Noughts & Crosses, RSC, Civic Hall, Stratford upon Avon, till 19 January then tour to 5 April 2008.
Stratford-upon-Avon/Tour.
Noughts and Crosses: Malorie Blackman: adapted for the stage by Dominic Cooke.
The Royal Shakespeare Company.
The Civic Hall.
www.rsc.org.uk .
Runs: 2 h 30m: one interval: till 19 Jan 08.
Start: 7.30.
Review: Jan Pick, 12.12.07
A struggle of a struggle for power
‘Noughts and Crosses’ seems an odd choice for the time of year, but the RSC has chosen ‘message’ rather than ‘feel good’ this Christmas. The play, adapted from a novel by Malorie Blackman, cites Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet ‘ as its inspiration, but here, staged as young love across the divide of race as well as class, at times seems more reminiscent of ‘Othello’.
An issue-driven piece, it becomes unwieldy as it tries to deal with a combination of apartheid, terrorism, and the conflicts of the American Deep South - although it rather cleverly reverses the power structure of those conflicts into a black ruling class, the crosses, and a white underclass, the noughts. There is so much crammed in that it is forced to become overly simplistic and not only the characters are played as black and white!
There are some good ideas and powerful images - the crowd scenes are excellent with effective dramatic use of space and lighting - but there are too few of these to justify the plays 2 hours and 30 minute length, and it is not well enough acted to deliver its ideas with real emotional depth.
Fortunately, despite occasional rather wooden acting from its predominantly youthful cast, there is enough that is good to hold the attention and sympathy of an audience composed of 75 % school students. On the plus side, Michelle Butterly and Phil McKee are excellent as the McGregors, parents of the ‘Romeo’ character, Callum, as is Tyrone Huggins’ Kamal, the cynical politician father of Sephy – the ‘Juliet’ role.
What works as a novel does not always translate to the stage, but there is a powerful play here, struggling to emerge.
Cast:
The McGregors
Ryan: Phil McKee
Meggie: Michelle Butterly
Lynette: Louise Callaghan
Jude: Freddy White
Callum: Richard Madden
The Hadleys
Kamal: Tyrone Huggins
Jasmine: Jo Martin
Minerva: Tracy Ifeachor
Sephy: Ony Uhiara
Sara Pike: Jenny Ogilvie
Juno Aylette: Davinia Anderson
Heathcroft School
Mr Corsa: Tyrone Huggins
Dionne: Davinia Anderson
Lola: Doreene Blackstock
Colin: Christopher Daley
Shania: Jenny Ogilvie
The Law
Stanhope: Clarence Smith
Kelani Adams: Doreene Blackstock
Mr Pingule: Charles Abomeli
Governor: Doreene Blackstock
Jack: Charles Abomeli
Policemen: Charles Abomeli
Clarence Smith
Reporter: Clarence Smith
The Liberation Militia
Pete: Daniel Bowers
Morgan: Christopher Daley
Leila: Louise Callaghan
All other parts played by members of the Company
Musician
Keyboards: Bruce O’Neil
Director: Dominic Cooke
Designer: Kandis Cook
Lighting: Wolfgang Gobbel
Music: Gary Yershon
Sound: Christopher Shutt
Movement: Liz Rankin
Fights: Terry King
Assistant Director: Rae Mcken
Music Director: Bruce O’Neil
Dialect Work: Penny Dyer
Company Voice Work: Charmian Gradwell
Casting: Sam Jones (CDG)
Production Manager: Pete Griffin
Costume Supervisor: Carrie Bayliss
Company Stage Manager: Pip Horobin
DSM: Gabrielle Sanders
ASM: Nicola Ireland
2007-12-19 21:12:23