During a violent and bloody revolution. Grusha Vashnadze (Carrie Hope Fletcher) finds herself thrust into motherhood unexpectedly. The governor has been killed, his wife fled and she’s left behind the newborn baby. As time goes on and Grusha grows seemingly more attached to the boy providing for him as her own, the eventual return of the governor's wife years later demanding her child be returned to her causes turmoil, it’s up to the unconventional judge Azdak (Jonathon Slinger) to turn the justice system on its head with the help of the Chalk Circle.
Immediately Oli Townsend’s set takes our attention, a large space with minimal on stage, metal single and bunk beds scattered across the stage allowing the cast to both use the stage during the show for its intended purpose but then use the props around them to help create the scenes and different locations.
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With Steve Waters’ new adaption comes a few changes to it, a touch of modernity so to speak. In this version, the ensemble all play refugees, visited by The Singer (Zoe West) whose going to perform a play (you guessed it, the Caucasian Chalk Circle) to which they’re all going to play characters within the story whilst the singer narrates. It’s an interesting take and a fresh idea from Waters. Though some ideas just seem repetitive and uninventive. The musical interludes the singer performs to narrate the show and help move it along become tedious and eventually lose the interest of the audience. The actors multi-roll the many characters throughout the story, though some characters appear to feel somewhat gimmicky, panto-esque almost. Whether that’s the Intention of waters’ new adaption of director Christopher Haydon’s artistic choice we’ll never know, you just couldn’t help but feel slightly confused, whenever the characters tried to be dramatic it come across as comical.
Though praise does have to go to the actors themselves, whatever they’ve been given to perform and choices to perform they’ve done a fantastic job of it. There’s absolutely no doubt the multi-rollers commit to the characters one hundred and ten present. Fletcher, normally of musical theatre stardom makes an impressive performance as Grusha. Fletcher captures the maternal and gentle side of Grusha but shows an admirable vulnerability. As for her brother Lavrenti (Shiv Rabheru) he’s a joyous addition to the cast, each of his characters is always a focal point in the ensemble, a thoroughly convincing and enjoyable performance to watch.
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The real shame, however, is Jonathon Slinger and his Azdak, for an almost 3-hour play, slinger was Introduced with under an hour left feeling almost too late. By this point, you’re questioning what can be done to shake things up. Then along comes a breath of fresh air in the form of Slingers’ literary judge Azdak. A commanding presence on stage that immediately upon introduction takes centre stage. A humorous yet engaging performance throughout. Make no mistake, even attempting Bertolt Brecht is difficult, much less completely modernising it. So hats off to Waters and Haydon for what they’ve created, an interesting take on the classic that has moments of ingenuity but ultimately you can’t help but question what’s so wrong with doing the original.
Review by George Butler
Rating: ★★★
Seat: Stalls K54 | Price of Ticket: £35
