DANELAW. To 12 February.

London

DANELAW
by Peter Hamilton

White Bear Theatre Kennington Park Road To 12 February 2005
Tue-Sat 7.30pm
Runs 2hr 5min One interval

TICKETS: 020 7793 9193
Review: Timothy Ramsden 28 January

Vikings, vodka and bootboys in a play whose ingredients don't yet cohere.Peter Hamilton has built his play on a documented story of Far-Right plans to establish a Whites-only East Anglia based on the mid-Essex city of Chelmsford and using the name of the old kingdom where Viking rule obtained. Yet he claims to be writing primarily about individuals not politics. He certainly seems admirably keen not to stereotype his characters.

Unfortunately the limited political interest leads to lack of a credible plot, while the various characters show moments of interest without ever adding up. Take the central character, Cliff. He may be a proto-Nazi thug but he's not stupid. He wouldn't be taken in by the ridiculous plan announced to him, in prison, by an elderly Civil Servant type.

Possibly he isn't, despite his sense of fist-delivered justice. Hamilton also shows how racism goes with contempt for women. Yet, despite his violence, Cliff is right about his girl-friend who's turned their scrapyard into a one-person sex-shop while he was inside.

His personality's credibly powerful enough to have cell-mate Paul and his own brother seek to please him. There's a definite sense of leadership about him. But no purpose. Cliff is keen on pseudo-Viking ceremonial but not action. So, despite it all, he is that stupid. Lack of political backbone in the play becomes increasingly evident. And when the dapper Civil Servant Warboys talks about love it's against the clear suggestion his idea of it involves inviting vulnerable young men to the family's rural pile.

The women are more interesting; apart from Cliff they're the only characters who talk directly to the audience. Yet what do we make of Tara, a teenager living on a mattress in a used-car lot drinking vodka yet doing A-levels; someone who hates people yet gains a University drama place (surely she ought to become a critic)? Here again, intriguing dramatic elements only add up to the shadow of a satisfying play. Good work from Adam Booth and the two female cast members, and competent contributions elsewhere. But there's a damaging overall lack of pace and shaping to Lucid Theatre's premiere of a play needing more workshop development.

Cliff: Adam Booth
Warboys: Stephen Kemble
Tara: Caroline Groom
Jason: Andrew Casey
Rowena: Rebecca Peyton
Paul: Ian Rixon
Graham: Robert Shilton

Director: Alastair Trevill
Designer: Anne-Marie Woods
Lighting: Lucy Hansom
Sound: Roger Douek

2005-01-31 00:38:15