A sprinkle of Homeland stardust
A GeRMAN comedy? how can it possibly work?! The answer is with F. Murray Abraham at the helm.
he’s currently best known for playing the treacherous Dar Adal in TV’s homeland. But the actor, who won an Oscar in 1984 for his role as Salieri in Amadeus, has talents for comedy, too.
Personally, I’d pay to watch him read the Maastricht Treaty, but luckily he’s turned up in Bath to do this genial 90-minute play instead.
Written by German Daniel Kehlmann, deftly translated by Christopher hampton, Murray Abraham plays an ageing writer who’s been invited to mentor a young admirer at a country location. But his cranky character is more interested in the font of his devotee’s work than in its content.
The Mentor (Ustinov Studio, Bath) Verdict: F. Murray Abraham works wonders
Cue much fury, wailing and gnashing of teeth from the younger man.
There’s a lot of potential for the story to disappear up its own posterior, but Murray Abraham steers it clear, styling his haughty curmudgeon as a wily old crank. he’ll only drink Speyside malt and he will not abide a television in his room.
The actor has the kind of craggy face you can ponder for hours: alternately owlish and playful.
Daniel Weyman as the younger writer is brilliantly blithe about his mentor. Skinny, neurotic and needy, Weyman nurtures a defiant battle cry: ‘ I may be a terrible writer, but I go to the gym!’
As Weyman’s willowy wife, Naomi Frederick is an amusing mirage of a devoted partner, holding back her true opinion of her husband’s toe-curling play.
No less watchable is Jonathan Cullen as the failed artist turned arts administrator, obliged to broker this battle of egos.
It’s quite an achievement to get Murray Abraham to lead them all in such an obscure play in such a tiny (80 seater) venue. But boy is it worth it.