Look Back In Anger - Greenwich Playhouse (Review)
Review by Rebecca Omonira-
Oyekanmi
JIMMY Porter may be hard to stomach but his relentless anger is as relevant now as it was back in 1956 when John Osbourne’s play was first performed.
Back then Porter’s insistent rants against the establishment and the ruling classes heralded an era of angry young men, in life and art, disgusted by the status quo. They fought each other, got the dole, worked for little pay, dyed their hair, listened to punk and rioted.
The angry young men of today are as discontent and “out of joint” as Porter but not as impotent. They still fight, get the dole and work for little money but they also blow themselves up, carry knives and, increasingly, use them.
The CandyKing Theatre’s production of Look Back in Anger does not tinker with the play in attempt to “modernise” it. Yet it feels terrifyingly relevant. This is down to the energetic performance of the play from which the weary voice of Porter shouts angrily, refusing to be dismissed.
Porter sees the world and dislikes it because there’s no clear place for him in it. In his anger, he takes on all the injustices of the world that excludes him and struggles to find an outlet for the pain he feels as a result.
Brett Harris is a tireless Porter. He perfectly catches the rhythm of Porter’s anger and sustains it for the entire performance, never once letting on that being Jimmy is almost certainly exhausting. In fact, both he and Fiona Rose Boylan, who played Porter’s wife, Alison, looked shattered at the curtain call!
Brilliant performances aside, Maria Chiorando’s intense production owes a lot to the tiny space of the Greenwich Playhouse which reinforces the term “kitchen sink drama”.
Osbourne’s play digs deep into the heart of Porter’s anger into a permanent and wrenching sadness, which, in a space like the Playhouse, is inflicted on the audience, refusing them the comforting barrier of detachment physically available in a larger theatre.
Though Chiorando’s production was not easy to watch, it still managed to be humorous in parts. The actors playing Cliff Lewis and Helena Charles were brilliant buffers to Porter’s stinging jabs, both refusing to believe that he had no sense of humour.
However, what’s most poignant about the production is that it had such a short run. It deserved to be longer.
Look Back in Anger played at Greenwich Playhouse from September 2 to September 7, 2008. For more information on future Greenwich productions, or to book tickets, call the box office on 0208 858 9256 or visit the website.