Bridge Theatre, London
5th November, 2017, matinee
'Take a seat'
I’m reading Nicholas Hynter’s Balancing
Acts at the moment. It is immensely readable, not only as an account of his
time as Artistic Director of the National Theatre but also his time as
Associate Director of the National, working on Shakespeare, his ebullience for
new plays and why he wanted to be AD in the first place. He believes in the
importance of theatre and that is conveyed persuasively in this book. This new venture
with Nick Starr (with whom he worked alongside at the National) is a commercial
one, yet it’s hard to stop comparing the Bridge with their old stomping ground.
First impressions of the new Bridge Theatre? It’s in a lovely area which we haven’t
really wandered around before: Dickensian streets meet modern architecture. The
foyer is welcoming (as are the front of house staff) and light but the end of
Alan Bennett’s The Habit of Art comes
to mind: it needs to be ‘purged of culture’ and all the pretension beaten out
of it. The artisan bakery looked nice and was very tempting but it was amusing
seeing most of the audience walking around with plastic cups full of little
cakes with a name I’m not sure I’ve heard of before. The pretty lights, free
water and sea kelp soap are all marvellous, but is it the sort of place where
we can get our sandwiches out without being told off? The auditorium is fantastic
and I’m not sure enough noise has been made over it. Perhaps it’s because
London is spoilt for choice for theatres but imagine another city getting a new
theatre like this. It has the intimacy of the Dorfman or Royal Shakespeare
Theatre but the stage has the vastness of the Olivier and impressive technical
facilities to boot. From the back row of the top tier, sight lines and acoustics
were both good and I’m intrigued to see how it’ll look when the configuration
isn’t end-on.
So what of Richard Bean’s and
Clive Coleman’s new play? While his previous comedies have had substantial
satirical bite, Young Marx plays out much
like an extended sitcom episode involving stolen silverware, a botched duel,
and love triangles aplenty. There’s a great scene in the second act where Marx
tries to convince his wife that Engels and their maid, Nym, are having an
affair which is pure farce and an absolute hoot.
Any tragedy is swiftly brushed
aside and come the final curtain we’re left with a feeling that all ends well
(whether history agrees or not). While this is enjoyable and non-taxing
entertainment, the occasions where Bean does attempt more serious drama, such
as the death of Marx’s young son, the tonal shift doesn’t come naturally and
leaves the play feeling a little uneven. One minute we’re laughing at some
scrape Marx has got himself into, the next we’re meant to be weeping at the
untimely demise of a child. Such combinations of tragedy and comedy can often
be the most acclaimed of both genres, the final episode of Blackadder Goes Fourth being a prime example. Perhaps it doesn’t
quite work here because there hasn’t previously been any sense of true threat
or jeopardy, and the ending is a little rushed with too many revelations
occurring in quick succession, meaning we don’t have time to properly process
Marx’s grief.
One of the more successful
‘serious’ aspects lies in the political underpinning of Marx and Engels; the
script is peppered with jibes against Capitalism and frustrations over the
reluctant and immobile proletariat (with the irony that we’re in a new commercial
theatre which sits opposite the river from The City). Perhaps the most resonant
of these political arguments comes when Engels chastises Marx for claiming he
is ‘brutalised’ by poverty, Prussian spies, and a dogmatic and newly-founded local police force.
Engels puts him in his place, reminding him what it really means to be ‘brutalised’
as part of a social class which is battered, broken and worked to the bone. But
this seriousness doesn’t last too long, soon enough we’re back to toilet humour
and innuendoes galore.
So far, you’d be forgiven for
thinking Bean’s play is all ‘Carry On Marx’ but if I were forced to make a
comparison I’d say it bears more resemblance, tonally and thematically, to the
recent BBC comedy Quacks
(coincidentally also starring Rory Kinnear), which similarly follows a group of
pioneers and their attempts to revolutionise a stuck-in-their-ways society.
