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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Arifa Akbar

John Gabriel Borkman review – Simon Russell Beale magnetic as the shamed alpha-male banker

Simon Russell Beale as John Gabriel Borkman.
Glitters with pathological narcissism … Simon Russell Beale as John Gabriel Borkman. Photograph: Manuel Harlan

Reviving a lesser-staged Ibsen play might be deemed high risk in times when many venues are cleaving to safe programming choices. Director Nicholas Hytner should be commended for it, though there is the insurance policy of three formidable actors at its heart.

The gamble half pays off. A story about the shamed titular banker and narcissist who cannot face up to his crimes, it is riveting in parts but also shows its age and plot contrivances despite the best efforts of Lucinda Coxon’s modern-day adaptation.

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