Mr Puntila and His Man Matti - at the Belgrade Theatre

This is rather late for a review but I did not have time to write about it before. I went to see Mr Puntila and His Man Matti with Anne Marie at the Belgrade last month. I was given some complimentary ticketrs so I thought I'd go check out the theartre and its accessiility.

Mr Puntilla has a drink problem – he doesn’t drink enough! When he’s drunk, he is affectionate and generous. When he’s drunk, he is affectionate and generous. When sober, he is mean and miserly. Mr. Puntila’s sardonic manservant, Matti, has the onerous task of managing the chaos that ensues when his master’s split personality impacts on his business and his family.Directed by Hamish Glen, this classic comedy features one of Bertolt Brecht's greatest comedic characters, played by David Hargreaves.

To tell the truth, I was also curious, having met Hamish Glen at the Liquid Bar - to see what the play he directed would be like. Saffron and her friend was also going on the same night but we had to sit in a box because there were no seats for companions otherwise. They did apologise and I got another lot of complimentary tickets as a result. The boxed seats were quite far at the back and there was not much leg space  which meant that I was not completely over the moon . I was feeling rather tired and I ended up decidedly grumpy - the first part of the play left me cold. The others enjoyed it far more than I did. I did like the captioning although I couldnt read it well from our seats.

I enjoyed the second half much more, I could hear the words much clearer. Was I imagining it or did Mr Puntila eunciate better? Anne Marie said he was supposed to be drunk most of the time which should explain why his speech is slurred.

I think it wasn t the acting - it is the fact that I am not a Brecht fan and I couldnt get into the plot at all. The capitalist vs the socialist stuff seems a bit outdated to me post Mao.

 I shall go again to the Belgrade and will re evaluate the theatre experience a la Belgrade.