It takes a star to play a star. Vanessa Redgrave overcomes the seemingly insuperable problem of conveying the essence of Isadora Duncan's greatness by bringing to the role her own particular charisma.
In Martin' Sherman's splendid comedy "When She Danced" (Globe) she plays the influential Isadora, whose particular form of dancing apparently defied description, at a low point in her extraordinary life.
The setting is Paris in 1923, Isadora is turbulently married to an impossible Russian revolutionary poet, excellently played by Oleg Menshikov. The dancer leads a stereotypical Bohemian life as she slowly self-destructs on her own undisciplined temperament.
Sherman's fascinated and fascinating eavesdrop on Isadora, and her eccentric entourage finds, at one point, a roomful of people talking Russian, Greek, French, Italian, and Swedish. How he juggles the Babel of conversation shapes up as a tour de force.
Newcomer Michael Sheen as a Greek pianist and Frances de la Tour as a mousey Russian interpreter contribute immeasurably to Robert Allan Ackerman's classy staging. Not to be missed.

Submitted by Jane Grey