THE CONVICT'S OPERA To 28 March.
Tour.
THE CONVICT'S OPERA
by Stephen Jeffreys adapted from The Beggar's Opera by John Gay.
Out of Joint Theatre Company tour to 28 March 2009.
Runs 2hr 35min One interval.
Review Mark Courtice 22 January at Salisbury Playhouse.
Rich mix adds to gaiety of nations.
Out of Joint's new co-production with Sydney Theatre Company is set on a convict transport sailing between Britain and Australia. In Stephen Jeffreys's adaptation of The Beggar’s Opera the old (and new) lags are ordered to produce Gay’s satire, rehearsing in the gap between exercise and being locked up in the hold. Revisiting the territory of Our Country’s Good (typically acknowledged in a good joke - Stafford-Clark directed the premiere of Timberlake Wertenbaker's play about early convicts in Australia mounting a performance of Farquhar's The Recruiting Officer), this jolly, chaotic show comes across as a flip side - doing its work in a very different way.
In front of a huge black metal rack filled with scrunched up shapes (reminding us of bodies packed together in the hold) a company of ten perform The Beggar’s Opera interleaved with Jeffreys's well-written exploration of the convicts themselves. If the original is a satire fired with rage against a world where everything (especially justice) is for sale, the interpolations are more political, seeing the convicts as both challengers to, and victims of, a political system. Where Gay mocks sentimentality, Jeffreys hints at a better future that the convicts bring with them to the new world.
Max Stafford-Clark's production gives the whole thing raucous, manic energy, with ideas and fun fizzing forth, reflecting a script which raids the popular song book from Sailing to Stand by Me with magpie cheek. The cast cope brilliantly with Felix Cross’s clever arrangements, keeping the show musically tight and if a couple of them seem to have been cast for their voices, the acting makes us care about the little group of survivors and chancers as much as delighting us with their alter-egos. Juan Jackson convinces as both the irresistible MacHeath and the pathetic freed slave Harry Morton; and there is real authority and skill in the performances of Catherine Russell, Brian Protheroe and Glenn Butcher, who are particularly at home switching between the two worlds of the play.
This is a thoroughly entertaining journey in good company. The timing is spot on, changes slick and unobtrusive, and the good humour unflagging. Like Gay, Stafford-Clark and Jeffreys know the power of a cheap tune, so tender moments catch you unawares.
Lucy Lockit/Amelia Whiting/Dolly Trull: Amelia Cormack.
Lockit/Eddie Cosgrove: Peter Cousens.
John Gay/William/Matt of Mint/Mrs Vixen: Glenn Butcher.
Filch/Tom Jenner: Thomas Eyre.
Diana Trapes/Phebe: Karina Fernandez.
Capt MacNaughton/Bartlemy/Ben Budge: Nicholas Goode.
MacHeath/Harry Morton: Juan Jackson.
Polly Peachum/Grace Madden: Ali McGregor.
Peachum/Ben Barnwell: Brian Protheroe.
Mrs Peachum/Bett Rock: Catherine Russell.
Director: Max Stafford-Clark.
Designer: John O'Connell.
Lighting Nick Schlieper.
Musical Director Felix Cross.
Costume: Tess Schofield.
2009-01-24 22:24:07