{"id":386231,"date":"2025-08-31T02:05:19","date_gmt":"2025-08-31T02:05:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/386231\/"},"modified":"2025-08-31T02:05:19","modified_gmt":"2025-08-31T02:05:19","slug":"juniper-blood-donmar-warehouse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/386231\/","title":{"rendered":"Juniper Blood – Donmar Warehouse"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new Mike Bartlett play \u2013 premiering at the Donmar no less \u2013 is generally a cause for excitement. Mr Bartlett is not only prolific but also has a knack for finding and transmitting the zeitgeist in his work. \u00a0In his latest foray, however, whilst there is wit aplenty \u2013 which lands pleasingly as it\u2019s delivered by a formidable cast \u2013 he\u2019s unfortunately come up with something that feels derivative and on-the-nose. \u00a0Imagine Chekov\u2019s The\u00a0Seagull but with a great big part written for RFK Jr in lieu of a Sorin\/ Trigorin mash-up and with a reverse Nina (coming from urbanity to the country in the same infatuated way the titular character of Chekov\u2019s masterpiece seeks the stage in the city) \u2013 oh and with none of the actual jeopardy but lots of chat that is as fair-minded in its presentation as the BBC on its best behaviour.<\/p>\n

\"HatteHatte Morahan and Sam Troughton in Juniper Blood \u2013 Donmar Warehouse \u2013 photo by Marc Brenner<\/p>\n

Director James McDonald seems at pains to find a pastoral pace in his direction, but whilst the pauses and quiet are there for a reason, it somehow manages to make a very speechy \u201cplay of ideas\u201d feel both slow and oddly rushed at the same time.<\/p>\n

Man-of-the-land, Lip (Sam Troughton) silently rolls a cigarette or sings us into each of the three acts, all set in the open air on his and Ruth\u2019s (Hattie Morahan) farm.\u00a0\u00a0We are brought to attention with stillness \u2013 presumably to transport us to the sense of space one experiences in an agrarian world. But with much comic chatter and urban clatter arrive Millie (Nadia Parkes), Ruth\u2019s \u201cex-stepdaughter\u201d and Femi (Terique Jarrett), her Oxford-bound buddy and land economist (who is about to embark on an MSc course that I\u2019m not quite sure is actually offered at that particular university, but never mind\u2026).\u00a0\u00a0McDonald gets a good feeling of contrast from the buzzy city slickers and despite the potential for these two characters being an annoying pastiche, they\u2019re not. Parkes in particular gives an outstanding performance that locates all the comedy and manages to walk the tightrope between sanctimonious youthful self-parody and oracle of truth, pricking the pomposity of others. Jarrett similarly wins us over with his charm and commanding delivery, even if he is later given some pretty preachy lines that might even feel too oratorical for David Hare.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, Ruth and Lip have come in pursuit of a kind of Good Life, and likewise, the set-up is essentially situation comedy: with disdainful city slickers on one side and the hardcore real farmers, personified by Tony (Jonathan Slinger), on the other. But in this sit-com premise, there are also lashings of most of the Chekhovian oeuvre \u2013 both comic and tragic. There are themes of inheritance and money and marriages of convenience and bereavement and loneliness and disillusion. And of course, impending revolution\u2026 or perhaps not? Because Bartlett can\u2019t decide as much as none of the characters can either. There is so much self-consciousness about the right to have ideas and so many gags to that end that this \u201cplay of ideas\u201d really goes nowhere and yet still feels polemical.\u00a0\u00a0Are we all going to talk ourselves to death because the planet is becoming barren, or maybe it isn\u2019t, but what really matters is the here and now and the loved ones right in front of us?\u00a0\u00a0And \u201cscene\u201d.<\/p>\n

As a showcase for a thoroughly brilliant cast, including younger faces to watch,\u00a0Juniper Blood\u00a0succeeds.\u00a0\u00a0With some decent bits of theatrically and a winning set by ULTZ along with some zinging lines, there is pleasure to be found in taking in this play.\u00a0\u00a0But it is not fresh or revelatory or frankly remotely important or urgent despite the themes that underpin it.<\/p>\n

\"3<\/p>\n

Review by Mary Beer<\/p>\n

\u201cDreams. You don\u2019t compromise on those.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lip and Ruth have left the city behind for a new life on a farm; trying to live differently, live better. But when Ruth\u2019s stepdaughter and her provocative best friend arrive, this quiet rural project is thrown into chaos, as conflicting visions of the future come crashing into the present.<\/p>\n

Cast: Terique Jarrett, Hattie Morahan, Nadia Parkes, Jonathan Slinger, Sam Troughton<\/p>\n

Written by Mike Bartlett
Directed by James Macdonald
ULTZ \u2013 Designer
Jo Joelson- Lighting Designer
Helen Skiera \u2013 Sound Designer
Lottie Hines CDG \u2013 Casting Director
Hazel Holder \u2013 Voice and Dialect Coach
Annie Kershaw \u2013 Assistant Director
Mark Simmonds \u2013 Associate Set Designer<\/p>\n

JUNIPER BLOOD
Donmar Warehouse<\/a>
16 August to 4 October 2025<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n