RISK EVERYTHING. To 8 May.
London
RISK EVERYTHING
by George F. Walker
Old Red Lion To 8 May 2004
Tue-Sat 7.45pm Sun 3pm
Runs 1hr 25min No interval
TICKETS: 020 7837 7816
www.riskeverything.co.uk
Review: Timothy Ramsden 25 April
More motel madness from a cracking Canadian writer.Instead of a ticket, you're handed a door-key for this show at the Old Red Lion. Aptly, since it's one of Canadian George F. Walker's motel trio; another episode' Problem Child was seen at the New End Theatre last November. His crackling writing, catching the irrationality and friction of characters living on emotion and obsession, is so forceful that, nearly half-a-year apart, it's hard to separate the Denise and RJ of this, apparently later, instalment presented by Perfect Mayhem theatre company and those of the New End production.
This may be why Provence Maydew's Denise seems too all-together, entirely the well-brought-up girl. Yet mother Carol is a problem parent, stealing money from a hardened gangster who has her beaten-up then starts threatening lives by what seems a favourite method of wrapping people in high explosive.
Denise's husband RJ still watches TV obsessively but he's moved on from one sort of reality show the confessional chat conflict - to documentaries about red-tooth-and-clawed nature. A few hours in, he can even be cool about the bomb he has strapped to his waist.
Not so Michael, the porn director who tries to be helpful as he makes for the bigtime in bed with a much-bruised Carol. For her, life's a diet of sex, lies, and betting on the odds. She's not even lost the gangster cash, but it does her no good. The big man's after her big winnings too.
Though Donna King's Carol might be a mite contrived on the transatlantic voice, she catches the character's obstinate wilfulness and persistence. Maydew's attempts at good sense may not hint at her allegedly mixed-up past but show resilience in trying to bring order into their lives.
Nathan Nolan's RJ is beautifully characterised as someone without ambition but with the mental energy to live life through a TV screen, while David Jansen is everything a porn director ought to be in the department of gold-necklaced poser.
Jeremy Bond's well-paced production, on Dorothy Wright's dank setting, searches out the action's edgy realism as well as the moments of comic absurdity which these people's lives so naturally incorporate.
Denise: Provence Maydew
Carol: Donna King
RJ: Nathan Nolan
Michael: David Jansen
Director: Jeremy Bond
Designer/Costume: Dorothy Wright
Lighting: Julian McReady
Sound: Ben Finkelberg
Sound: ZAP! Music
2004-04-26 17:35:57