MICK MCSHANE is roused by a band whose socialism laces every line of every song with commitment and raw passion
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Virtuoso two-hander
MARY CONWAY relishes two matchless performers and a masterclass in tightly focused wordplay
Matchless: Samuel Barnett and Victoria Yeates in Ben and Imo / Pic: Ellie Kurttz
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ALEX HALL is disgusted by the misuse of ‘emotional narratives’ to justify uninformed geo-political prejudice
SUE TURNER welcomes a thoughtful, engaging book that lays bare the economic realities of global waste management
JOHN GREEN welcomes an insider account of the achievements and failures of the transition to democracy in Portugal
SIMON PARSONS applauds an imaginative and absorbing updating of Strindberg’s classic
PETER MASON is enthralled by an assembly of objects, ancient and modern, that have lain in the mud of London’s river
Ben and Imo
Orange Tree, London
★★★★
In 1951, mighty composer and man of the moment Benjamin Brittan was commissioned to write an opera in honour of the Queen’s coronation. Somewhat in awe, he decided to take on a musical assistant, settling on Imogen Holst (Imo), a music teacher from Dartington Hall and the daughter of Gustav — he of The Planets et al. The result was Gloriana which debuted at Covent Garden in June 1952.
The dazzling two-hander now showing at the Orange Tree is an in-depth study of Ben and Imo as they combine to deliver the goods. But, while the play fascinates with behind-the-scenes insights into such collaboration, it is the intricate ebb and flow of their relationship that enthrals.
Ben has all the hallmarks of the creative giant — controlling, cantankerous, unashamedly egocentric, liable to sudden mood swings, contemptuous of others and their work, filled with terror and self-doubt but always, always saved by a defining charisma that holds him centre stage.
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