Picture of the Week, July 4, 2013

There is everything to get excited about in the Cylla von Tiedemann portrait. There is the composition: the dark, the light, the rope, the position of the actor slightly skewing the symmetry. There is, of course, the actor and his role: the great Brian Dennehy - a case of perfect casting. Then there is the role and the play: Pozzo in Waiting For Godot. In essence, a big production (like Stratford offers) requires - more than any other - a signature image; something that cuts through the hype - a picture where both the informed and the newbie understand: That's it! Jovial he may be, Mr. Dennehy, but the rope and the dark behind him say Beckett, Beckett, Beckett.