Both comedies successfully juxtapose ‘true’ history with deliciously silly
humour and a cast of likably caddish characters. Even Grant Olding’s
anachronistically rocky soundtrack strikes a chord with the music featured in James
Woods’ sitcom.
So, Bean has produced a genuinely
funny and interesting romp. Hytner has shown off his shiny new theatre to a
classy standard in his production. There’s nothing ground-breaking, but it’s
all very watchable nonetheless, and a near guaranteed crowd pleaser. But I’m
still left with the niggling question ‘what is it all for?’ It’s pretty clear
that the play doesn’t offer anything new to say politically, socially or in any
way that overtly resonates with today’s audiences. People might think that’s
often the case with Bean but I’ve long been fascinated in his provocative
humour and interest in national identity and northern working class settings.
However, Young Marx isn’t the type of
play I could see upon the National’s Olivier stage, despite the production
being on a similar scale, because of the apparent lack of ‘motive’. But then I
remember, this isn’t the National Theatre, and I am quite rightly reprimanded
for any expectations that with the Bridge Hytner would be trying to emulate his
tenure as AD at the NT. A lesson to be learned here in taking things upon their
own merit.
So, if there is no political or
social ‘stance’ (which seems pretty ironic given the source material), what
does Young Marx do? For me it
humanises a figure that has become abstracted to the point of obscurity through
his philosophical legacy. Banish from your mind the perennial image of Karl
Marx as an old, bearded man, here, as played by a breeched and bewigged Rory
Kinnear, he is a young bohemian rogue; he boozes, he swears, he womanises, he
fights, and by all accounts he is a bit of a layabout. The Yin to his Yang,
Friedrich Engels, acts as his minder, paying his way, bailing him out on
numerous occasions, and, aware that Marx is the genius of the partnership, his
main duty is to chivvy him into knuckling down with his work. Bean has lifted
the lid on the man (men) behind the theory, and by putting a face to it, an
empathetic and entertaining one at that, it demystifies what, for some, is a
rather stuffy and complicated political model. And that can’t be a bad thing!
Kinnear is by turns charming,
grouchy, sly and infuriating, demonstrating that his clout as a comedic actor
is just as mighty as his more dramatic side. He’s a true all-rounder, he even
plays the piano! Matching him in wits, Oliver Chris is a scream as Engels. The
two bounce off each other with easy camaraderie and much of the play’s warmth
and humour stems from this partnership in which a great deal of mutual respect
lies behind the blokey banter. In fact, I’d argue that the play would be better
off titled ‘Young Marx and Engels’, so much is the play devoted to their
friendship. Nancy Carroll as Marx’s wife, Jenny, and Laura Elphinstone’s Nym
are solid, but as they are typically situated as the straight men to Kinnear
and Chris’s double act they feel a tad underused.
The other undoubted star of the
show is Mark Thompson’s ingenious and gleeful set. A London skyline is
dominated by a huge revolving cube, which twirls, slides and magically
configures itself into, by turns, a pawnbroker’s, a pub, the Marx residence,
Hampstead Heath, a Churchyard and the British Library. Thompson has created an
actor’s playground (although I imagine it’s a techie’s nightmare!), and Kinnear
climbs, runs and jumps all over it, finding every nook and cranny to hide in
and exploit for its comic potential.
While Young Marx isn’t going to set the world alight, it’s an assured and
pleasing work to debut in the new theatre, ensuring that audiences’ first
impressions of the space are, on the whole, very positive. It’s too early to
say whether The Bridge will be a place for Hytner to produce hits as big as The History Boys and One Man, Two Guvnors, but let Young Marx be the first of many ‘Plays
plump, plays radiant, plays preposterous, plays purgatorial, plays radiant,
plays rotten – plays persistent’… and apparently the occasional musical!
Young Marx runs at The Bridge
Theatre until 31st December and is broadcast as part of NT Live on 7th
December.
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| Rory Kinnear (Karl Marx), Oliver Chris (Friedrich Engels), Harriet & Rupert Turnbull (Marx Children) & Nancy Carroll (Jenny von Westphalen), photo by Manuel Harlan |
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