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Jul. 28th, 2021 10:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hypatia_66It's sixteen months since we were last in a theatre and, mask and sanitizer apart, tonight was one of the best experiences ever: Ralph Fiennes brought his tour de force performance of T.S. Eliot's 'Four quartets' to York and bowled us over. He held a large post-lockdown audience absolutely silent for nearly 90 minutes of intense acting skill.
It wasn't a recital but a performance, with some very effective lighting and sound, and a background containing two huge Rothko-like panels on a pivot which reflected light and changed the space. His appearance was that of a shabby, aging man, barefoot, initially feeling for the words to express his thoughts. The whole performance was stunning and entirely worthy of the standing ovation.
It's impossible to describe what it is that makes an actor not just good or very good, but great. Whatever it is, I've just seen it.
It wasn't a recital but a performance, with some very effective lighting and sound, and a background containing two huge Rothko-like panels on a pivot which reflected light and changed the space. His appearance was that of a shabby, aging man, barefoot, initially feeling for the words to express his thoughts. The whole performance was stunning and entirely worthy of the standing ovation.
It's impossible to describe what it is that makes an actor not just good or very good, but great. Whatever it is, I've just seen it.
