Nathan the Wise - A new version of Lessing's play, premiered at the Chichester Festival Theatre in May 2003. Subsequent productions in Toronto (2004),Hampstead (2005)
Crew:
Director - Steven Pimlott
Design - Anthony Macdonald
Lighting - Hugh Vanstone
Sound - Gregory Clarke
Cast:
Nathan - Michael Feast, Saladin - Jeffery Kissoon, Templar - Geoffrey Streatfeild, Sittah - Noma Dumezweni, Al-Hafi - Jonathan Cullen, Patriarch - Alfred Burke, Rachel - Kay Curram, Daya - Darlene Johnson, Lay Brother - Steven Beard
Nathan The Wise (1779) is one of those almost forgotten dramatic treasures that emerge into the limelight both rich and shining ... Michael Feast is spellbinding as Nathan, idiosyncratic, intelligent, and blessed with a charm that never cloys. There is a moving spiritual quality to this performance which extends to the whole production ... I can't recommend this absorbing and affecting production too highly – Charles Spencer Daily Telegraph
This is a deeply moving drama ... Eric Bentley once said that this becomes a bad, 'preachy' play in English translation: not so in Edward Kemp's excellent version - Michael Billington The Guardian
Edward Kemp has produced a lucid, sensitive and witty translation ... Pimlott's confident pacing allows the plays various layers of intrigue to be applied with the beauty and elegance of gold leaf – Rachel Halliburton Evening Standard
Edward Kemp's splendid new translation – Michael Coveney Dail Mail
Edward Kemp's terrific translation balances German gravitas with a comic deftness. As road maps to peace go, we could do a good deal worse – Ian Shuttleworth Financial Times
Edward Kemp's brilliantly lucid translation ... it cannot fail to move – Michael Billington The Guardian
Fresh and witty prose translation by Edward Kemp – Paul Taylor Independent
Edward Kemp’s fine translation, which combines Germanic seriousness with a winning English wit, and cuts the sprawling four-and-a-half hour original down to a manageable playing time of less than three hours … it is one of those rare plays where you genuinely want to know what will happen next – Charles Spencer Daily Telegraph
Revivals
Soulpepper at Harbourfront Theatre, Toronto June 2004
Director - Tim Albery, Design - Dany Lyne, Lighting – Sharon DiGenova
Cast – William Webster, Cara Pifko, Andrew Moodie, Karen Robinson, Dusan Dukic, Barbara Gordon, Derek Boyes, David Calderisi, Vik Sahay
Hampstead Theatre September 2005
Director - Anthony Clark, Design - Patrick Connellan
Nathan - Michael Pennington, Saladin - Vincent Ebrahim, Templar - Sam Troughton, Al-Hafi/Patriarch - Justin Avoth, Sittah - Shelley King, Rachel - Celia Meiras, Daya - Anna Carteret