BWW Reviews: Pinter's NO MAN'S LAND Sublime at Berkeley Rep

In No Man's Land Pinter does not tell a story, so much as he simply suggests an array of enigmatic themes that his actors seemingly run amok with until the play abruptly concludes. Were it not for the brilliant prose, one could very well imagine Pinter teaching an Actor's Studio class and giving the following prompt: You are two Englishmen of a certain age. One of you is wealthy and daft and the other is quite lucid, but has fallen on hard times - and...go.

Patrick Stewart takes on the role of Hirst, the impeccably groomed country gent and litterateur whose outward appearance belies the fog that fills his befuddled head, while Ian McKellen nimbly plays the impoverished poet Spooner, whom Hirst has invited to the manse for a drink.

The location of Hirst's estate is on The Edge of Hampstead Heath, a vast, ancient public park near London, belonging to no one or everyone. Theater-goers were greeted with a shadowy screen of the heath's gnarled branches (Projection Design, Zachary Borovay) enveloped in a misty haze of blue-grey sky (Scenic Design, Stephen Brimson Lewis) that felt ominous and eerie. The addition of musical tones in a minor key (Original Music & Sound Design, Rob Milburn & Michael Bodeen) playing softly in the background completed the effect.

The screen gave way to a richly paneled room where a liquor bar took pride of place. If you looked closely you could see that the set was unraveling at The Edges, a clue that all was not as it seemed. And certainly that is the mad hatter's methodology and genius of a Harold Pinter play. Nothing is as it seems and just when you think you've got hold of a thread of rationality, the whole thing shape shifts and moves in an entirely different direction. It's all you can do to keep up and finally you just have to let go and watch in fascination as the play unfolds.

Director Sean Mathias's vision and deft timing were readily apparent with every verbal thrust and jocular parry of the play. It's clear that he's comfortable with Pinter, creating as he did, a finally tuned tension and thin veneer of threat and menace in the abyss of silent spaces, thus honoring the famed pauses and silences that Pinter was known for.

And what a joy it was to watch these four fine actors take on this magnum opus. Stewart is superb as the quietly dignified Hirst whose silence, we learn, is more a symptom of his eroding mind than a well-bred and deliberate demeanor. Wealth has protected him from the vagaries and vicissitudes of life - though not from the human vultures who prey upon the weak and the rich. Enter his two housemates and servants, Foster (Billy Crudup) and Briggs (Shuler Hensley), who have glommed on to a good thing and see the appearance of Spooner as a definite threat to their cushy positions.

McKellen's Spooner isn't sure what is going on. In his wrinkled suit (Lewis again with Costume Design) and with his hair just a tad too long (Hair and Wig Design, Tom Watson) he is the picture of genteel poverty and pride. But McKellen also imbues his character with a quirky physicality that betrays the ravages of poverty, booze and consequent lost opportunities.

He's thrown for a loop (as are we) when the fog unexpectedly lifts from Hirst's mind (or so we think) and he greets Spooner as a long-lost Oxford chum. What follows is a gregarious monologue delivered with consummate skill by Stewart that is the height of hilarity and absurdity. But all eyes are on McKellen during the scene, for he is at his most comedic here, though he says nothing at all. He's buying time, silently trying to make sense of the sudden shift, but his face and body language speak volumes, as they say. Suddenly he sees a possible way to secure a place for himself in this wealthy enclave, much to the chagrin of Foster and Briggs. But all too soon the tendrils of fog return to Hirst's mind and the haze thickens once again, bringing him back to the no man's land of sad forgetfulness.

Full stop and there you have it. Another Pinter masterpiece, sublimely done by superlative artists and a dedicated creative team. The bar has been raised and once you've tasted the nectar of the gods, there's no going back. I look forward to the next production at Berkeley Repertory Theatre.

No Man's Land
Written by Harold Pinter
Directed by Sean Mathias
Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Now through Aug. 31
Running time is two hours with a 15 minute intermission
www.berkeleyrep.org
Photo courtesy of kevinberne.com

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