recently toured the UK, played a limited
engagement earlier this year on the West End at
Trafalgar Studios. Starring Olivier Award winner
Warren Mitchell and Gideon Turner (preceded
on the first part of the tour by David Sturzaker),
the production is directed by Patrick Garland and
produced by Ian Fricker. Sets and costumes are
by Sean Cavanagh. Lighting is by Ben
Cracknell and sound is by Peter Cox. The 15
week tour played many of England's greatest
theatres (see schedule below), and was one of the
first plays to be seen at Peter Hall's new Rose of
Kingston Theatre, where it set and still holds the
box office record.
Because of the director's illness, Jeff Baron
directed the West End transfer. Baron was the
subject of London Theatre Guide's Big Interview,
which took one or two liberties with his grammar.
The tour is scheduled to continue later this year.
All things considered, Jeff Baron's Visiting Mr Green should come as
a salutary lesson. There are just two actors in the cast, a rather
dingy set of an old man's bedsit and a great deal of talking. And yet
the result is a great piece of theatre. Gideon Turner plays Ross
Gardiner, a sassy, sharp-suited New York businessman ordered by a
judge to make regular visits to the home of Warren Mitchell's elderly,
cantankerous Mr Green, whom he caused to fall over through his
reckless driving. What ensues isn't merely a clash of generations
but also a clash of what's safe and familiar and what's real.
Baron's story is a cry for humanity, and in the hands of Patrick
Garland, it finds sublime expression. Warren Mitchell is on
spellbinding form in the title role, but Turner is more than a match
for him. The contrast in their acting styles - Mitchell at his technical
best and Turner a lot more expansive and naturalistic - gives
additional pathos to their relationship. It's worth noting, too, that
Garland uses a device in this production that seems to scare the life
out of other directors: silence. He uses it to devastating effect, too.
It's a chance for an audience to absorb a strong line and to think -
and that, I need hardly add, is something not often required of
theatre-goers these days. - Tim Walker
24 September 2007 - Alison Woollard
Jeff Baron’s poignant play is theatre at its best: a gradual
revelation of the secrets, griefs and yearnings which lie
beneath the ordinary exteriors which we present to the world
each day.
An old and a young man are forced to meet. Ross has had a
near miss in his car and as part of his sentence he is made to
visit the elderly Mr Green who nearly became his victim.
Grumpy dislike on both sides gradually melts as Ross realises
how lonely and vulnerable the old man is, but each of them has
deeper secrets which take longer to reveal.
Can Mr Green overcome a life time of rigid beliefs? Can Ross
cope with his own father’s prejudices? Can each of them find
love?
Everyone in the audience can relate to this play whether as a
child or a parent, the holder of strong beliefs or their victim.
The audience's easy laughter at the start of the evening soon
mellowed into thoughtful concentration.
Warren Mitchell, at the age of 81, gives a brave and greatly
appreciated performance as Mr Green, accurately capturing his
fears and courage. David Sturzaker proved to be equally
detailed in his approach to the role of the young man.
An evening of great theatre.
2007-11-27 11:29:28 - Lauren Taylor
The New York hit, Visiting Mr. Green, premiered twelve years ago and has
since attracted international acclaim, proving that Jeff Baron's play is
relevant for many different audiences in any nation, whether they are old
or young. The story is touching and poignant; two men of seemingly
contrasting lives are forced to spend time together when Ross Gardiner
(David Sturzaker) is sentenced to community service for reckless driving.
Mr. Green (Warren Mitchell) who fell in front of Ross's car is adamant he
doesn't want the young banker visiting once a week.
It begins as a comedy of generation gaps and misunderstandings but as
the audience laughter dies down, it evolves into a moving and involving
drama. The men move from resenting spending time together to being
the only people each one opens up to. The play is significant on so many
levels, it explores issues of prejudice, parent-and-child relationships,
co-dependency, tradition, religion, loneliness and modernity, without
taking away any entertainment value.
Acclaimed actor Warren Mitchell is best known for his bigoted,
loudmouthed television creation Alf Garnett in Till Death Do Us Part. Now
eighty-one-years-old, Mitchell has played the part of Mr. Green several
times and it shows. His perfect comedy timing and natural movement
around the stage really bring to life the part of the elderly widower and
the audience becomes quite attached to the difficult character. His physical
frailty and loneliness juxtapose his obstinate monosyllabic responses to
Ross's questions. The character of Mr Green is a brilliant creation.
Well recommended.
its final moments overwhelmingly affecting. The
second act pushes the play into dramatic territory
reminiscent of King Lear. A sentimental King Lear
perhaps, but the play's analysis of the strength
and apparent cruelty of devout faith reveals Jeff
Baron to be a dramatist capable of toughness and
rigour. The moment when these two men suddenly
recognise themselves in each other is theatre at its
potent best." - Charles Spencer, London Daily
Telegraph
“Far from delivering an earnest homily, Baron uses
his sometimes gentle, sometimes sharp brand of
humour to devastating effect. Both funny and
poignant, Visiting Mr. Green is a piece of theatre
made in heaven."
- Sheena Hastings, Yorkshire Post
Week Commencing Venue Town
10th September Mercury Theatre Colchester
17th September Mercury Theatre Colchester
24th September Alhambra Theatre Bradford
1st October Playhouse Oxford
8th October Belgrade Theatre Coventry
15th October Theatre Royal Lincoln
5th November Yvonne Arnaud Guildford
12th November Key Theatre Peterborough
19th November Theatre Royal Brighton
26th November Theatre Royal Nottingham
3rd December New Theatre Cardiff
21st January Theatre Royal Plymouth
28th January Theatre Royal Bath
4th February Palace Theatre Westcliffe
11th February Rose Theatre Kingston
18th February TBC
25th February Arts Theatre Cambridge
and David Sturzaker
most successful plays at the West Yorkshire
Playhouse, one of England's major regional
theatres. It starred Warren Mitchell as Mr. Green,
Reece Dinsdale as Ross Gardiner, and was directed
by Natasha Betteridge. The gorgeous set and
costumes were by Francis O'Connor.