in 2050? A symposium on gastronomy and multisensory design
    Food & Drinks
  • Gregory Porter at the Royal Albert Hall
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Bat Out of Hell at the Dominion Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Tribeca Film Festival 2018: On the red carpet with the stars of Westworld season 2
    Cinema
  • Half Breed
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Sherlock Gnomes premiere: A chat with James McAvoy, his co-stars and the film’s creators
    Cinema
  • The Outsider
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Tokio Myers at the Forum
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • The Outsider: An interview with director Thomas Meadmore
    Cinema
  • Beast
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Sherlock Gnomes premiere: A chat with James McAvoy, his co-stars and the film’s creators
    Cinema
  • Tokio Myers at the Forum
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Beast
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Lisa Stansfield at the London Palladium
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Bat Out of Hell at the Dominion Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre

Instagram

Something is wrong. Response takes too long or there is JS error. Press Ctrl+Shift+J or Cmd+Shift+J on a Mac.
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Fund us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • New London restaurant openings and pop-ups
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Subscribe
  • What, when, why

Copyright © 2018 FL Media Ltd

John Legend at the O2 Arena | Live review
The Knowledge at Charing Cross Theatre | Theatre review