DEVIL'S ADVOCATE. To 19 November.

Colchester

DEVIL’S ADVOCATE
by Donald Freed

Mercury Studio To 19 November 2005
Mon-Sat .745pm Mat 17 Nov 2.45pm
Runs 1hr 40min No interval

TICKETS: 01206 573948
boxoffice@mercurytheatre.co.uk
www.mercurytheatre.co.uk
Review: Timothy Ramsden 11 November

Church and state in unholy alliance.
Colchester’s Mercury Studio is becoming a home to American Donald Freed’s 2-person political dramas. If The White Crow had Hitlerite Eichmann in formal captivity on trial in Israel, here Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, complete with automatic-rifle at the ready, is no less a captive while seeking sanctuary with the Vatican’s local Jesuit representative. Outside, American invaders blast loud music and messages to disorientate and demoralise the General – as they did during the 1989 invasion under George Bush I.

Archbishop Jose Laboa had been a Devil’s Advocate, testing proposed papal canonisations. The devil he advocates here, by means synonymous with ‘Jesuitical’ in the wider world, is the one to the North. Noriega – a gorilla who can read and write is the description Ignatius Anthony’s Noriega spits out about himself – ruled at America’s convenience, making his country a drugs-money clearing-house for world-capitalism. He’s become inconvenient and the Vatican, as part of corporate global capitalism, assists the USA in disposing of him.

Freed opens as a nervous, sweating Noriega sneaks into the room while Laboa prays. But the Archbishop clearly expects the General. By the end, Noriega’s been fed, bathed and dressed, garment by garment, in full military uniform, a beast glorified for sacrifice. The self-described Panamanian “scum of the earth” in his diabolic red underwear (intriguing colour co-ordination with Catholic cardinals) has reverted to his devil-dancing peasant origins when excuses for his crimes run out at the final accusation of betraying a friend to torture and death. It leaves on stage a pair of powerful Judases.

There’s a formula for such intense 2-person meetings, moving through layers of deceit to confession, veering between attachment and argument. Freed follows it faithfully, almost formulaically. But the 2 fine performances in Dee Evans’ concentrated production beautifully sculpt out the contrasts between the bulldozing impetuosity of Anthony’s naïve dictator used to wielding power as he brandishes a gun, his face ultimately collapsing into vacancy, and Peter Dineen’s sophisticated priest patiently working towards his pre-determined goal. Robin Carter’s dark set implies grandeur while creating claustrophobia, mixing ecclesiastical elements with barbed wire, binding this pair more closely together.

General Noriega: Ignatius Anthony
Archbishop Jose Laboa: Peter Dineen

Director: Dee Evans
Designer/Lighting:: Robin Carter
Sound: Marcus Christensen
Movement: Nicola Rosewarne

2005-11-13 12:13:06