Don Carlos

Published Wednesday 23 February 2005 at 11:25 by Alistair Smith

Michael Grandage’s swan song as associate director of Sheffield Theatres does not disappoint. Mike Poulton’s new adaptation of Schiller’s original deftly distils the essence of his mammoth play into a more manageable three hours, while Grandage’s direction draws out its heart - a family struggle with political resonations - and translates it into an engrossing evening of supremely powerful theatre.

From the thurible swinging pendulum-like across the stage at play’s start, to Peter Eyre’s startling appearance as the Grand Inquisitor, propped up with two walking sticks, at the play’s end, the production exudes a menacing symmetry, with form observed compulsively and suffocatingly.

The young Don Carlos certainly finds himself oppressed, as he pines for the love of his father’s wife, beautifully played by Claire Price. Yet even his idealistic impulses are delicately counterbalanced by his father’s insane reliance on Machiavellian pragmatism. Indeed, it is this failed relationship between Richard Coyle’s Carlos and Derek Jacobi’s King Philip that drives the piece, as their equally extreme attitudes are pitted against each other in a confrontation which can only lead to disaster.

While Coyle is excellent, and, indeed, so is the entire cast, it is undoubtedly Jacobi’s turn as the embittered king which raises this production to a truly magnificent level - his performance is perfectly nuanced, with every gesture dripping with cold malice. Strikingly, it is his life that forms the real tragedy of the piece, as he is revealed as isolated, lonely and manipulated by the ever-present hand of the inquisition.

Jacobi’s interpretation of Schiller’s creation will surely be notched up as a career high for the actor, while Grandage’s production should be remembered as a fitting West End climax to his tenure in Sheffield.