Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
Cast: Paul Hunter, Edward Petherbridge.
To have a giant of stage appear in Liverpool is not uncommon, it is almost taken for granted that at some point during the year the audiences will flock to one of the city’s great theatres and be bowled over by what they witness. Only London, for logical reasons, can surely make the same claim. Yet it still is very special when it happens and when it is in a production that wouldn’t have been dreamed or even conceived without the giant becoming very ill then the play takes on a special resonance, it becomes something greater than words. Such is My Perfect Mind and such was Edward Petherbridge’s performance.
My Perfect Mind sees Edward Petherbridge and the brilliantly comic Paul Hunter delve into the life of Edward Petherbridge before, during and after a stroke whilst he was working and rehearsing in New Zealand for a production of Shakespeare’s King Lear. What came out of all the heartbreak, physiotherapy and intense work Mr. Petherbridge had to overcome was this stunning and incredibly beautiful production that in the case with all great works, left the audience laughing with the two actors but also more importantly empathising, a rare treat for any play to deliver in such great quantity.
The story delves, plays around with scenes from Edward’s life so well. At one moment he and Paul, who plays every other part from Lear’s fool to Edward’s mother to a rather excellent Laurence Olivier, are in Bradford watching his mother have a similar stroke before he was born, to taking acting tips of Mr. Olivier at the National Theatre and to a wonderful moment in which he is recognised in a taxi on the other side of the world. These synaptic misfires of scenes treated the play with respect that Mr. Petherbridge deserves and in which Paul Hunter exquisitely playfully provided.
The final moments of the production are those that draw the keen eyed observer in still further. The moment when the audience realises that Mr. Petherbridge has put himself through physical and emotional pain barriers in recreating this towering monument to his life and the words of King Lear and it all boils down to one focused hand gesture, a piece of theatre that in the end meant everything and proved everything.
My Perfect Mind is not just incredible, powerful and life affirming, it is the fitting testament to human endeavour and the ability to come back from the brink of uncertainty.
Ian D. Hall