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Latest items? Unedited? Fringe Report Uncut
Once Upon A Time In Wigan
Verdict: Northern Soul drama
The North of England, 1973. A generation frustrated by poor prospects and mundane, menial life stumbles across the soulful lyrics and driving rhythms of down-trodden Black Americans. Add newly-available amphetamines. Cue an unprecedented event - the all-nighter - 8 hours of relentless, energetic, acrobatic dancing in an old music-hall in Wigan renamed the Casino Club.
Once Upon A Time In Wigan is a dramatic story set in and around the club, that spans a large part of its 9-year history. The company states its intention to create a glorious, loving celebration of the era as well as to give an impression of what it was like to be actually there.
For the first half, this is powerfully conveyed through tight writing, passionate acting, nippy direction and effective use of projected footage from the original Casino Club. There are the delightful, ear-splitting sounds of Northern Soul classics. There are the well-practised, silky-smooth moves of the cast who each, in turn, create convincing and contrasting portraits of people sucked into the scene. Danielle Henry deserves special note for her natural abandon in the role of Maxine.
The relationships formed between the four distinctive characters, deftly woven into what could otherwise have been a thinly-disguised documentary, develop speedily and believably - drawing laughter and pin-drop silence abundantly and in all the right places.
But the excitement of this promising first half - like the progressive euphoria felt by the characters when swallowing a wrap of speed - is followed by a heavy come-down after the interval.
The second half - the Casino's closing night – seems sometimes not much more than one long indiscriminate moan. The writing, formerly taut, becomes flabby and superfluous.
The lissom momentum gained in part one gets trapped in this static setting and restricted period of time. It gives the characters little room for themselves and their relationships to undergo the great changes they incurred in the first half. In the murk and claustrophobia of part two, the dialogue needs to sparkle. Unfortunately – apart from a few comic moments (the play's greatest strength) - it doesn't.
The gradual disintegration of Eugene and Maxine's relationship is charted by a series of repetitive and unrevealing squabbles surrounding the shifts in their respective ambitions. It’s riddled with the sort of clichés common to American coming-of-age films: 'I just wish it could all stay the same'. And there are Suzanne and Danny's confused and sometimes unnecessary conversational rambles that follow a disappointingly predictable route. The second half has an authentic, drug-addled quality. That may give a sense of what it was like to be there, but doesn’t do much dramatically.
The actors - initially buoyed by the well-oiled dynamism of the first half – begin to struggle. As the play creeps with teary earnestness into its final stages, any initial respect and sympathy has disappeared, and there’s no feeling of engagement with the action.
Despite the slow second half, Once Upon a Time in Wigan successfully combines a vivid, spirited insight into the Casino Club all-nighter with an entertaining story that shows its rippling social effect on an estranged generation.
Cast Credits: Maxine - Danielle Henry. Danny - Chris Lindon. Eugene - Lee Oaks. Suzanne - Jodie-Leah Thompson.
Company Credits: Writer - Mick Martin. Director/Producer - Paul Sadot. Designer - Giuseppe Belli & Emma Barrington-Binns. Original tracks compiled by - Paul Sadot & Guy Hennigan. Sound Editor - Dan Steele. Film - Nick Marchant & Gareth Taylor. Company Stage Manager - Amy Griffin. Stage Manager - Doug Bonallack. Sound Technician - Justin Brennan. Assistant Stage Manager/Understudy - Lucy Jane Bowen. Technical Assistant - Steve Mills
END
(c) Jonny Lodge 2005
reviewed 10 May 05 / Riverside Studios
Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2012
www.fringereport.com
