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Icarus Theatre Collective presents

The Lesson

by Eugene Ionesco

Old Red Lion Theatre

11 Sept - 29 Sept

On first sight The Lesson seems an uncomplicated affair; a young pupil’s first meeting with her new professor. However, what unfolds after the first few minutes of this one-act play is anything but straightforward.

How would you translate “The roses of my grandmother are as yellow as my grandfather who was born in Asia” into Neo-Spanish? How about into Italian? Or Latin even? Can you multiply 5,162,303,508 by 3,755,998,351 without using a pencil? Could you define plurality?

This play might be called The Lesson but don’t expect to learn the answers to any of these questions here. Oh no, you’re going to learn something far more important. This lesson is most certainly not for those who want to sit at the back and pass notes.

The Icarus Theatre collective’s production of Eugene Ionesco’s absurdist masterpiece is brilliant. A fast-paced, sixty-five minute screaming journey from a bare classroom into utter chaos. It is exactly this journey that is such a delight to watch.

Christopher Hone’s inspired set design, which starts out dark and claustrophobic, unfolds before the audience like an impossible arithmetic problem into one giant blackboard. The staging perfectly compliments the solid performances from an equally strong trio. From John Eastman’s brilliant performance as The Professor, who descends minute-by-minute from timid fool into raging tyrant to Amy Loughton’s flight from comic to tragic as ‘The Pupil.’ Julia Munrow’s foreboding ‘Maid’ is as chilling as theclassical score which underpins the whole piece.

What the company achieves so well is creating a sense of loss of meaning, which is so inherent to this piece. It perfectly captures the meaningless nature of words, language, even meaning itself and, with that, the sheer futility of it all. My only gripe at Max Lewendel’s direction was the use of the American arm-band and hat which seemed a well-intended attempt to make the play more current but came off feeling a tad contrived.

The most impressive thing, which is a testament to the Icarus Theatre Collective’s work, is that by the end of the play it is not the characters that have learnt from this lesson, but the audience themselves.

			Theatre Review





	Reviewers Icarus Theatre Collective presents The Lesson by Eugene Ionesco Old Red Lion Theatre 11 Sept - 29 Sept A Review by Kevin Hurst for EXTRA! EXTRA On first sight The Lesson seems an uncomplicated affair; a young pupil’s first meeting with her new professor. However, what unfolds after the first few minutes of this one-act play is anything but straightforward. How would you translate “The roses of my grandmother are as yellow as my grandfather who was born in Asia” into Neo-Spanish? How about into Italian? Or Latin even? Can you multiply 5,162,303,508 by 3,755,998,351 without using a pencil? Could you define plurality? This play might be called The Lesson but don’t expect to learn the answers to any of these questions here. Oh no, you’re going to learn something far more important. This lesson is most certainly not for those who want to sit at the back and pass notes. The Icarus Theatre collective’s production of Eugene Ionesco’s absurdist masterpiece is brilliant. A fast-paced, sixty-five minute screaming journey from a bare classroom into utter chaos. It is exactly this journey that is such a delight to watch. Christopher Hone’s inspired set design, which starts out dark and claustrophobic, unfolds before the audience like an impossible arithmetic problem into one giant blackboard. The staging perfectly compliments the solid performances from an equally strong trio. From John Eastman’s brilliant performance as The Professor, who descends minute-by-minute from timid fool into raging tyrant to Amy Loughton’s flight from comic to tragic as ‘The Pupil.’ Julia Munrow’s foreboding ‘Maid’ is as chilling as theclassical score which underpins the whole piece. What the company achieves so well is creating a sense of loss of meaning, which is so inherent to this piece. It perfectly captures the meaningless nature of words, language, even meaning itself and, with that, the sheer futility of it all. My only gripe at Max Lewendel’s direction was the use of the American arm-band and hat which seemed a well-intended attempt to make the play more current but came off feeling a tad contrived. The most impressive thing, which is a testament to the Icarus Theatre Collective’s work, is that by the end of the play it is not the characters that have learnt from this lesson, but the audience themselves. //www.oldredliontheatre.co.uk by Mary Couzens Copyright © EXTRA! EXTRA All rights reserved Reviewers Latest Opera Reviews