This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2012/oct/22/christopher-hampton-america-play-appomattox

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Christopher Hampton takes on America Christopher Hampton takes on America
(8 days later)
At the Guthrie theatre in Minneapolis, Christopher Hampton is currently being celebrated – and rightly so, since his output includes original plays (Total Eclipse, The Philanthropist, White Chameleon), creative adaptations (Les Liaisons Dangereuses) and award-winning screenplays (Atonement). But the centrepiece is a new work, Appomattox: a big, bold play about race in America that marks a major new departure for Hampton who, in the past, has shown himself to be a wry observer of modern manners and something of a contemporary classicist.At the Guthrie theatre in Minneapolis, Christopher Hampton is currently being celebrated – and rightly so, since his output includes original plays (Total Eclipse, The Philanthropist, White Chameleon), creative adaptations (Les Liaisons Dangereuses) and award-winning screenplays (Atonement). But the centrepiece is a new work, Appomattox: a big, bold play about race in America that marks a major new departure for Hampton who, in the past, has shown himself to be a wry observer of modern manners and something of a contemporary classicist.
The fact that this festival devoted to a British dramatist is taking place in the American midwest is the result of two visionary Irishmen. The first was the pioneering director, Tyrone Guthrie, who 50 years ago established a dynamic theatre in Minneapolis. In 1995 Joe Dowling, who had run the Dublin Abbey, became the theatre's sixth director, and in 2006 launched a new, state-of-the-art building designed by Jean Nouvel. It boasts three auditoriums seating a total of 2,000, echoes the industrial landscape of Minneapolis and has a cantilevered lobby that juts out in space towards the Mississippi. Mark Rylance, who has co-written a play called Nice Fish opening at the Guthrie in April, based on the work of Louis Jenkins, the Duluth poet he has quoted numerous times at the Tony awards, ruffled a few feathers back in the UK when he said the Guthrie made our own National theatre look like a tin shack. That may be overpitching it, but the Guthrie strikes me as an architectural triumph.The fact that this festival devoted to a British dramatist is taking place in the American midwest is the result of two visionary Irishmen. The first was the pioneering director, Tyrone Guthrie, who 50 years ago established a dynamic theatre in Minneapolis. In 1995 Joe Dowling, who had run the Dublin Abbey, became the theatre's sixth director, and in 2006 launched a new, state-of-the-art building designed by Jean Nouvel. It boasts three auditoriums seating a total of 2,000, echoes the industrial landscape of Minneapolis and has a cantilevered lobby that juts out in space towards the Mississippi. Mark Rylance, who has co-written a play called Nice Fish opening at the Guthrie in April, based on the work of Louis Jenkins, the Duluth poet he has quoted numerous times at the Tony awards, ruffled a few feathers back in the UK when he said the Guthrie made our own National theatre look like a tin shack. That may be overpitching it, but the Guthrie strikes me as an architectural triumph.
Having mounted a Tony Kushner season in 2009, Dowling has turned the spotlight on Hampton. There are panels, talks (one of which I gave), showings of films Hampton scripted or directed, and revivals of Tales from Hollywood and Embers. But there is no doubt that Appomattox is the big event. I said in my talk that Hampton was the quiet man of British theatre. Now he has confounded expectations with a large-cast play on a public theme: the halting progress towards racial equality in American society. It takes chutzpah for a British dramatist to tackle such a subject, but Hampton has pulled it off, and in the process revealed, in the footsteps of Robert Caro's acclaimed biography, that Lyndon Baines Johnson was not only a huge character, but a hugely misunderstood one.Having mounted a Tony Kushner season in 2009, Dowling has turned the spotlight on Hampton. There are panels, talks (one of which I gave), showings of films Hampton scripted or directed, and revivals of Tales from Hollywood and Embers. But there is no doubt that Appomattox is the big event. I said in my talk that Hampton was the quiet man of British theatre. Now he has confounded expectations with a large-cast play on a public theme: the halting progress towards racial equality in American society. It takes chutzpah for a British dramatist to tackle such a subject, but Hampton has pulled it off, and in the process revealed, in the footsteps of Robert Caro's acclaimed biography, that Lyndon Baines Johnson was not only a huge character, but a hugely misunderstood one.
