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Latest items? Unedited? Fringe Report Uncut
The Man Who
Verdict: Vignettes of madness
The Man Who (mistook his wife for a hat) is 17 short pieces examining madness in a clinical setting. 5 actors are variously doctors, nurses, patients. It lasts 1 hr - 15 minutes and comes with the worthy name of Peter Brook attached.
Being stamped with the mark of Peter Brook isn't a bonus for everyone and some, seeing his signature, may arrive with a sick-bag (if they arrive at all). The master has spawned greatness, drivel, pretension, boredom and grinding hours of look-at-me tampering with the fourth wall in equal proportion. And what happens in a theatre may not necessarily be theatre - especially if the holy name of Brook is invoked.
It's hard to stretch a definition of theatre to include The Man Who. There's no story - but that didn't stop Samuel Beckett. There's no continuity - again, many precedents, and the certainty of an audience packed with Guardian readers. But more crucially - there's no drama. It's simply a succession of people being mad. And utterly wonderful.
Oscar Wilde famously remarked that one would need a heart of stone not to laugh at the death of Little Nell. It's very difficult indeed to laugh at the succession of people brought in front of the audience, though in some places, laughter seems to be invited by the director. Being amused by psychiatric patients is difficult, because there is such intrinsic sadness in what (compared to our concept of 'normality') they lack. But laughter can also be a release and lessen the gap between patient and audience by blowing off the steam - no doubt Peter Brook's intention.
It's difficult to watch too, because of the intrusion. Although the pieces are scripted, the impression is highly naturalistic, as if spying on the consulting room - a necessarily private place. Mostly, the production feels like a set of role-plays for the training of doctors. There's a hint of tastelessness at putting this technical exposition of the mad up for public display. It resonates too easily with with days out at Bedlam for the entertainment of jaded Victorians.
The Man Who includes disorders of the frontal lobes, and the conditions of Visual Agnosia, Negligence, Aphasia and Proprioception. Sketches include Stimuli, Frontal Lobe 1 & 2, Autist, The Man From La Rochelle, Visual Agnosia, My Mother's Arm, Negligence 1, 2 & 3, Loss of Proprioception, Ticker, Japanese Songs, The Dream, Broca's Aphasia, Jargon, Blindsight.
What lifts the production is the sharp writing - with each sketch a gem - excellence in direction, and formidable acting from the outstanding cast. Whether it belongs in a lecture room or drama theatre becomes irrelevant - the production has a quirky magnetism that intrigues from start to end, without flagging.
Abigail Topley delivers a sublimely moving portrayal of a woman who can't silence Japanese music in her brain. Jonathan Chambers endears as the professor of music whose crisis becomes recognised when he mistakes his wife for a hat. Angela Rauscher provides a subtle mix of wry certainty and vulnerability as the woman wearing her mother's arm. Vladimir Ruiz excels as the gentle patient with memories lost in the past, opening and closing the production.
Lorenzo Martelli effortlessly steals the show with a succession of remarkable performances. These include The Man From La Rochelle, trapped in a loop centred on 1963; a stunning evocation of Tourette's in Ticker; and, in Jargon, his remarkable delivery of a man who can talk persuasively, but the words are gibberish. Highly charged with pathos, it's the highlight of the night.
Erik Satie's music runs behind the action, an inspired enhancement of the apparent randomness of the characters' trains of thought. Rhys Thomas directs with a sharp sense of focus - it could easily have been a pig's ear without this clarity of vision - and creates smooth transitions between scenes that ripple with elegance. Alison Taylor's design is inspired, exact and superbly in tune with the content.
Cast Credits (alpha order): Jonathan Chambers, Lorenzo Martelli, Angela Rauscher, Vladimir Ruiz, Abigail Topley.
Company Credits: Writers - Peter Brook, Oliver Sacks, Marie-Hélene Estienne. Music - Erik Satie. Rhys Thomas - Director. Alison Taylor - Designer. Sue Gilhespie - Lighting. Felix Catto - Production & Operation. Paula Wilson - Operation. Nathan Naylor - Operation. Rachel Hunt - Graphic Design. Paul Sullivan - PR. Lee Daniels (www.digitalflotsam.co.uk) - Website Design. Thanks to: Giles Croft. Dr Nick Ward. Dr Peter Garrard. Dr Jenny Crinion. Institute of Neurology. Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience. Madeleine Kernot / TNS Media Intelligence. Nikhil Mankodi. Rory Feeney. Mr & Mrs James Doran. Rita & Sonia Martelli. Marc Chang. St Augustine's Church, Queen's Gate, London. Jo Haggard. Julian Linley. Lee Mason. Joe Bateman. Suki Dale / Sane. Aspen EMEA. James Mullighan.
END
John Park
reviewed Wednesday 21 April 04 / Pleasance Stage Space / London
Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2012
www.fringereport.com
