When this first appeared on my radar screen (the with-script read-through that I could not attend) I was very intrigued as to how close the piece of theatre would be to the original play. Would it be a very radical take, quite far removed, in both language and certainly setting from the original – perhaps more like a meditation on the themes and ideas of the central passion/obsession, placed in the Bergheim-style setting with parallels drawn from the Shakespearean psychodrama but the piece a fair few degrees of separation removed from the original. In fact it was more closely related to the play than I expected but the settling and style managed to illuminate the words of the original and allow us to see both play, ideas and characters in a new and revealing light.
The club setting very cleverly mirrored the passionate desire for extreme experience manifested by both central characters and drew attention to their mutual self-obsession with the intense light and soundtrack supporting this along with the clubby-druggy vibe that characterized the whole production. This aspect also well mirrored their love of risk and danger, which can sometimes be forgotten in more traditional performances.
The performers were grippingly intense in their creation of the characters and their interactions, well shown by their body language and use of space. And, talking of space, the setting helped to reflect the intensity of the storytelling. The long, narrow, low-ceilinged room pushed audience and performers together which made the experience a sweatily intense and mutually shared experience.
Their speaking of the verse was of a very high quality and the details were not obscured by the setting/sound/lighting and the other staging elements – something that too often can happen in modern radical productions where these elements seem to be more significant than the words and verse. However er, I could quibble about the delivery of the line ‘Bring me my robe, put on my crown I have….immortal longings in me’. While there was a break between the two stylistically very different phrases (the curter, one syllable consonant-based first part and the smooth multi-syllabic vowel-heavy sensuality of the second part) it seemed to be a touch too deliberate and came near to breaking the flow of the line. It’s a very tricky thing to bring off as there needs to be a break abd not a break - it needs to be all in one breath.
The other element that helped anchor the production was the (not too frequent) use of karaoke numbers. This was a marvelously appropriate technique to use given that it is a central part of club culture (I stand to be corrected on this however; my clubbing days are long gone…) and a highly narcissistic act which is perfect for both the central characters. Four of the five songs were marvelously; often wittily appropriate that gave a great commentary on the action at that point as well as being character-revealing.
However, IL did not think that the last number (My Way in the magical Nina Simone arrangement) worked. It was too obvious (although very true dramatically). For me it was too familiar, had too many resonances of infinite number of bad pub performers and it (temporarily) spoilt the moment.
But this is a pretty minor quibble tbh and I do not mean for it to overshadow the ‘infinite variety’ (!) of fascinating, stimulating and intriguingly radical aspects of this marvellous production/re-interpretation.
And the next one…?