Another weekend, another preview. I’m not sure what drew us to this one. Coincidentally we had seen some of Leo Butler’s work just a few week’s earlier in the young writers’ fest Cutting Through the Carnival…
…but I’m pretty sure we must have booked Redundant prior to seeing Carnival.
Anyway, Redundant was our first sighting of Leo Butler’s full length plays and we were mighty impressed if I remember correctly. Lyndsey Marshal starred and Dominic Cooke directed. It was grim, in many ways, yet tinged with humour and hope. Very Royal Court. Dominic Cooke must have rated Butler and this piece to put it on downstairs – a rare 21st century example of a debut on the main stage of the Royal Court. There is a coup de theatre in the play that required it, I suppose. Risky writing.
The Standard previewed it (after we had seen it) thusly:
Redundant Standard Preview 12 Sept 2001 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
We didn’t see the shocking, late addition of an Osama Bin Laden mention, which dominated the press afterwards, by dint of seeing a preview prior to 11 September.
Patrick Marmion was seduced by the production, if not the character:
Redundant Marmion Standard 13 Sept 2001 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
John Gross in The Sunday Telegraph wrote little, but was left feeling a little low by it:
Redundant Gross Sunday Telegraph 16 Sept 2001 Sunday Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Susannah Clapp in The Observer deemed Leo Butler not quite reader for main stage exposure:
Redundant Clapp Observer 16 Sept 2001 The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Lynn Gardner in The Guardian was even more damning, awarding The Royal Court production a rare meagre two stars:
Redundant Gardner Guardian 14 Sept 2001 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
It certainly didn’t displease us in that way – we noted Leo Butler as one to watch and watch him we did as he matured into a top notch playwright. Possibly if we saw this one again, we’d spot the youthful writing in it. A bit like Chekhov’s Platonov the week before.