REVIEWS REVIEWS
It is 1603 and the Secretary to the Privy Council, exceptionally well portrayed by Hugh Ross, dressed in 17th Century costume, is sitting at a 20th Century desk with an electric angle poise lamp, a grey filing cabinet, using a fountain pen, organising a hanging.
We watched a priest being hanged for treason on an overhanging gangway some twenty
feet above stage level. The mix of props from different centuries is
intended to portray that conspiracy is an age-old problem.
We meet the Catholic Percy (Graham Turner) and his associates. They are
devising a plan to make England once again a Catholic country. There is talk
of Elizabeth's imminent death, of Spain, of Flanders, of the Scottish James.
We witness the search for a Jesuit priest (Richard O'Callaghan), hiding in a
priest hole.
We have been lulled into thinking we are in 1603 and this is a serious play
when in comes Alistair McGowan as a cheerful, fun loving, brightly dressed
in 19th Century tartan King James. His entourage is equally upbeat. There is banter, joking, and once again our senses are uprooted by their costumes and by the arrival of a 'Do Do', a bird in a cage acted very convincingly by a youngster. This is a gift and becomes the King's pet. Back we go to the 5/11 plot now being hatched by thirteen mercenaries, dressed in long leather coats, led by the Catholic Robert Catesby, played by Stephen Noonan.
The story continues to move rapidly on, in fact, almost too rapidly for one
to assimilate and appreciate the vagaries of the plot. There are scenes
within scenes with threads of the story being enacted very effectively at
the same time in three areas, all discussing the same problem from different angles.
Then in comes James, with his Danish wife (Annette McLaughlin) dressed
as Britannia. The Union of Scotland and England has been James's aim, imbued with tolerance between Catholics and Protestants. From the ceiling drop a variety of designs of the Union
flag. No doubt this was intended to lighten the atmosphere, but left the
audience somewhat non-plussed.
This is a world premiere, commissioned by Chichester Theatre and written
by Edward Kemp their resident dramaturg. The themes of terrorism,
justification, ethics, morality, the death of innocents in pursuit of the
cause, are all as relevant today as they were 400 hundred years ago. Edward
Kemp did not set out to write a historical play, but the core story is so
close to the 1605 events that it is hard to view the play in purely
fictional terms. I did not find that the use of James as the comedy slot
sat happily alongside the serious thread of the main plot. The play itself
was as usual beautifully crafted using the whole auditorium in
several scenes.
So ends the 2005 repertoire. Steven Pimlott its Director,
together with Ruth Mackenzie and Martin Duncan, leave after three seasons. Over the period I found that the directing has become somewhat predictable and in 5/11 I could
anticipate the crowd moves and how the various levels of the set would be
utilised. The swift pace of the play, the energy of the actors, all
added to an absorbing, if disjointed, evening, but it missed the 'wow' factor. © JMB
“5/11” is in repertoire at Chichester from the 12th August to the 8th September, 2005.
Is there an Air Conditioning certificate prominently displayed in your theatre foyer stating the date of manufacture of the appliance and when the system was last inspected and serviced - if not, complain to the theatre management.
