REVIEW: The Animal Kingdom, Hampstead Downstairs (2022)
Lessons from The Animal Kingdom Sam "We're bonobos in our family. A hundred percent. . ." Daniel "Bonobos?" Sam "They have female alphas. They can be pretty aggressive actually.” …
Lessons from The Animal Kingdom Sam "We're bonobos in our family. A hundred percent. . ." Daniel "Bonobos?" Sam "They have female alphas. They can be pretty aggressive actually.” …
Kevin Elyot was commissioned to write a new play for Hampstead which was My Night With Reg which was turned down, presumably by, the then, Artistic Director at Hampstead, Jenny Topper. Not something you want to put on your cv! Stephen Daldry had just taken over as Artistic Director at the Royal Court and he snapped up My Night With Reg, asked Roger Michell to direct and cast David Bamber as Guy, Anthony Calf as John, the ebullient John Sessions as Daniel, and Joe Duttine as Eric.
Dan's toasts were sexually explicit and very funny, for instance "Gross Indecency" and "Sodomy". All three men are very different characters; Guy is socially awkward but anxious to please and his knitting is a running joke; John looks beautiful and seems caught up in his own thoughts and Daniel, in a flying visit, is personality plus with loads of sexual double entendre.