NOVELLO THEATRE

I prefer Robert Lindsay as the ever grumpy and sarcastic dentist. And so does the Queen! Last year the Queen visited the set of My Family at Pinewood Studios. Her Majesty's response (with raised eyebrows) to Lyndsay's next role as Onassis was "Oh, no! Do you have to?"

Ben Harper and in fact all dentists are pleasant in comparison to the sinister tycoon Aristotle Onassis. Martin Sherman's play paints an extraordinary portrait of a man driven by power, wealth, sex and corruption. Onassis promises a stellar cast, stylish set and to top it all off Greek singing and dancing (very cool slowmo dance moves from Mr Onassis)!

The play centres on the last seven years of Onassis's opulent life and his saucy relationships with a string of beautiful women among them his lover opera star Maria Callas (Anna Francolini) and wife Jacqueline Kennedy (Lydia Leonard). The story delves into Onassis's long-standing hatred of Kennedy even before he fell for Jackies charms and the conspiracy theories surrounding Kennedy's death.

Robert Lyndsay, very tanned in contrast to his sparkling silver hair with trademark Onassis glasses gives an excellent performance as do the leading leading ladies Lydia Leonard and Anna Francolini.

The set is lit with an azure blue glow, but how else does one effectively portray Greek Island Paradise? The stage is framed in white and projection is used to portray different scenes. The sea and island scenery projected onto the set does add an interesting element to the productions however was distracting at times.

Sitting in the dress circle I did feel far removed from the decadent lifestyle portrayed on stage below and quite thankful for that! I found Onassis to be both thought provoking, challenging and ultimately tragic.