“This is a fascinating and engrossing production. While the subject matter is very UK-centric, the performances make this universal. And anyone can appreciate excellent acting.“
Con Nats
4 out of 5 Coal Lumps
The NT Live series celebrates its centenary of productions with Nye, a tribute to the Socialist, Aneurin (Nye) Bevan, who was the architect of Britain’s National Health Service.
The subject matter might feel remote from Australian concerns but there’s no doubt our own Medicare system was loosely based on the NHS, so there are reverberations. And both needed a maverick self-proclaimed socialist to push them through.
Nye wakes up in a hospital bed and admires his creation before lapsing back into a coma. This is a perfect platform to launch into a series of flashbacks that shows us how a stuttering shy boy grew into the confident and clever politician he became.
It takes us into stylised reflections and memories of his childhood and maturity. Without being necessarily in order he remembers family, a father dying from ‘Black Lung’, fighting the coal mining company through board rooms rather than strikes, tackling prime ministers through parliament, particularly Winston Churchill during the war. (Contrary to popular opinion, Churchill was great orator but a political failure who was resoundingly defeated at the next election.) Bevan was savaged in the press but history has showed who was right to stand up to Churchill and Bevan knew when to step back.
Political biographies promise to be boring but Rufus Norris’ direction and staging lifts this with clever transitions, computer graphics, casting, choreography and even a song is thrown in. The large ensemble cast are excellent and once again show the value of colour-blind casting. There’s a lot of movement in this production, possibly too much, but their timing is precise and almost unnoticeable.
The other major element is Michael Sheen’s performance. He’s a lightning rod of energy at the centre of almost every scene. It’s a sincere performance of an under-appreciated man. Sheen is compelling.
Bevan’s flaws are aired by his wife, Jenny Lee (Sharon Small) and schoolboy friend Archie Lush (Roger Evans) in the only moments the pace is slowed.
This is a fascinating and engrossing production. While the subject matter is very UK-centric, the performances make this universal. And anyone can appreciate excellent acting.
Con Nats, On The Screen
