The Armour
The Armour Ben Ellis' The Armour is an engrossing site specific play from defibrillator written especially for London's first luxury hotel, The Langham . . . Read More
a Curtain Up London review CurtainUp
CurtainUp

The Internet Theater Magazine of Reviews, Features, Annotated Listings
www.curtainup.com


HOME PAGE

SITE GUIDE

SEARCH

REVIEWS

REVIEW ARCHIVES

ADVERTISING AT CURTAINUP

FEATURES

NEWS
Etcetera and
Short Term Listings


LISTINGS
Broadway
Off-Broadway

NYC Restaurants

BOOKS and CDs

OTHER PLACES
Berkshires
London
California
New Jersey
DC
Connecticut
Philadelphia
Elsewhere

QUOTES

TKTS

PLAYWRIGHTS' ALBUMS

LETTERS TO EDITOR

FILM

LINKS

MISCELLANEOUS
Free Updates
Masthead
Writing for Us
A CurtainUp London London Review
The Armour


"In fact having sex in the best hotels makes you powerful. It doesn't matter how good the sex is, only how great the hotel." — Peter
The Armour
Sean Murray as Napoleon III and Finty Williams as Eugenie (Photo: Tristram Kenton)
Last year theatre company defibrillator scored a theatrical coup with three plays by Tennessee Williams set in hotel rooms. (review). This year they held a competition for another play to be set in The Langham to celebrate its 150 years since its founding in 1865.

The winner was Ben Ellis whose play The Armour captures the history of this beautifully marbled foyer hotel. With three plays from the present day through the 1970s to the 1870s, Ellis' play has that sense of style and living history of this iconic hotel. I had found myself last time at The Hotel Plays wanting to know more about those who actually stayed and dined here and The Armour starts to fill some of the gaps.

The first scene set in a bar with a band area in 2015 is between a female rock star Jade played by S Club 7 singer Hannah Spearritt and her manager Franky (Thomas Craig). Jade is due to appear in an arena on her come-back tour and is in need of reassurance. She illustrates the loneliness of celebrity. Franky listens as Jade explains what is troubling her and his persuasion is gentle and based on their shared history and his clowning as Dr Zob, a psychoanalyst with a funny accent and Groucho Marx nose, glasses and moustache. Jade has liberated a historic jacket from a glass case in the hotel.

As I reflect on who are the clientele that patronize five star luxury hotels, I'm are taken up in the lift several floors to where in the 1970s, a part of the Langham became extra offices and studios for the nearby BBC's Broadcasting House overflow. Here an American businessman prepares for his radio interview while people drink noisily at the BBC Club bar downstairs. It is an ill-equipped scruffy room with a small recording studio next door with the windows covered with nailed plywood.

Peter (Simon Darwen) is promoting shipping containers and predicting the effect that will have on the docks of Hamburg and London, "the rotting teeth of Europe". Eloise, his wife, (Siubhan Harrison) is trying to get her marriage back on track after Peter's return from the war in Vietnam, where he lost his brother David. It was seeing how the army moved equipment that gave Peter the idea of applying this to merchant shipping. Eloise is ambitious both for her marriage, a family and Peter's future wealth. She also has that quality of voicing her needs but wrapped up in praise for him. I found myself thinking Lady Macbeth as she eggs on her husband. This act has the sense of change in the 1970s to labour controls and also is about the trauma of warfare as well as a change of use for part of the hotel.

We are again shepherded up the stairs to a pretty palm filled room with an elegant chaise longue in 1871. Here the deposed Emperor Napoleon III (Sean Murray), sick with gall stones, is staying with his wife the Empress Eugenie (Finty Williams) after his defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. This last scene tells us about this remarkable man, the nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Apart from commissioning the re-design of the Parisian avenues and boulevards and the building of its great railway stations, rewriting his famous predecessor's supposed statement when told that the poor did not have enough bread, she said, "Let them eat brioche", Napoleon III offered a prize for a scientist who could find a cheap substitute for butter and oleomargarine was invented. So the more useful . . . "Let them eat margarine".

They discuss going to IndoChina, part of the French Empire now known as Vietnam. As a social reformer, Napoleon III made strikes legal. Something the striking dockers might not have known when protesting about the job losses to shipping containers. We also learn about the famous coat from the glass case but you'll have to go to the Langham to solve that particular mystery. Ben Ellis has highlighted these intricate connections from his research.

There are plenty more untold stories in the Langham, the gala opening attended by the Prince of Wales, Mark Twain's visit, Frank Harris, the composer Dvorak scandalizing people by staying in a double room with his adult daughter to save money, to the stay of another exiled emperor, Hailie Selassie.

Once again defibrillator know how to mount a good story in a remarkable setting with fine direction and good performances. This is the kind of theatre you do not forget; defibrillator captures your imagination.

Subscribe to our FREE email updates with a note from editor Elyse Sommer about additions to the website -- with main page hot links to the latest features posted at our numerous locations. To subscribe, E-mail: esommer@curtainup.comesommer@curtainup.com
put SUBSCRIBE CURTAINUP EMAIL UPDATE in the subject line and your full name and email address in the body of the message -- if you can spare a minute, tell us how you came to Curtain Up and from what part of the country.
The Armour
Written by Ben Ellis
Directed by James Hillier

Starring : Thomas Craig, Simon Darwen, Siubhan Harrison, Sean Murray, Hannah Spearritt, Finty Williams
Designer: James Turner
Lighting: Jack Williams and Marec Joyce
Costume Designer: Holly Rose Henshaw
Sound: Max Pappenheim
Running time: One hours 30 minutes en promenade
Box Office: 0871 220 0260
Booking to 4th April 2015
Reviewed by Lizzie Loveridge based on 6th March 2015 performance at the Langham, Langham Place London W1 (Tube: Oxford Circus)
REVIEW FEEDBACK
Highlight one of the responses below and click "copy" or"CTRL+C"
  • I agree with the review of The Armour
  • I disagree with the review of The Armour
  • The review made me eager to see The Armour
Click on the address link E-mail: esommer@curtainup.com
Paste the highlighted text into the subject line (CTRL+ V):

Feel free to add detailed comments in the body of the email . . . also the names and emails of any friends to whom you'd like us to forward a copy of this review.

London Theatre Walks


Peter Ackroyd's  History of London: The Biography



London Sketchbook



tales from shakespeare
Retold by Tina Packer of Shakespeare & Co.
Click image to buy.
Our Review


©Copyright 2015, Elyse Sommer.
Information from this site may not be reproduced in print or online without specific permission from esommer@curtainup.com