Stage Dragon Review: Prism – Yvonne Arnaud Theatre

Published on: 13 Nov, 2019
Updated on: 13 Nov, 2019

Oliver Hembrough as Mason, Robert Lindsay as Jack, Victoria Blunt as Lucy, and Tara Fitzgerald as Nicola in Prism – photo Manuel Harlan.

By Alice Fowler

Prism, on show at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre this week, is a celebration of the golden age of Hollywood.

The story is told through the life of cinematographer Jack Cardiff. Cardiff – a winning, charismatic figure in this portrayal by Robert Lindsay – was acclaimed for his brilliance with light. He worked with greats such as Marilyn Monroe, Sophia Loren and both Hepburns, enhancing and immortalising their beauty on film.

Robert Lindsay as Jack Cardiff – Photo – Manuel Harlan.

When Terry Johnson’s tender play begins, however, these glory days are over. Jack has retired to the Buckinghamshire village of Denham and suffers from dementia. His son, Mason, has converted a garage into an “inner sanctum”, filled with Jack’s paintings and photographs, where he can live amongst his memories.

In this, Mason has a motive of his own, for he wants his father to write a book about his life. Jack – who struggles to remember familiar words such as “car” and “plane”, let alone locate the pub – is reluctant, preferring to inhabit the past rather than remember it.

His wife Nicola (sympathetically played by Tara Fitzgerald) grieves for the man she adored but who no longer knows who she is. A new carer, Lucy, arrives (Victoria Blunt), friendly but vacant.

As the play progresses, Lucy’s vulnerabilities (her mother’s death by drowning and her father’s suicide) become a counter-balance to Jack’s own. It is she who understands him most; so that, while Nicola sees him as a man hanging from a cliff by his fingernails, Lucy can urge: “We need to jump with him.”

Tara Fitzgerald as Katherine Hepburn – Photo Manuel Harlan

In the second act, the drama deepens. We find ourselves in the African Congo for filming of The African Queen. Jack is flirting with Katharine Hepburn, whom he calls Katie – or perhaps she flirts with him.

Conversations that took place in Denham now unfold between Hepburn, Bogart and Bacall. Jack is confident and dynamic. Our hearts ache as the action switches and we return to England, to the diminished figure he is now.

Writer and director Terry Johnson created Prism in co-operation with Cardiff’s family, with Lindsay lined up to be its star. Lindsay knew Cardiff personally (until his death in 2009) and brings a growly-voiced empathy to the role. Victoria Blunt shines too as the homely carer who metamorphoses into the glamorous figures of Bacall and Monroe.

Jack’s world is a visual one. In his cinematic work, he was obsessed with light. (The “prism” of the title helped him in the early use of Technicolor, splitting light and enabling him to layer colour to form a satisfying whole).

As the colours around him darken, it is clear his life will soon be at a close. This luminous production preserves his memory, just as his work did for the Hollywood stars.