Presented by
Kay and McLean Productions
Canberra
Theatre 20th and 21st January 2020.
Reviewed by
Bill Stephens
Although he
is best known for his portrayal of Agatha Christie’s elegant Belgian detective
Hercule Poirot, a role he has played for 25 years, David Suchet is a much
celebrated actor, having garnered numerous awards and nominations over a 50
year career on stage, in film and television.
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| Jane Hutcheon and David Suchet on stage. |
His show,
“David Suchet Poirot and More A Retrospective” is part interview, part memoir
and part master-class, and an absolute “must see” for anyone with even a
passing interest in the act of acting.
The performance
commences with a chatty interview conducted by journalist, Jane Hutcheon,
herself well-known for her own long-running ABC series “One Plus One”, and with
both seated comfortably beside a large video screen that ensures that even
those towards the back of the theatre have an excellent view.
During this
interview, Hutcheon explores Suchet’s path to his career in theatre. He confides
that his first role was as an oyster in a school production of “Alice Through
The Looking Glass”, (and shows the photo to prove it ), that he was sent to
boarding school at age 8, and that his grandmother was a sand dancer.
It’s quickly
obvious that Suchet is a consummate raconteur, has a delightful sense of humour,
an engaging command of language, and prone to jumping out of his chair to
demonstrate a detail, like the art of sand dancing, for instance. He’s also not
averse to flirting with his audience, or his interviewer.
He happily
shares engaging anecdotes about his numerous stage, film and television roles,
among them, Sigmund Freud, Robert Maxwell, Salvador Dali, Lady Bracknell and
Blot, in “Blot on the Landscape”. He reminds the audience that he had played
Inspector Japp to Peter Ustinov’s Hercule Poirot in the film “Thirteen at
Dinner”.
He tells how he came to be cast as Poirot, and explains his process
for developing Poirot’s signature characteristics, the accent and the walk - this
latter probably not to be tried at home. His show ‘n tell items include the
famous cane which he used in every episode, and the extensive list of character
notes he prepared to guide his interpretation.
The second
half commenced with Suchet alone on stage, back to the audience, dramatically
lit in a single spotlight. He turned slowly towards the audience to give a
mesmerising performance of Salieri’s monologue from “Amadeus”. This version, he
confided, was the version Peter Shaffer rewrote at Suchet’s suggestion, and
which he performed at Shaffer’s memorial service.
Launching
into an explanation of his fascination with words and voice, Suchet then
offered a mini master class on acting Shakespeare. He explained mysteries like the
voice print, and the iambic pentameter, then demonstrated their use with enthralling
short excerpts from his acclaimed performances as Shylock, Oberon and Tybalt,
as well as from his performance as Cardinal Bennelli in “the Last Confession”,
relying on his voice and expression alone to vividly create each character.
 |
| Jane Hutcheon and David Suchet on stage. |
Jane
Hutcheon re-joined him to refocus attention on Hercule Poirot, which Suchet
gracefully acknowledged was the reason that he and the audience were enjoying
each other’s company at that performance. It may have been Poirot who attracted
the audience to the theatre, but it was the accomplished mastery of his art,
demonstrated with such grace and finesse by Suchet, that few who witnessed his
performance will forget.
Photos by Ash Koek
This review also appears in Australian Arts Review. www.artsreview.com.au