National Theatre Live: Good

I couldn't stand more than 20 minutes of this experience because it's too highbrow now I have a degree in philosophy and anthropology and am no idiot but this starts somewhere in the middle of a story and there's no way to really tell who this is or what is happening or what they are talking about really and yes here I go again it's artsy fartsy the set is artsy fartsy and the mother character comes in who knows why or what's going on or where the story is or might be heading but it's rapid fire dialogue I guess if this is great actors doing great acting then I'm missing something because I could care less what's going to happen since you lost me right from the start and it's idiosyncratic the dialogue the writer is trying so hard to be so intellectual ooh ooh how impressive, not.

This is a stage play, not a film so having just three actors playing several different characters is a bit confusing to us 'movie people' - but only for the first few minutes. You soon get used to it and then you'll be totally engrossed by this fascinating, enjoyable (yes, enjoyable) piece of entertainment.

The title 'GOOD' refers to the fact that David Tennant's character is.... or was..... or is a good person.... the person whom we watch become a Nazi. CP Taylor's play shows the often tiny, inconsequential changes which drip feed into Dr Hadler's normal life. These are sometimes trivial, sometimes surprising, sometimes they're dismissed because they simply can't be correct, sometimes accepted because 'they' must know what they're doing.

This feels very personal, it's not a cold historical drama. It doesn't explain why the things happen, it doesn't suggest it was the devastating disappointment of the Weimar Republic - no, it's not a history lesson of the 1930s, it just shows that things like this can happen and seem normal.

As stage plays go, this is pretty brilliant an casting David Tennant in this role was an act of genius - everyone likes David Tennant and watching him evolve from nice David to Nazi David is both horrific because it's so believable .