Sandy Pritchard-Gordon

Sandy Pritchard-Gordon
Theatre Blog

Saturday 24 August 2013

The Same Deep Water As Me at The Donmar



Nick Payne’s wonderful Olivier Award winning play, Constellations, was one of the reasons I booked to see his latest offering and, although The Same Deep Water As Me isn’t as complex structurally, or as clever, it is very amusing.

It centres around an airless and soulless office in Luton belonging to Scorpion Claims, a personal injury legal firm.  Andrew (Daniel Mays), a solicitor in his thirties who has left London under a cloud, works here for the good-hearted Barry (Nigel Lindsay).  Everything points to the fact that they’re not inundated with work, so when Andrew’s old potty mouthed school friend, Kevin (Marc Wootton) turns up offering a get rich quick route of making claims for scam crashes, he is easily persuaded to take it.  Barry, the honest plodder with more interest in visits to Greggs and trying his hand at scratch cards, is less inclined to enter into the fraudulent goings on but succumbs nevertheless, well he kind of has to!  The original scam results in a visit to the courtroom when the witnesses who are so obviously lying somehow manage to convince the judge (a very witty, Peter Forbes) that they’re not.  How can a judge be so naive?

If Nick Payne is highlighting the serious issue of the “no win, no fee” compensation culture, which he has obviously carefully researched, the play doesn’t quite hit the message home hard enough. Plus the play’s outcome both legally and emotionally isn’t particularly plausible. However as a piece of theatre, providing brilliantly witty one-liners and an excellent cast, The Same Deep Water, hits the nail bang on the head.

Much of the hilarity emanates from the “fucking this, fucking that” yobbo, Kevin.  Marc Wootton’s comic physicality softens Kevin’s unrelenting use of the “f” word and such is Nick Payne’s skill at natural dialogue that his speech patterns never seem contrived.  The always excellent Daniel Mays says so much when he’s saying nothing at all.  This is especially true when his character is unable to admit lying to the patriarchal Barry; the guilt is etched all over his malleable face.  Kevin’s wife, Jennifer a nervy, simple soul is very well brought to life by Niky Wardly and Nick Payne’s brilliant one-liners are highlighted when she comes out with, “I feel like I’ve been caught wanking at the vets“.  Another cast member well worth a mention is Isabella Laughland, as the Tesco’s van driver blamed for the accident; she is definitely one young actress to watch out for.

Roll on Nick Payne’s next offering.

Sunday 4 August 2013

A Season In The Congo at The Young Vic


Chiwetel Ejiofor was the main incentive for me buying tickets for A Season in the Congo.  That and the fact that I was curious to see how Joe Wright tackled his second foray into theatre direction following his Trelawny of the Wells at The Donmar.  And then came a couple of reviews, which were less than complimentary and, despite me being well aware of the vagaries of theatre appreciation, I was not as excited by the prospect of a night at The Young Vic as I should have been.  Silly me, I’d forgotten my Mum’s mantra, “stick to your original decision”, because As Season in the Congo, although not perfect (but then what is) is an intoxicating piece of theatre.

Aime Cesaire’s play, written in 1966 is flawed, mainly because it comes across as a one man monologue, with plenty of tell but not a lot of show, especially at the beginning.  However, Joe Wright’s take on it, bringing in as it does, a cacophony of colour, sound and movement, makes it so much more, especially once we are shown the real Lumumba, brilliantly executed by the stunning Chiwetel Ejiofor.

The story centres around Patrice Lumumba who rises from beer salesman and political activist in the Belgian Congo of 1955 to the first prime minister of the newly independent state in June 1960.  A meteoric rise and even bigger fall, as by 1961 Lumumba is dead, murdered by Belgian and Katangan (the southern state of the Congo) military police, with his body subsequently (or so we believe) dissolved in acid.  An untimely end for a man so obviously revered as a prophet by many of the Congolese people. 

Lumumba had many flaws and Ejifor doesn’t shy away from highlighting them.  He humanizes the man, brings to life his many contradictions and shows us his bravery and passion.  We feel his pain on realizing that his dream for a free and peaceful Congo is lost and, whilst a lesser actor would have rendered his many impassioned political speeches, over long and boring, Ejifor delivers them with wonderful insight.

The production is imbued with a heavy dose of satire.  Among other things, puppet heads portray the Belgian politicians and the entire black cast don pink pig style noses when playing whites. These affectations work most of the time but not always.  However, instead of highlighting the weaknesses I think Wright should be applauded for his bravery in trying something different.  He manages to elevate an extremely political play from being too earnest and dull.

The rest of the multi-talented cast should also be commended.  The majority of them taking on multiple roles, act, sing and dance with aplomb, starting as soon as the audience take to their seats in what appears to be the bottom of a drained, run down swimming pool.  A dialogue with audience members sitting nearest the action, is continuous and ensures that you’re on the side of the Congolese people right from the beginning.

Particularly worth a mention are Daniel Kaluuya as Joseph Mobuto, Joseph Mydell as the Congo’s smooth talking President and Joan Iyiola as Pauline Lumumba, Patrice’s long suffering wife.  The choreographer, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, fills the production with African dance, Lizzie Clachan’s design is a delight and the slow motion massacre scene, choreographed to within an inch of its life, is a major highlight.  A nice touch, also is the Likembe Player, Kabongo Tshisensa who acts as a shaman-like chorus.

A Season In The Congo maybe flawed but it is an extraordinary and extremely entertaining piece of theatre.