ST GEORGE AND THE DRAGON. To 14 April.
London
ST GEORGE AND THE DRAGON
by Carl Heap and Tom Morris
Lyric Hammersmith To 14 April 2007
Tue-Sat 7pm Mat Wed, Fri, Sat 2.30pm
Captioned 11 April 7pm
Runs 2hr 35min One interval
TUCKETS: 08700 500511
www.lyric.co.uk
Review: Timothy Ramsden 7 April
Go early and stay till the end to see the best.
This tale of Crusading days harks back even further, as George, son of Lord Albert of Coventry, is told he had an earlier, apparently Turkish, namesake who fought a dragon. This is also the modern (ie 11th century) George’s ambition. Lost at birth for 11 years he combines noble descent with the qualities of a feral child, having an Arthurian way not so much with swords in stones as with anyone who tries to fight him.
But Carl Heap and Tom Morris wrote this piece for Beggarsbelief theatre company as a Christmas show (it was at co-producer Warwick Arts Centre last Christmas) and the message is strangely of non-violence (George is appalled at killing people instead of dragons) and inter-religious harmony. Father Anselm is sufficiently unorthodox a Catholic to cast doubt on religious superstitions, while Muslim cleric Mullah Rashid has his killer instinct blunted by co-religionists who tend the wounded George.
Go early to this show (say, 20 minutes before official curtain-up) and the story will seem familiar by this point. For there’s a foyer performance of the medieval St George Mumming Play that outlines this part of the plot. Well worth watching in its own right, it makes a fascinating if scrambled version of parts of the action which the intended 7+ audience members may well detect laid out more fully in the main show.
Like other Carl Heap epics, this mixes humour, theatrical invention and audience participation - mostly voluntary, as it might well be seeing one person’s sacrificed to the dragon, though the front-row stalls finds itself on compulsory litter-duty. But it’s far from pantomime or parody; there’s often a serious, poignantly human feel. Here it’s increased by verbal echoes of Hamlet and, more considerably, references to Henry V - especially the pre-Agincourt night scene.
At times the first act seems to be treading water; it’s all OK but somewhat unadventurous. After the interval the temperature rises, with an interactive siege of Antioch and at the dragon’s eventual appearance, throwing and whirling flames round George and his new love, the put-upon King of Egypt’s daughter. Hot stuff indeed.
George: Michael Cox
Sergeant Ranulf/Turkish Knight: Daniel Crute
Guy/Hakkan: Benjamin Earl-Evans
Tom/Absolon/Statue: Brian Lonsdale
Father Anselm/King: Nadia Morgan
Henry/King of Egypt: Matt Prendergast
Watkin/Papal Recruiter: Ian Summers
Lord Albert/Saracen Recruiter/Dr Jibril: Roy Weskin
Nurse Agatha/Pardoner/Sheikh: Edward Woodall
Lady Margaret/Mullah Rashid/Sabra: Elif Yesil
Director: Carl Heap
Designer: Miriam Nabarro
Lighting: Mark Dymock
Composer/Musical Director: Jon Boden
Choreographer: Laurel Swift
Costume: Mila Sanders
Fight choreography/Fire Effects: Daniel Crute
Assistant director: Joel Scott
2007-04-08 00:55:05