The play's the thing

(Photos from the west coast trip are in posts "Cliffs of Moher" going back to "Get the Frack out of Ireland.")

Last weekend we went to see Punk Rock at The Lyric in Belfast. It was an intense drama about teenagers cramming for their A levels while falling in love, being bullied, stressing about their future, and dealing with mental illness. The actors all did a fine job, but I was disastisfied with the ending and with the underlying premise.

Not so with The Skylight, which is on in London and was broadcast at a Belfast movie theater two weeks ago as part of the National Theatre Live's effort to expand the audience for drama. The play stars Bill Nighy and Carey Mulligan, so nuff said, right? I could watch them play cards and be quite happy.

The play works on so many levels and left David and I with much to debate about class, education, welfare, loyalty, motives, and emotional violence, as in when someone's intimate knowledge of you provides them with ammunition in a fierce battle of wits.

The playwright, David Hare, is a populist who said in an interview that the Thatcher era that gave rise to the play has been repeated under Cameron. He has worked with Nighy for decades and was the first to cast him as a romantic lead. Nighy's range is on the order of galactic. His body language makes you want to never take your eyes off him. But then Carey Mulligan is doing a spellbinding dance between the steely calm she wants to uphold and the fury that threatens to undo her. It's tough not to keep an eye on her. Plus, she is so beautiful and has one of those expressive, malleable faces that makes her work so appealing. If you are a Debra Winger fan, you know what I mean.