NOT THE END OF THE WORLD: till March 31

NOT THE END OF THE WORLD
Bristol Old Vic
Adapted by Simon Reade from Geraldine McCaughrean’s novel
Running time 2 ½ hours: till March 31
Review: Stewart McGill, March 12 2007

Important, not ground-breaking, with surprises

This is an important production as it brings Geraldine McCaughrean’s acclaimed version of the ‘Flood’ story to the stage and takes Bristol Old Vic’s policy of adaptation much further forward. The work follows earlier epics here with The Odyssey, Paradise Lost, Kneehigh’s Tristan and Yseult.

This story, as told by McCaughrean, is a challenge for audiences unfamiliar with the Noah story and takes a while to draw the attention. Seen as a prototype uncovering of a religious fanatic and his response to a tsunami style catastrophe it offers a vastly different approach to the cosy Noah’s Ark story. This ark, a huge suspended raft designed by James Cotterill, winner of the Linbury Prize 2006 for this production, is no traveling zoological park but a squalid, intense, dung-infested vessel where males dominate and women discover harshly how to survive.

Despite my thinking that this was a work essentially geared for a young audience, I discovered a dark, brutal and at times uncompromising world as seen through the eyes of Timna, Noah’s daughter beautifully played by Celia Meiras. Many questions are asked and at times I felt the work became stilted, less theatrical than the setting and banks of percussion suggested.

The cast, ethnically diverse, multi-skilled in voice, movement and song deliver with fervor and when they hit the right notes the concept and curse of religious fundamentalism comes across with extraordinary resonance. Noah’s Ark like the epic of Gilgamesh and other ancient Mesopatamian myths comes to us from a dark time and reflects a world in its early stages of humanity. At times the terror of 9/11 seems to be present on the ark as survival becomes a lottery. Okon Ubanga-Jones as Noah brings an immediacy to the fanaticism of this god-obsessed patriarch.

A haunting percussive score by Simon Allen is vocally interpreted by a Kurdish exiled musician, Nawroz Oramari, whose suffering in the real world political torture arena echoes across the theatre in a strange blend of fiction and reality meeting. A moving metaphor for the role of theatre.

It’s not a groundbreaking excitement, too often scenes are set up and don’t go anywhere but overall the show can be seen as a tangent to the discussion on ancient and contemporary religious feuds. A bold work given a memorable production by a company continuing to prove that innovation is possible outside London.

Cast
Okon Ubanga-Jones Noah
Ruth Mitchell Ama
Milo Twomey Sham
Stephanie Street Bashemath
Mark Leipacher Ham
Louise Mai Newberry Sarai
James Anthony Pearson Japheth
Sian Clifford Zillah
Celia Meiras Timna
Kristofer Gummerus Young Stranger
Emma Fredericks, Rose Reade, Emma Ward Kittim
Simon Allen Musician
Namroz Oramari Singer

Creative team
Simon Reade Director
James Cotterill Designer
Wayne Dowdeswell Lighting
Frances Newman Movement Director
Simon Allen Composer
Jason Barnes Sound

2007-03-29 00:27:49