Autumn at the National

Once every few months, an exciting email drops into my inbox. It’s from my friend, Terry, and it heralds a chocolate box full of delights – news of the National Theatre’s new season. The most recent missive came on Saturday and filled me with excitement all over again!  

I should acknowledge, first of all, that I am hugely indebted to Terry. I first met him through a mutual friend in 2007, when he was studying for a Master’s at Merton. I soon found out that he’s a big theatre-goer. Indeed, it’s thanks to him that I’m able to spend quite so much time in the Lyttelton, Olivier and Cottesloe. When booking opens for a new season at the National, Terry sifts through the programme, chooses the best of the bunch, asks his friends whether they’d like to attend, then books the tickets. What an absolute star!

This week’s email mentioned a Greek tragedy – Medea with Helen McCrory, a tragic-comic story of two men’s lives, Ballyturk with Cillian Murphy, and an historical series, the James Plays, following the Scottish kings, James I, II and III.

I’ve chosen the latter. The three plays are written by Rona Munro and will premiere at the Edinburgh International Festival in August, in association with the National Theatre of Scotland. Not only do these plays appeal for their depiction of Scottish history, but they have a stellar cast, including two of my favourites. By the time they arrive at the National in October, the Scottish Independence Referendum will have taken place. ‘Yes’ or ‘no’, the questions of identity and nationhood explored in the plays will be particularly relevant.   

 I’m very excited at the prospect of seeing Sofie Gråbøl on stage. She will be making her British theatre debut in the third of the plays as Queen Margaret. Like many in Britain, I was a big fan of her performance as the Fair-Isle-jumper-clad detective, Sara Lund, in the Danish series, The Killing. Cold, rule-breaking, socially-inept, but relentless in pursuit of a criminal, Sarah Lund was a fantastically complex heroine. At Christmas, I watched Sofie, alongside her The Killing co-star, the (very gorgeous) Mikael Birkjaer, in Aftermath (2004), an extremely bleak and disturbing portrait of a young couple grieving for their daughter. The performances are terrific, though difficult to watch. I’m really looking forward to seeing more of Sofie’s work.

Oh my, you can buy the Blythe Duff collection
on Amazon!
Good job I gave up buying DVDs for Lent!

I’m even more excited at the prospect of seeing Blythe Duff. For over twenty-five years, Blythe played another popular female detective: Jackie Reid in Taggart. Taggart is legendary in my house. I even have a copy of the theme on my ipod, and my brother and I argue continuously over whether Inspector Jardine really drowned in the Clyde. (Yes, he did). In Blythe Duff’s hands, Jackie was undoubtedly the best character in the show! She frequently outsmarted the boys of Maryhill police station, solving numerous Glaswegian ‘mudurs.’ I especially loved her way of pausing for a moment after Jardine or Burke had expounded their latest theory on the case, then letting out a ponderous ‘mebbee.’ I was most upset that Jackie never got together with the dastardly Robbie (John Michie), though it would, no doubt, have proven disastrous! Blythe is often on stage in Scotland and I’m glad she’ll be coming to London.  

So now to wait till October...