Jude Law electrifies ANNA CHRISTIE

THEATRE: Donmar Warehouse, London

DATE: 18-08-2011

TIME: 19:30

WITH: Jude Law, Ruth Wilson, David Hayman, Jenny Galloway, Matt Wilman, Paul Brightwell, Michael Walters, Robert Lonsdale, Henry Pettigrew

DIRECTOR: Rob Ashford

“Anna Christie” is far from Nobel Prize winner Eugene O'Neill's most interesting work, but thanks to director Rob Ashford ("A Streetcar Named Desire", "Parade") it has received a stunning new production. This revival is also noteworthy for a sensational and revelatory performance from Jude Law as an Irish stoker.

 

Anna Christie followed a long tradition of stories about ‘fallen women’ who are seeking redemption when it was written. It opened on Broadway in 1921 and was an instant hit. The compassionate way in which the playwright dealt with the gritty milieu and subject matter was groundbreaking for its time. The play eventually went on to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and was turned into a successful film in 1931, which was notable for being Greta Garbo’s first ‘talky’. 

 Matt Wilman, Ruth Wilson as Anna & Jenny Galloway

The story has lost some if its immediacy over time and its language can at times come across as a bit artificial. The last major production of it dates all the way back to 1993 on Broadway and featured critically acclaimed performances by the late Natasha Richardson and Liam Neeson (both received Tony nominations). This current revival overcomes the play’s weaknesses with strong acting and brilliant staging, and it would not surprise me if - on the strength of Jude Law’s performance - it eventually makes its way  back to New York where the play originated and is set.

 Photography by Johan Persson

Anna Christie is essentially a three-character-play dealing with former prostitute Anna (Ruth Wilson), who is reunited after 15 years with her father Christopher (David Hayman). The latter is a Swedish immigrant and works and lives on a barge in the New York docks. Anna is in desperate need of rest and purification, which she finds in being near to the sea. In this production the sea is really a fourth major character and Ashford and his collaborators – including sound designer Adam Cork – make sure it is an ever present force through shanties, foghorns, whistles, gales and sounds of the sea clashing on the shore. This sea gives but also takes with brute force and Jude Law's character Mat can be seen as a symbol for this. 

Although O’Neill is not known for his humor this production cannily knows where to find laughs. In the long first introductory act it is multiple Olivier-winner Jenny Galloway as an aging prostitute for example who infuses the production with laughter. Christopher’s constantly blaming “dat ole devil, sea” for his bad choices in life also consistently earns laughs for David Hayman.

 David Hayman & Ruth Wilson

While staying on her father’s barge Anna meets Irish Stoker Mat Burke (Jude Law) and there is an instant attraction. Both Mat and Christopher remain in the dark, however, about Anna’s prostitution past until the climactic revelation, which could easily turn into soapy melodrama. This is avoided here by powerful acting. When the two men are hit in the face with the truth by a cornered Anna they immediately let Her fall. In Mat's case even violently. The ending - Mat forgives Anna and ‘saves’ her reputation - could be interpreted as happy, but not in this production which ends on a rather hypnotic and ambiguous note. 

David Hayman is pretty effective in conveying his character’s emotions, but his weird, supposedly Swedish, accent often makes him unintelligible. Ruth Wilson, who won an Olivier Award for her Stella in Ashford’s Streetcar at the Donmar, impresses with conveying both the tough and tender sides of Anna. With great depth and a voice as low as a foghorn (reminded me of Garbo’s voice) she makes Anna's journey from hating men to falling in love with a typical alphamale highly compelling. Wilson is especially powerful when succinctly pointing out the hypocrisy of the men condemning her.

However good Wilson is it is Jude Law who gives the most memorable performance of the night. It is a very physical performance. One I did not know Law was capable of. His first appearance - rising out of the sea during a heavy storm with his impressive torso exposed - is simply breathtaking. It immediately introduces Mat as a force of nature. He is a brute of a man, who falls in love with his image of Anna, instead of who she really is.

Law’s stoker is pure animal instinct. He can actually be seen as a forerunner to Stanley  Kowalski in Streetcar. I would never have thought of Law as Stanley before seeing this production, but now I am convinced he would be excellent. His creation truly is revelatory and accesses a whole range of acting muscles that seem to have been laying dormant till now.

Ashford has done a great directing job in channelling and releasing this primal force in the actor. Law picks up Christopher as he were a bag, throws Anna around, defiantly faces a gun pointed at him, throws a bed to the floor, and when he screams at God you expect the ceiling of the Donmar to cave in because of his force. I was also surprised to discover what a magnificent stage voice he has. Law makes his Irish accent rise and fall like the mighty sea and his booming sound commands attention. This is without a doubt the best performance of his career. One I will not soon forget.

Like all Donmar productions Paul Wills’ set is simple, but highly effective. It is made out of dark wooden planks and has a few stunning surprises in store during the show. Its floor, for example , magically transforms into the deck of a ship and can even tilt and rise to great dramatic effect. Every contribution of cast and creatives helps make this production into the stunner it is, from Adam Cork’s foreboding soundscape to Neil Austin’s moody lighting. The production’s final image floored me and left me wondering about the fates of these characters. 

Anna Christie was completely sold out far in advance of its opening, but I managed to get my hands on standing rooms ticket by queuing very early in front of the Donmar. The wait was definitely worth it!