Janis Joplin: Full Tilt - Theatre Royal Stratford East (Review)
Review by Shanna Schreuder
ANGIE Darcy’s captivating performance as the troubled American singer-songwriter Janis Joplin shows us the agony and ecstasy she experienced during her all-too-brief life.
After a sell-out run at the Edinburgh Fringe and multiple awards, Janis Joplin: Full Tilt comes to London to demonstrate why Rolling Stone magazine named her one of the greatest artists of all times.
Janis first exploded onto the music scene in the late 1960s as the lead singer of the rock band Big Brother and The Holding Company, and it’s at this junction when we first meet the electrifying songstress in Full Tilt.
In between belting out the hits – including Piece of My Heart, Me and Bobby McGee and Down on Me – she takes swigs from a bottle of Southern Comfort, smokes cigarettes and shares her feelings and opinions about life.
Bold, brash and brutally candid, she talks about her unhappy childhood growing up in Texas and why she needs her stage persona, Pearl.
Although these memories focus on her feelings of loneliness, they also reveal her stubborn determination to stand up for her beliefs and her inescapable outsider attitude that she holds as a badge of honour. Continually fuelled by drink and drugs, she takes full advantage of her fame and fortune yet is amazed that a freak like her has been thrust into the limelight.
Created by writer Peter Arnott and director Cora Bissett, Full Tilt’s part live gig and part story-telling sequence is a winning formula because it puts the emphasis on Joplin’s strongest assets: her voice and stage presence.
No doubt a risky decision as it wouldn’t just put Janice’s talents under the microscope, but significantly rely on an actress being able to recreate her magic on stage. Fortunately, it’s one that pays off as Darcy successfully delivers both Janis and Pearl to make this a night to remember.