Hampton's play takes its title from the courthouse in Virginia where in 1865 the Confederate army surrendered to Union forces in the American civil war. The first half, which began life as an opera libretto for Philip Glass in 2007 but is here reimagined, charts the final stages of the conflict. But Hampton's play really catches fire in the second half, set largely in the White House during the LBJ presidency exactly 100 years later. Hampton's play takes its title from the place in Virginia where in 1865 the Confederate army surrendered to Union forces in the American civil war. The first half, which began life as an opera libretto for Philip Glass in 2007 but is here reimagined, charts the final stages of the conflict. But Hampton's play really catches fire in the second half, set largely in the White House during the LBJ presidency exactly 100 years later.
It was a time of civil rights protests and of the passage, encouraged by Martin Luther King, of a new Voting Rights act, supposedly leading to universal suffrage. LBJ emerges as a tragicomic figure of immense theatrical power. He reminds me of Tennessee Williams's Big Daddy in his mix of sensitivity and crudity. He says of JFK: "Lotta times when he met a woman he couldn't remember if he'd fucked her or made her husband an ambassador." But Hampton never lets us forget that although the president was a masterly tactician and socially progressive, he was haunted by Vietnam. "I tell you," he says, "that Vietnam's going to be the death of me." And, he might have added, of numberless thousands of Americans and Vietnamese.It was a time of civil rights protests and of the passage, encouraged by Martin Luther King, of a new Voting Rights act, supposedly leading to universal suffrage. LBJ emerges as a tragicomic figure of immense theatrical power. He reminds me of Tennessee Williams's Big Daddy in his mix of sensitivity and crudity. He says of JFK: "Lotta times when he met a woman he couldn't remember if he'd fucked her or made her husband an ambassador." But Hampton never lets us forget that although the president was a masterly tactician and socially progressive, he was haunted by Vietnam. "I tell you," he says, "that Vietnam's going to be the death of me." And, he might have added, of numberless thousands of Americans and Vietnamese.
In David Esbjornson's production, LBJ's contradictions are beautifully caught by Harry Groener, best known to British audiences for playing Mayor Wilkins in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the fact that he doubles as Lincoln adds to the ironies). On a technical level, the play could be improved: a coda, set in an Alabama state prison in 2010, feels awkward. And, during my visit, I saw two earlier Hampton pieces excellently revived: Tales from Hollywood in a delightful, filmic production from Ethan McSweeny and Embers elegantly staged by Joe Dowling.In David Esbjornson's production, LBJ's contradictions are beautifully caught by Harry Groener, best known to British audiences for playing Mayor Wilkins in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the fact that he doubles as Lincoln adds to the ironies). On a technical level, the play could be improved: a coda, set in an Alabama state prison in 2010, feels awkward. And, during my visit, I saw two earlier Hampton pieces excellently revived: Tales from Hollywood in a delightful, filmic production from Ethan McSweeny and Embers elegantly staged by Joe Dowling.
But Appomattox shows Hampton staking out new territory, and proving that he's no less adept than David Hare in exploring major public events. With a momentous election currently being fought, it was disconcerting to learn of a continuing racial bias in the electoral system, with some states advocating ever-more rigorous voter ID in order to limit the franchise. As Hampton's epic reminds us, the idealistic hopes expressed at the end of the American civil war have still be realised – and race remains a potent and living issue.But Appomattox shows Hampton staking out new territory, and proving that he's no less adept than David Hare in exploring major public events. With a momentous election currently being fought, it was disconcerting to learn of a continuing racial bias in the electoral system, with some states advocating ever-more rigorous voter ID in order to limit the franchise. As Hampton's epic reminds us, the idealistic hopes expressed at the end of the American civil war have still be realised – and race remains a potent and living issue.
• This article was amended on 30 October 2012. The original said the play took its name from the courthouse where the Confederate army surrendered. The surrender document was not signed in a courthouse but in a house in the town of Appomattox Court House.