IT MAY be just a 250-seater theatre based in a converted brewery warehouse, but the Donmar is just about the hottest theatre in London.
As a sign of its growing influence, it opens two shows in Liverpool’s two leading theatres tomorrow, a musical Guys and Dolls at the Empire Theatre, and an intense drama, Kiss of the Spider Woman at the Liverpool Playhouse.
“I am pleased as it tells audiences about our versatility,” explains the Donmar’s artistic director Michael Grandage, the man who directed Guys and Dolls. “The Donmar is more than just about a building in the middle of Covent Garden, it’s a brand for quality.”
Grandage has been running the Donmar Warehouse for the last five years, taking over from Sam Mendes. While Mendes earned the theatre kudos by featuring Hollywood stars, Grandage admits he has gone “less Hollywood and more for British actors. Some British names have gone to Hollywood but they earned their spurs on stage. I am after proper stage actors and what I am not interested in is people with film careers but no stage experience.”
It’s a point of view that has allowed him to use big film names: he brought Sir Ian McKellan to the Liverpool Playhouse in The Cut and Ewan McGregor was in his original Guys and Dolls production (a role played in Liverpool by pop singer Darius Danesh).
While Guys and Dolls has been a commercial success, Kiss of the Spider Woman is heavier fare.
It is the story of two men in a 1970s Argentinian prison, one a political activist, the other gay.
Originally a novel by Manuel Pig, it became a play, a film and ultim- ately a musical. It was Grandage’s decision to revive the original play.
“It had not been done here for 20 years and two things appealed, one it offers two cracking parts to two actors, and audiences go to the theatre to see performances; secondly it works well on a political and human level. Its theme about political imprisonment is as valid today as when it was first written.”
He was right about the cracking roles, and critics have been gener- ous while the play has been at the Donmar, where it closed on Saturday.
They were particularly impressed by Will Keen playing the gay character Molina. Amazingly, he came to rehearsals late after actor Iain Glen pulled out for “personal reasons” after one week.
“Pressure can actually work sometimes but I don’t know how Will managed to get the performance he did,” said Grandage. “There were just two and a half weeks of rehearsal. Credit to Rupert Evans too who had to adapt to a new co-star.”
Kiss has been directed by Charlotte Westenra and Jamie Lloyd gets credit for Guys and Dolls.
