‘Charing Cross Rd’

Press, 7 May 1984, Page 4

‘Charing Cross Rd’

“84 Charing Cross Road” by Helene Hanff, adapted to a stage play by James RooseEvans, directed by Jonathon Elsom for the Court Theatre. May 5 to June 2. Running time: 8 p.m. to 9.55 p.m. Reviewed by Gerrit Bahlman.

“84 Charing Cross Road” was an outstanding success when first produced in 1981. The success is well deserved. It is touching, full of wit and charm.

The subject, an exchange of letters between an American writer and a London bookshop, belies the warm and compassionate contents of the play. A correspondence which spans 20 years develops a remarkable relationship. The author in her abrupt, wry penmanship, wins the affection of the bookshop employees. For ever proper, the response to the sardonic requests embody the image of the stiff upper lip. The play’s charm lies in the growth of affection between the correspondents, the gradual dissolution of cultural barriers and the interdependence of two people who love books. The common bond of bibliophism reaches into the audience and underscores the empathy between the parties. Predictably, books are a feature of Tony Geddis’s set.

What is staggering is the realistic impression of the number of books. The acting area is broken into two. The living room in New York and 84 Charing Cross Road, the bookshop. The bibliographic atmosphere pervades the stage and plays an important part in rounding the bookish characterisations of the staff. The principal correspondents are Helene Hanff and Frank Doel. Helene is played by Elizabeth Moody with her sardonic deep-throated delivery providing early comic rapport with the audience. The Hanff character becomes emotionally endearing as her empathy towards the ration-limited British results in food parcels for the bookshop. Richard Poore gives Frank Doel a chubby formality which is immediately recognisable as the slightly stuffy personality that could be a minpr tyrant to his staff. The’ reserve melts as he develops a proprietary attitude to his American client and as we perceive his humanity. Other members of the staff secretly write as well but without Mr Doel knowing. Wickham Pack, Yvonne Martin, Geoffrey Waring and Craig Hood play the rest of the staff with Niall Slattery as a later employee.

The depth of the relationship is established in the 1949 to 1953 period when the informal American supplies shore up the ration coupons. While the play is essentially concerned with the interchange of letters and subsequently an enactment of their content, the by-play in the store and in New York provides important background. The direction makes full use of the possibilities in this regard although some elements of simplistic characterisation undermined moments in the bookstore. Inevitably, the non-corresponding roles were allowed little room to develop and the temptation to let comic caricature expand their impact was hard to resist.

“84 Charing Cross Road” is a simple, moving play which epitomises the difference between trite television and theatre. Unable to produce the dramatic visual effects of the film medium, theatre must resort to the subtle studies of human drama. Cars careering off cliffs with drug addled drivers explicitly portrayed is beyond the scope of the stage. Theatrical focus must avoid the crass and simplistic and instead gives us access to the more meaningful human perspectives. “84 Charing Cross Road” is not to be missed. ~