Acting talent spit out Pinter classic

11:50am Friday 31st October 2008

DRUNKENNESS seems to be the main driving force behind Harold Pinter’s classic 1974 play No Man’s Land.

The characters spend pretty much all of the play drinking and stumbling around, the dialogue is fragmented and confusing like someone who’s had one too many, and it’s all played out in front of a living room backdrop lined with shelf upon shelf of liquor bottles.

Indeed, even the lighting plays on boozing - it’s dark and gloomy during the character’s heavy drinking sessions, with blinding sunlight piercing the audience’s eyes like a bad hangover in one morning-after scene.

And the story too is hazy. Certainly, this isn’t the type of production you go and see for the exciting plot.

On the surface, it’s pretty straight forward. The play takes place one night and one morning in a rich writer’s house. The action centres around the writer himself, his guest for the night and his two servants. They talk about life, and that’s about it.

However the attraction, and brilliance, of this production is the cutting dialogue, along with some fantastic performances from the cast.

The lead role is played superbly by Michael Gambon (as the writer), with support from the equally excellent David Bradley (perhaps better known as the caretaker in the Harry Potter films). Little Britain’s David Walliams and Nick Dunning also put in good turns as the writer’s creepy servants.

No Man’s Land is a master class in fine acting, as the cast enunciate with perfect timing and poise, while their baritone voices reverberate around the theatre as saliva from their mouths flies around the stage.

David Walliams and Michael Gambon spitting at each other is almost as entertaining as the dialogue, if only because it is amusing to see such stars gob on each other.

However, it is not perfect. Some parts drag, as the long silences verge between building up atmosphere and simply being a bore.

I also found myself thinking Michael Gambon was almost wasted in the role of the drunk writer, he doesn’t have a huge amount of lines and spends much of the first half sitting in a chair staring at the audience with a glazed expression.

A brief moment in the second half sees him sobered up and talking frantically, and while it’s a beauty to behold, it left me wanting more.

Overall, if you like conventional narratives this isn’t the show for you.

It won’t change your life, and it left me with more questions than answers, but if you want to witness some of the country’s finest actors spit out some classic Pinter dialogue, get on down while you can.

No Man’s Land runs at the Duke of York’s Theatre until Saturday January 3. Tickets cost between £15 and £47.50, and can be booked through the box office on 0870 060 6623 or online via nml-westend.com