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Latest items? Unedited? Fringe Report Uncut
Ripley Bogle
Verdict: Homeless man drama
London - Camden People's Theatre - 11-29 May 05 - Mon-Sat 20:00 (21:10)
Ripley Bogle was originally a highly-acclaimed novel. It's the story of an Irish Cambridge drop-out turned tramp. It runs at 80 minutes, with a cast of one (1M).
Ripley Bogle is sickened with his war-torn hometown of Belfast, and turns to academia to improve his prospects. He clashes irreconcilably with the cold, unwelcoming cloisters and stiff-collared, prejudicial English.
Ripley is sent down, and sucked into spiralling, alcohol-propelled, self-pity. He aggravates one landlord too many, and finds himself wandering the streets of London. He scours the pavements for dog-ends, lusting after the oblivion of cheap booze.
Adapting an entire novel for the stage is tough. Adapting an entire novel into a single 80-minute monologue to be performed in a blank, black space - audibly adjacent to the busy Marylebone road - with the aid of only a wooden box, a couple of props and a few lights, is a Herculean task even for the greatest actor.
Seán Ó Tárpaigh, adaptor and performer of Ripley Bogle, has clearly carved out this monologue with tender passion. The writing is gorgeous, vivid and inventive - it gleams with erudition. And the concept is an admirable one: to regard a vagrant's life through the prism of Bogle's intelligence - and thus allow a more comprehensive empathy, a more complex and human understanding of the homeless man's lot.
There are moments when this is achieved. But unfortunately, they are few and fleeting. Mostly they happen when the galloping narrative halts and attention is allowed time to settle on a specific period and place.
The detailed depictions, say, of a key meeting with a stuffy Cambridge tutor; Ripley sitting dejectedly in Sloane Square contemplating the people he once rubbed shoulders with; the death of his murdered friend in a boat out on the Irish sea; or kissing the girl he had his heart pinned on - engage the imagination with the power of a deep and vivid dream.
It is in these moments that Seán Ó Tárpaigh’s performance suddenly finds focus. His eyes settle and his movements become steady and purposeful.
The rest of the time, it is all too evident that the text has been lifted from a novel. The narrative becomes distant and broadly objective. There are great swathes of dense and inessential text that are spoken too rapidly to be absorbed by the audience or - it seems - by the actor. So there's often the flavour of an enthused reading, rather than a real person telling his story.
This detachment, aside from being uninteresting to watch, unfortunately undermines the shock value of Ripley Bogle's final revelation.
Credits: Adapted from the novel by Robert McLiam Wilson. Adapted and Performed by Seán Ó Tárpaigh. Director - Graham Dixon. Technical Operator - Tim (surname unknown). Venue Credits: Artistic Director Camden People's Theatre - Jonathan Salisbury.
END
(c) Jonny Lodge 2005
reviewed Monday 16 May 05
Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2012
www.fringereport.com
