Ok my review as promised from seeing the play on Dec. 1. Yes Zoe if you are reading this Welcome to the forum
I took notes on my train journey the following day after having some time to process what I had seen. I will try to make some sense of them here. I will break this down in parts as well.
STAGE/SET: The set was all in red with the walls to represent a womb. One thing I noticed was at the beginning of the play how the window curtains are open then as Mrs. Klein is leaving she closes them. To me this set the tone for the play. By doing this is makes you feel trapped into their world. Not only that but gives you a sense of what the characters will go through during the play. The relationships between the three Mrs. Klein, Melitta, and Paula are struggling with each other on various levels. By closing the curtains helped to symbolize this greatly. Mrs. Klein and Melitta's relationship is one that you have the control and not control. Paula is struggling with where she finds herself between the two women. I think this is very important for the detail of having the curtains closed during the play until the very end.
LIGHTING: The lighting was top. No shadowing to make the set feel unnatural. The lighting for outside at the beginning to make it simulate night was right on with a feel of the moon coming in. The end of the play when Paula opens the curtains just a bit set up a new day that represent morning. The lighting for morning sunlight did have a very nice natural feel for that as well which made me feel like it was that appropriate time of day. Also, it felt that the it was a wonderful symbolic representation of starting a new day, a new life, a change to come between Paula and Mrs. Klein. As if the window was facing East coming up around near 11am. Overall the lighting set the mood for the play the whole time.
PROPS: The props were well used and very period like as well. Watching all three actresses you had the feel they belonged in the house as in they were comfortable with their surrounds. So picking up objects or moving things just came naturally.
COSTUMES: Of course I have to talk about this as it helps I am friends with a costume designer. The costumes were right now for the time period. Even the small details of wrist watches that are worn. How I could see from the side I'll never know how I caught that detail. It also helps with the promotional pictures. The hair and the costumes were spot on in terms of age appropriate as well for the time period and who would have worn what. Overall very accurate.
MUSIC: The music was very interesting in terms of what songs were chosen. Some parts it had a haunting feeling in terms of characters reacting to what is going on in. As in it fit the mood of the plot. At times giving off a heavy sadness that was in place of the three characters when they could not fully express what was truly going on in their pain. I did know at least one or two songs to which I picked up on how well the mood setting was. It also helps that I played an instrument for years as well.
ACTING: The acting I can not describe with all the words how fantastic each performance from Clare, Nicola and Zoe profoundly came through on stage. My hat is off to Zoe first for coming in with only 9 days before previews to pull off such a performance.
Clare as Mrs. Klein absolutely nailed it as she brought her to life. Her characteristics and mannerisms she added in as Klein at times reminded me of my German grandmother (which I told Clare this after the play). She really embodied the part to which you had different emotional feelings towards Klein throughout the play.
Zoe just like Clare truly gave the audience a sense of Melitta in terms of bringing out the character. She tries to make you understand Melitta's point of view with dealing with a mother like Klein. I did enjoy the lighter side to the character that Zoe brings out to help break the tension that is heavy. She and Nicola play off each other very well in their first scene together. Again just outstanding hands down for coming in with only 9 days to prepare.
Nicola as Paula was superb and enjoyed the bit of a German accent as well which was not too heavy or too light. I liked how there were certain facial expressions used when as Paula would be very pleased with herself in how she managed to either make Klein or Melitta happy with her actions. Also, her facial expressions she used whenever Klein would not let her speak or cut her off before she could just added more to the character. Nicola did a fantastic job with trying to balance how Paula was reacting to both Klein and Melitta as Paula was entering into this difficult time between the two. The balance of the character who is essentially new to her surroundings while trying to fit in at the same time. Defiantly one of my favorite performances from Nicola.
Overall I thought the chemistry between all three women was very impressive. Once again very natural as well. Between them even the pauses at times flowed very well. Nothing felt rushed, or unnatural. They made the relationships between each character flow with an ease that said 'yes' these people are real and we are not just bringing them to life but trying to give a bit of who they really were'. My brain right now cannot express anymore about how fantastic I thought these women were on stage.
I will say that I am glad I did some research on the the subject matter and on Mrs. Klein which gave me a big advantage. I will disagree with the critics who said that the first act boring. Actually, I found it to just the opposite as it sets up the second act.
Overall hands down phenomenal play where all the pieces came together. If I did not have jet lag at the moment I could describe it better.
A major thank you to Louise for keeping me informed of all that was going throughout the play. Also, another major thank you to Clare, Zoe and Nicola who chatted with Trinh and I after the play. I really do appreciate them taking the time to do so. Yes, two Americans came all the way to see the play.