Dressed in greene
Our Man in Havana, Directed by Ross Jolly, Circa Theatre, Reviewed by Lynn Freeman
GRAHAM Greene’s novel about a hapless vacuum salesman recruited by the British secret service in Cuba is somehow timely given the current unrest in the Middle East.
Wormold’s Cuba is plagued by a brutal and corrupt police force and an international community that is in equal measure worried and implicated in the chaos. Here, cash strapped Wormald is seduced by the offer to enough money to get him and his teenage daughter back to England, into becoming a spy. Trouble is he’s the wrong man for the job and makes up informants to cash in on lucrative bonuses on offer.
Actor Clive Francis has adapted the novel for the stage which might explain why he’s kept the cast to four playing a multitude of roles, but not why he relies so heavily on narration. It’s clumsy and cumbersome, especially when there are audio visual images indicating changes in time and scene.
Still the cast do a terrific job. Jessica Robinson has the most variety and her flouncing 16 year old Milly is a scream, John Wraight gets the tone right especially as Wormwold’s supercilious recruiter, Simon Vincent turns the monstrous Segura into someone vaguely human and Jeff Kingsford-Brown’s Wormwold is a delight. Jolly works the mall hard and keeps up the pace as best he can despite the clunky script.
John Hodgkins’ set was evocative and strikingly lit by Phillip Dexter, and Gillie Coxill rose to the challenge of dressing several dozen characters.
On Friday night some audience members dressed up, it was almost like being at the Sevens.
GRAHAM Greene’s novel about a hapless vacuum salesman recruited by the British secret service in Cuba is somehow timely given the current unrest in the Middle East.
Wormold’s Cuba is plagued by a brutal and corrupt police force and an international community that is in equal measure worried and implicated in the chaos. Here, cash strapped Wormald is seduced by the offer to enough money to get him and his teenage daughter back to England, into becoming a spy. Trouble is he’s the wrong man for the job and makes up informants to cash in on lucrative bonuses on offer.
Actor Clive Francis has adapted the novel for the stage which might explain why he’s kept the cast to four playing a multitude of roles, but not why he relies so heavily on narration. It’s clumsy and cumbersome, especially when there are audio visual images indicating changes in time and scene.
Still the cast do a terrific job. Jessica Robinson has the most variety and her flouncing 16 year old Milly is a scream, John Wraight gets the tone right especially as Wormwold’s supercilious recruiter, Simon Vincent turns the monstrous Segura into someone vaguely human and Jeff Kingsford-Brown’s Wormwold is a delight. Jolly works the mall hard and keeps up the pace as best he can despite the clunky script.
John Hodgkins’ set was evocative and strikingly lit by Phillip Dexter, and Gillie Coxill rose to the challenge of dressing several dozen characters.
On Friday night some audience members dressed up, it was almost like being at the Sevens.
Have Your Say
0 Comments
No comments.