No Man's Land was made for the Great Gambon

Louise Jury10 April 2012

They don’t make them like they used to, Harold Pinter observed recently in a British Library talk about the post-war greats of the British stage.

His first theatrical encounters were with the performances of Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson, Paul Scofield, John Gielgud and Michael Redgrave, who were an "extraordinary collection of actors", he recalled.

Only one contemporary star achieved that stature, the Nobel laureate opined. Who? Michael Gambon, of course — an actor whom directors have deemed tailor-made to play Pinter’s brooding, menacing anti-heroes.

The Great Gambon (as Ralph Richardson dubbed him) returns to Pinter this week in a new production of No Man’s Land directed by the wünderkind Rupert Goold, whose interpretation of Macbeth with Patrick Stewart proved such a hit.

Gambon plays Hirst, a successful but haunted writer, who embarks on a sinister, alcohol-fuelled verbal joust with Spooner, an impoverished, seedy bore played by David Bradley.

They are watched over by Hirst’s staff/guards — played by Little Britain star David Walliams, in his West End debut, and Nick Dunning, last seen as Thomas Boleyn in TV’s The Tudors.

Richardson and John Gielgud created the lead roles for the 1975 premiere.

(Pinter has entertainingly recounted observing their pre-performance preparations, which consisted in entirely non-Method acting comparisons of their respective lunches.)

Pinter himself played Hirst to Paul Eddington’s Spooner in the 1992 Almeida production that later transferred to the West End.

Most recently, Corin Redgrave and John Wood depicted the sparring partners at the National in 2001.

With such an illustrious production history, it is hard to imagine a No Man’s Land to better past performances.

But Pinter’s faith is in Gambon, and if he’s on top form, this transfer from the Gate Theatre, Dublin, just might.

Booking until 3 January. Box office: 0870 060 6623, www.nml-westend.com

No Man's Land
The Duke Of York's
St Martin's Lane, WC2N 4BG

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