Sean Mathias’ first production as the incoming artistic director of the Theatre Royal Haymarket was the box office hit, Waiting For Godot, with the much talked about pairing of Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart.
Matthas has pulled in another star turn for his follow- up, Breakfast At Tiffany’s, and Anna Friel, as Miss Holly Golightly (Travelling), does not disappoint.
Indeed, Friel’s party girl with a past, naïve but at the same time knowing, trying to wipe out those hillbilly roots, is a country mile closer to the heroine of Truman Capote’s original novella than Blake Edwards’ movie Holly, the achingly chic Audrey Hepburn, ever was.
It’s not that much of a stretch, for example, to imagine Friel in Holly’s back story, as southern wild child Loulamae.
Friel is also gorgeous to look at – all blonde curls and beguiling sunglasses, silky undies and fabulous 1940s frocks. Bewitchingly manipulative, too, you do get the sense that she could charm the birds from the trees.
There’s no “MoonRiver”, but she gamely croons a couple of tunes, accompanying herself on guitar.
Supporting roles are played to good effect by, among others, James Dreyfus as the cigar-chomping Hollywood agent OJ Berman, and Suzanne Bertish as neighour Madame “I care for boys who relish tenderloin” Spanella.
On the performance I saw, there was also an unintentionally funny turn by someone’s moggie, as Holly’s cat, which was more dead weight than animated feline.
The part of William “Fred” Parsons, the struggling young writer Holly befriends, has been made much more of in this adaptation by Samuel Adamson, and American actor, Joseph Cross, has the gawky insecurity for the role, but struggles to convince in the play’s more romantic, tender moments.
The set is a bit of a let-down, too, its giant white fire escapes and frugal furnishings – a bed here, a tea chest there – not helping when more intimate scenes are being played out.
It’s really Friel’s night, though, and she relaxes beautifully into the role, whether she’s dancing the night away with soldiers, maternally bathing a traumatised William, or lying naked under a sunlamp.
Breakfast At Tiffany’s is at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket in London and runs until 9 January, 2010.
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