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Well, let's turn things upside down! Instead of ending with a comment about
costumes/lighting/sound, I'll start with them : the wardrobe department headed by Kathleen Morrison with help from David Taylor produced an
incredible number of good looking well fitting highly imaginative outfits for this show! In a scene that lasted all of 2 minutes,
three girls carrying rifles wore sexy fake military uniforms, each made
to measure. And though I haven't checked, I reckon about 120 outfits - some of them
for people not easy to dress - were worn, so a big Well Done to you lot! Lighting was
also good throughout, and though sound started out too loudly, (the bird twittering drowned Hannah West's first speech) it later emphasized specific
moments of the play.
The Brenton and Hare play Pravda (meaning "Truth" in Russian) was a stunning satire
on newspaper ownership in 1985. Revived in 2006, and now in 2017, does it still have something to say? Yes and No.
The press has been diminished enormously by social media, and all sales are declining. Nevertheless, they still carry weight -
witness the unrelenting role played in the Brexit vote - and concentration into fewer and fewer hands
which reach out to include television mean our opinions are formed by fewer and fewer
sources of information. The South African monster tycoon Lambert Le Roux of the play
is demonstrably the Australian Rupert Murdoch. (Oh dear, can I be sued for that??)
Some of the lines are still funny : the sacked editor (well played by Nigel Campbell) gets a job as a Greyhound Track Racing Inspector so the headline is
"Editor goes to the Dogs". The supine youngster replacing him (played by Oliver Ferriman with a charming
smile but slow delivery) starts out, with his left wing wife, as an idealist but quickly crumbles.
The play is a series of cameos, and everyone gets their moment of stardom. John McSpadyen playing both Hamish McLennan and Lord Ben Silk is excellent
in both roles; but then, he's always great value on stage. The same can be said of John Chapman playing Sir Stamford Foley and Mack "Whipper" Wellington :
another big man with stage presence and a voice to match. Ian Hoare, Michael Mayne and Bill Boyd all give
good performances, holding our attention by their energy. Newcomer Nick Mouton as
Eaton Sylvester, Le Roux's right hand man, is a very welcome addition to the Tower : his
was an intelligent portrayal of a slippery character on the make. His Australian accent was perfect. What about the women? Well, there are only a few,
reflecting accurately the male domination of the industry. Ciara Robley (another newcomer) was a jaw dropping martial arts mistress, Jill Ruane and
Julia Collier came and went all too quickly, and good to see another newcomer, Madeleine Gordon. As for
David Hankinson, as Michael Quince MP, his body and facial contortions as he oozed his way into agreeing with whatever was being said make him a
Towering first time Towerite (groan), providing genuine laughter.
We all know the basic premise of the play : the acquisition of power. Money buys power as well as passports, money pays the hacks that dig the dirt,
if lies are exposed just pay a little compensation. What type of person enjoys that power?
Lambert Le Roux is a monster satire. But monsters must be able to charm people as well as bully them. Accordingly, they get what they want in different
ways. Knowing from past productions what a good actor Max Fisher can be, I found his portrayal of Le
Roux disappointing. The fake accent was so exaggerated as to be well nigh incomprehensible in many scenes, especially at the start. Physically,
his facial grimaces
did not add to the character, and walking with legs and arms held wide apart from the body were not indicative of an ape or gorilla, as (perhaps?)
they were meant to be. Sometimes, when playing more naturally, such as in the martial arts scene, he was more convincing.
In general, the show lacked pace, particularly the second act, so the curtain came down at
10.20. This affected the comic timing of many lines which, had they been delivered with élan, would have been funny but in fact got lost.
A particular bugbear of mine is scene changes done at walking pace. Even carrying a table can be speeded up, then run off stage. Brief scenes such as a
man on a phone don't need a chair and lines of phones
carefully placed and carefully removed. Our recent production of The 39 Steps showed how fast moving scene changes add to a show.
I realise that maybe a scene change had to wait for costume changes, but that's not always the case. This is Louise Bakker's first production for the
Tower (although she has appeared in many) and tackling such an enormous cast must be daunting. So thank you for some excellent performances and,
as the review of one of my own shows said, this one was a bit of a "curate's egg".
Photography by Ruth Anthony
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