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drinks Monday 1 September 08 Edinburgh Reunion in London
Topping And Butch Hit Leicester Square 26-27 September 08
Troop
Verdict: Perceptive, entertaining, moving
London - Etcetera Theatre - Sep/Oct 03
16 Sep - 5 Oct 03, Tues-Sat 7pm, Sun 6pm. Running time 1hr-40min
Troop is a pungent drama against the American invasion of Iraq. At another level it's a profound look at the disintegration of a relationship. At another, a quirky examination of how the social classes don't quite join up. It's also a witty and perceptive prising-open of hypocrisy. It's a sharp, clever play with delightful touches of humour.
Today is The Peace March. Jemima knows what she wants - trouble is, she's a bit Guardian-reader about it (you can almost hear the muesli scratching in her stomach). As she screeches and rants about the war, her lover Ralph points out it may be kinder for her to be with her dying disabled brother than marching against the war. Unlike their political cause, their relationship is going nuclear. Peace within the Peace Movement is - at least within Andrew's Bookshop - scarce.
Andrew's not convinced marching will achieve anything. He's a gentle soul, not a wimp, tends to quote from his beloved books and draw sketches. And improve Beth, his assistant and personal Educating Rita project. Beth is the only working-class person present. It's a tough life being working-class on stage - having to shoulder all the stupidity, lack of education, and cheeky-chirpy heart-of-goldness that comes with the theatrical job specification. Beth has all these qualities, but proves more than a match for them - and the middle-class intellectuals she's befriended.
Ralph is determined to breed out of Jemima - more or less in that language - but Jemima's changed her mind. She doesn't want to bring a child into a poisoned world that will bomb a defenceless country. And she doesn't want Ralph - if he won't see her point that political belief can't be separated from personal life. Beth puts her right on this. Beth helps her immediate neighbours: Jemima can't even be bothered with her own family.
Yet for all Jemima's unpleasantness as a person, intolerance, and lack of social grace (as Andrew puts it, about the peace movement: 'Where are all the charming serious people?'), she brims with integrity. Her morality is sure, and many may find it inspiring. Her uncompromising honesty and moral consistency is a shocking contrast to what many may perceive as the moral vacuum of Prime Minister Blair's government.
Jake Maskall plays Andrew as a charming - and tolerant - agony aunt to all. He extracts from the character a heart of gold, and displays it firmly on his sleeve. It's a well-written part, full of perception. Jake Maskall finds the depths, sincerity - and gentle grace - of a delightful man.
Amanda Grayson walks impishly away with the limelight in her scenes. She's a sparkling presence, with magical acting from within herself, and a fine awareness of what her face is doing. From a role with a shadow of stereotype peeping over its shoulder, she creates a glorious, living, breathing human being. Her Beth's a mile brighter than her words, a woman with style, wit, perception and a firm grasp on the truth within emotion.
Ryan Early creates Ralph as a subtle creature with apparently blunt feelings. The character's a closet pragmatist, ready to compromise to achieve reality - in contrast to his lover. It's a tough role, and Ryan Early masters it. His Ralph is a convincing lover with a longing for paternity. He's able to bring out the character, and present the full range of his considerable emotions.
Fiona Carew brings Jemima to life with great skill, and evokes the sincerity of belief that drive this strong character. Jemima's the kind of person for whom the term 'anal' would have been invented even if bottoms didn't exist. Fiona Carew brings out Jemima's fixity of purpose, and inabilities as lover and social being, without making her a pain to watch - a remarkable achievement. A crucial point in the play's structure is that - should you share the belief that the American invasion of Iraq with Prime Minister Blair's support is a moral wrong - Jemima is consistently right in what she says. At each point in the play that her beliefs are challenged, she unerringly sticks to them, and explains why. Fiona Carew's startling achievement is to keep us with Jemima from start to finish, and show us her unflinching honesty.
The success of Troop as a sharp piece of theatre is a tribute to its remarkable director Bindu de Stoppani. An experienced film and stage actress, she brings a profound understanding of what's involved in creating the magic of theatre to this play. Her staging of the actors is always excellent, focussing our attention in exactly the right place. The play occasionally uses monologues to the audience to make additional points outside of the play's central focus. In the wrong hands these could disrupt attention. This director stages them with great cunning and élan to keep the action moving. She's well aware of how our attention works, and manipulates it blissfully.
Maggie Kirwan writes Troop with fine gifts as a storyteller, and a ready perception of what makes people work. The structure of the play allocates parts of the complex argument about the war, or rather the anti-war side, around the characters. But Maggie Kirwan is too sharp a writer to let the fabric show. She creates believable, and more importantly, lovable, people from the characters. Her script is a fine presentation of the morality involved in what many may view as a terrible crime. But it doesn't preach, and, thanks to an enlightened cast and remarkable director, it's also hugely entertaining.
Cast Credits (alpha order): Fiona Carew (Jemima). Ryan Early (Ralph). Amanda Grayson (Beth). Jake Maskall (Andrew).
Company Credits (programme order): Writer - Maggie Kirwan. Director - Bindu de Stoppani. Costumes and Set Designer - Miranda Nolan. Lighting Designer - Jon Rand. Sound Designer - Jon Hawkins. Photography - Neil C Robinson. Press - Paul Sullivan. Company - Make A Play.
Acknowledgements (programme order): Artistic Director Etcetera Theatre - David Bidmead. Chistopher Towl, Zelda Tinska, Chetana Brasier. Sarah Kempff: Alicia, Ruben. Drama Centre London: Diana. Huey Attwater, Alona Pardo, Lydia Swift, Jyoti Tyler, Laura Windley, Emily Man.
Sponsorship and Support : Jim Livingstone and The Thanet Youth Centre. The National Theatre. Post Books: Bill. The Salvation Army, Chalk Farm. Success on Hold. The Barbican. Camden Camera Centre. Black Gull Books, Camden Lock Place. Episode, Camden Town. The Party Superstore: Staff. Financially assisted by Camden Council. Supported by The Swiss Cultural Fund in Britain: UK + CH.
END
John Park
reviewed Tuesday 24 September 03 / Etcetera Theatre
Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2008
