LIFE AFTER SCANDAL. To 20 October.
London
LIFE AFTER SCANDAL
by Robin Soans.
Hampstead Theatre To 20 October 2007.
Mon-Sat 7.30pm Mat Sat 3pm & 10 Oct 2.30pm.
Audio-described 13 Oct 3pm.
Captioned 16 Oct.
Post-show Discussion 16 Oct.
Runs 2hr 30min One interval.
TICKETS: 020 7722 9301.
www.hampsteadtheatre.com
Review: Timothy Ramsden 28 September.
Tactfully revealing piece about scandals we have known and loved.
The offended speak-out. Or into Robin Soans’ tape-recorder. They reveal a very English form of retribution. Not firing-squad, exile or imprisonment. Merely the mental torture of being biog-degraded by press and public through scandal.
Soans has done an expert scissors-and-paste job with his interviews, having seemingly forked-out for multiple lunches in the smart places the highly-placed disgraced still mostly inhabit. He interlinks stories while giving an overall momentum by moving from the nature of scandal through individual experiences to the question: what next?
He’s aided by Anthony Clark’s unobtrusively fluid, aptly cast production. And by Patrick Connellan’s set, red carpet and surrounding pillars creating an elegant hall of fame through which a giant projected camera-lens obtrusively brings the snap of infamy, the sound of its shutter coiling aurally round its victims.
Here are names famous, infamous or faded. They show, among other things, that if being exposed is bad enough, being found-out for something done in front of the tele-viewing hordes is worse. Accusations of cheating on a TV quiz lead to scornful mockery round the neighbourhood .
Anger, a brave front, philosophy, distress recollected in tranquillity, are all here. A paparazzo laments the culture he feeds, passers-by up from Essex confirm how transitory it can all be. Soans omits nothing; the family member popping in mid-interview, the yowling cat or yapping dog are here along with the heartfelt plea or cool dissection of how government apparatchiks manipulate scandal to destroy nonconformist elements.
But how much do facial expression and actors’ personae modify the originals? Would the actual Edwina scorching John Major’s reputation seem as sympathetic as Geraldine Fitzgerald speaking the speech? Would Jonathan himself have the heartfelt gravitas of Philip Bretherton – who is, we know, only acting it?
Still, there has to be something when fellow-prisoners side with a Tory bigwig against press stunts on the inside. And a cheer for the oldest subject here, the aristo who has created a more positive inheritance than a ragged scandal fomented by a British government anxious to appease American security fears in Coronation year. As it was in the beginning, …
Lord Charles Brocket/Craig Murray/David Leigh: Bruce Alexander.
Jonathan Aitken: Philip Bretherton.
Duncan Roy/Major Charles Ingram: Simon Coates.
Edwina Curie/Diana Ingram/Margaret Cook/Sonal: Geraldine Fitzgerald.
Neil Hamilton/James Herring/Menaji: Michael Mears.
Lord Edward Montagu: Tim Preece.
Christine Hamilton/Melissa/Louise: Caroline Quentin.
Director: Anthony Clark.
Designer: Patrick Connellan.
Lighting: James Farncombe.
Sound: Marcus Christensen.
Video: Sophie Phillips.
Music Arranger: Felix Cross.
Assistant director: Melisande Cook.
2007-10-01 13:32:34