IN BED WITH MESSALINA To 2 August.
London.
IN BED WITH MESSALINA
by Benjamin Askew.
Courtyard Theatre 40 Pitfield Street N1 6EU To 2 August 2009.
31 July, 2 Aug 8pm Mat 2 Aug 4pm.
Runs 1hr 10min No interval.
TICKETS: 0870 163 0717.
Review: Timothy Ramsden 29 July.
1st-century AD high-life illuminates its 21st-century successor.
Say ‘Roman’ in a word-association game and the reply will often be ‘orgy’. Benjamin Askew’s new play links classical excess with modern celebrity culture. It's set in the Roman imperial family where physical desire’s mixed with unfettered power, intoxicating for Emperor Claudius’ wife Messalina who’s advanced from dancer to Empress by nineteen – a late developer compared with those in the age of instant success who’ve had fame thrust upon them far younger.
Messalina’s A-list incarnate, disguised in public with shades, and a dark wig over her blonde hair. From the first moment she leaps on her bed dominating the otherwise frugally-dressed stage, exulting in the success of her excess. Amidst her shouts it’s easy not to notice that others, two toadies apart, oppose her. There’s no contest – she’s the EMPRESS.
Cooing messages to Claudius on her mobile, watching her triumphs on TV, Kelly Hotten’s Messalina exults physically in her power, giving a portrayal so vivid that the woman who’s scorned a hundred beheaded men keeps sympathy when she comes to fear for her own neck.
It’s unsurprising retribution calls – Askew opens with the older Drusus as Fate, or Disaster, and a single reflective moment early on finds Messalina isolated in a spotlight, aware of the ground moving beneath her feet – though she still thinks she’s spinning the globe.
Only the poet Mnester escapes her verbal whiplashings, by not engaging against her, but sitting at the side with his notebook. Yet even he falls in with celeb-culture in the end, taking notes for his new opus, while her Executioner wants to be photographed with his famous victim.
The fact she’s done for takes time to sink in, as Messalina learns no-one should trust a Roman Emperor, least of all a Roman Empress. The news comes while she’s half-dressed for her latest party, still dancing towards her death, half-glamorous, half-exposed.
Ironically, the Roman Messalina’s reputation is as much gossip as history. But everyone loves a good story. And it’s worth overlooking the technical limitations in several performances here to experience the vitality and conviction of Askew’s play in Owen Horsley’s vibrant production.
Messalina: Kelly Hotten.
Lepida: Linnie Reedman.
Drusus: Oengus Macnamara.
Mnester: Christos Lawton.
Lucius: Chris Urch.
Lucullus: David Tudor.
Executioner: Inigo Rodriguez.
Director: Owen Horsley.
Designer: Alexis Forte.
Lighting: Eduardo Puhl.
Sound: Helen Atkinson.
2009-07-30 13:42:11