Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune – Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford

Writer: Terrence McNally

Director: Michael Lunney

Reviewer: David Griffiths

The Public Reviews Rating:

Frankie and Johnny were lovers- that much was all too clear as little was left to the imagination as the curtain rose. We were also left to admire the fact that Miss McGillis (yes she of Top Gun fame) had not apparently succumbed to the American obsession to reach for the surgeons knife in the vain hunt for eternal youth.

So we were in a one room apartment in a working class area of Manhattan in the late eighties viewing the post coital verbal sparring of a couple in lust.

And there it pretty much stayed!

I remember the demands of my primary school teacher for a story with a beginning middle and end and having watch the 1992 film of Frankie and Johnny starring Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer I know they all existed but I couldn’t help feeling that we were only privy to the middle. The play simply didn’t go anywhere. Ok it explored the damaged soul that was Frankie and at times was witty, at times gritty but ultimately stalled.

And what of the two significant names from the world of American film?In fact they were the only characters in the play.Rolf Saxon instantly recognisable, though I was not quite sure from where, was utterly believable as the New York based cook with too much spirit and intelligence to find himself in this lowly position in life. Kelly McGillis on the other hand I felt was trying too hard and merely came across as an actor playing a waitress.

Set design and lighting were easy on the eye rather than striking though set designer (and director) Michael Lunney had the challenging task of giving us a set to hold our interest when concentration lapsed as I’m afraid it did on occasion.

I arrived at the theatre in a positive frame of mind looking forward to a story line I knew, produced by the well respected Middle Ground Theatre Company and starring two celebrated and talented performers. Sadly I came away with the view that the production didn’t live up to my expectations.