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| Alex (Jonno Davies) endures an experiment to try and "kill the criminal reflex", photo courtesy of Matt Martin |
Anthony
Burgess’s 1962 novel A Clockwork Orange
has delighted and horrified readers for decades – as has Stanley Kubrick’s film
adaptation from 1971. Now, Action To The Word’s theatrical staging of the cult
classic has returned to London’s Park Theatre after its debut at Soho Theatre in
2009.
The
tale follows Alexander (Alex) DeLarge and his “droogs”, Georgie, Dim and Pete, in their quest for ultraviolence. But have the foursome found their feet on
stage? Well, this all-male production is –
as they would say – real horrorshow.
The
teenagers use the term to indicate something good in Nadsat, which is English laced with Russian
influences. The play honours the original plot and language, so a
quick refresher beforehand might be advisable. Otherwise, the storyline is a
minefield to navigate, especially when the artistic director, Alexandra
Spencer-Jones, has sprinkled it with an additional layer of homoeroticism.
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| Photo courtesy of Matt Martin |
Alex
(played by the hunky Jonno Davies) and his droogs casually kiss one another,
strip down to just their muscles – no complaints here – and brutally rape other
men. In one scene, Pete (Tom Whitelock) finds Alex being called “Little Alex” by his probation officer Mr
Deltoid (Damien Hasson) hilarious. The dots are joined pretty closely together
with a lascivious lick of Pete’s lips and a well-placed glance down to Alex’s…you
know what.
It’s
all fun and games until Alex is arrested for murder and rape. In jail, he takes
part in an experimental programme that will reduce his sentence and render him
averse to all forms of violence.
Each
of the eight cast members, besides Davies, performs three roles. They morph seamlessly
and manage to excel at each accent, posture or gender change. For the limited
female characters, they don a tutu or a pair of killer heels.
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| Pete (Tom Whitelock) drinks his moloko like a good boy, photo courtesy of Matt Martin |
Davies
is the cheeky chappie we all expect Alex to be, with his cocksure attitude and
cat-that-got-the-cream grin. In this case though, his drink of choice is milk,
or moloko, spiked with drugs.
The
minutiae of facial expressions are detectable because of the
theatre-in-the-round setup. The stage almost spills into the audience on all
four sides, making for intimate viewing in a space with a capacity for 200
people.
When
Alex takes a bite of an orange, peel and all, the audience feels the juicy
spray. As the droogs run rampant and target their next victims, the fight
scenes are literally in-your-face. It’s a wonder no one receives a blow to the
head with Dim (Sebastian Charles)'s golf club for looking at him funny. Ultraviolence,
not love, is all around.
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| Photo courtesy of Matt Martin |
The
droogs occasionally break into graceful dance sequences –
choreographed by Spencer-Jones and set to a soundtrack ranging from Gossip to
Placebo to Alex’s favourite, Beethoven.
A
wooden table and four chairs receive most of the battering in the minimal set. Pops
of orange are cleverly interjected throughout – in the form of a camera, underwear,
a bottle of Lucozade and even the blaze of an orange spotlight.
While
the play’s conclusion is not as satisfying as the film’s, we must raise a big glass
of moloko to this rendition of A
Clockwork Orange – it’s real horrorshow.
A Clockwork Orange is showing until 18
March at Park Theatre, N4 3JP. Phone the box office on 020 7870 6876 or book online here. The runtime is 90
minutes with no interval.
