Tag Archives: Kevin Murphy

Porno

Porno

★★★

Arts Theatre

PORNO at the Arts Theatre

★★★

Porno

“What keeps this show afloat, while rocking the boat to danger point, are the powerful and charismatic cast members.”

When “Trainspotting” burst onto the London theatre scene back in 1995 it was heralded as one of the ‘most important plays the Bush Theatre has ever presented’. Full of ‘insipient anarchy’, ‘desperate degradation’ and ‘dramatic energy’ it was described as a ‘theatrical stunner’. Irvine Welsh’s novel, published two years earlier, was already a ground-breaking success and the stage adaptation shared its shock value and boldness; jolting audiences out of conventional responses and challenging the rules of what could or should be shown onstage.

A hard act to follow then. Irvine Welsh released his follow up novel, “Porno” in 2002 as a sequel, describing the characters ten years after the events of ‘Trainspotting’, but it took twenty years for it to morph into the stage adaptation that sold out at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe and is now running in the West End for seven consecutive Sunday nights. One hardly needs reminding of the pivotal characters – Mark “Rent Bot” Renton, Simon “Sick Boy” Williamson, Daniel “Spud” Murphy and Francis “Franco” Begbie. At the end of ‘Trainspotting’, Mark Renton had run off to Amsterdam, robbing the other three of their cut of the cash from a heroin deal. ‘Porno’ opens with him having to return to Leith due to his mother’s illness. How will Sick Boy, Begbie and Spud react to his return?

The fourth wall is never broken in Davie Carswell’s adaptation (directed by Jonty Cameron) on account of the fact that there isn’t one at all. The cast mainly address the audience from a sparse set depicting the Scottish pub run by Sick Boy. There is an ironic reference early on to the idea that sequels can never match the original but, despite the tongue-in-cheek reference, the notion starts to ring true as we follow the familiar foursome. This has nothing to do with the performances or the sharp, coarse and often funny writing. It is a wonder that these individuals are still alive. Lessons clearly have not been learned and “choosing life” is still an option beyond their grasp. The shock value, however, is diminished – with the exception of its delightful annihilation of political correctness – and the staging is on the tame side.

What keeps this show afloat, while rocking the boat to danger point, are the powerful and charismatic cast members. Liam Harkins, as Renton, depicts remarkably well the smooth veneer of a man wanting to make good and face up to the friends he betrayed a decade earlier. He manages also to convey the fact that maybe he hasn’t really changed much after all. Certainly, Begbie hasn’t. Chris Gavin is a lethal weapon as the psychopathic jailbird, fresh from a stretch inside for murder (reduced to manslaughter because he turned the knife on himself to make it look like self-defence). Never mind Renton being wary of running into him. The audience would do well to look over their shoulders as they trawl out of the auditorium. Tony McGeever is a smooth operating Sick Boy, not to be trusted. The respectable landlord of the pub shields his true nature – and income from credit card fraud and pornography. We relish in the anarchic disorder of their lives, yet it is only Kevin Murphy’s Spud that we have any real feeling for. Struggling with addiction, and a wife and son, he still possesses the young Spud’s jittery, eccentric mannerisms with a vulnerability we root for. A show stealing portrayal of sadness mingled with hope.

Two new characters are introduced. Tom Carter’s racist, homophobic police constable Knox is an ironic delight, while his daughter Lizzie, played by Jenni Duffy with a carnal gusto that puts the men to shame, is quite something to watch. None of the characters fit into the world they now find themselves in. Unfortunately, though, none of the characters quite fit into some of the cliches that are written into the narrative. Some observations about the ‘then and now’ feel shoehorned and sketchy. A sketchiness that filters through the production to the rushed ending. But it is a predominantly absorbing tale of a group of disparate and desperate people who have failed to move with the times. We wonder how they’ve survived and maybe hope they hold on. Eventually to ‘choose life’. We’re intrigued to see where they’ll go next.


PORNO at the Arts Theatre

Reviewed on 5th November2023

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Matthew Horwood

 


 

 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

The Choir Of Man | ★★★★ | October 2022
The Choir of Man | ★★★★★ | November 2021

Porno

Porno

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Heathers

Heathers

★★★

Theatre Royal Haymarket

Heathers

Heathers

Theatre Royal Haymarket

Reviewed – 12th July 2021

★★★

 

“a shouty affair that drowns out much of the tragedy, truth and trauma running through the heart of the piece”

 

I approach “Heathers the Musical” somewhat as an outsider. In a seemingly packed, though socially distanced auditorium, I am detached from the majority of the audience. Although I am hoping to be drawn in, and accepted. Based on the eighties’ movie, which originally flopped only to become a cult; the musical rapidly became a cult in its own right while skipping the pre-requisite critical rejection that qualifies its status. What marks this production out from the start is the enthusiasm with which it is presented and received. Everything about it is heightened and it often feels like you are in a cartoon.

Set very specifically in 1989, it adopts the high school setting so popular at the time, but twists the genre into something much darker. It reaches further than the typical subject matter of peer pressure and rebellion and attempts to grapple with teenage suicide and the fatal attraction of belonging to a clique. The clique in question is a trio of girls, all called Heather, who hold sway with a swagger that pushes credibility to the limit. For reasons governed by plot clichés, the protagonist – Veronica – is desperate to run with this pack. To say that she eventually outruns them is no spoiler; we can all see it coming as visibly as the love interest side-line.

What rescues the storyline are the quirks, the shocks and body-count that we don’t anticipate. And the oddball minor characters that outshine the leads in most cases. Andy Fickman’s production is a shouty affair that drowns out much of the tragedy, truth and trauma running through the heart of the piece. The more successful moments are when the volume gets turned down and the irony and sporadic subversiveness is allowed to be heard.

Christina Bennington is in fine voice as Veronica, torn between following her fantasy (in the shape of the three Heathers) or her conscience, represented by the Baudelaire reading, enigmatic Jason ‘JD’ Dean; gleefully played with a tongue-in-cheek assuredness by Jordan Luke Gage. His rapid metamorphosis from sympathetic to psychopathic is fun to watch. Less so are the eponymous Heathers; Jodie Steele, Bobbie Little and Frances Mayli McCann who screech far too much for their own good. At least Steele has the advantage of her ‘Heather’ being killed off fairly early on, allowing her to come back and haunt the perpetrators – a sardonic ghost that sheds more light and shade on proceedings than those still alive and clinging onto a script that is pulling them under.

It is buoyed up by the music that, despite its subject matter, powers the piece with energy and optimism. Bizarrely this sense of optimism and misplaced nostalgia is what characterises “Heathers” which, in effect, is a musical about high school killers. It makes light of the issues but doesn’t succeed in highlighting them by the humour. But what do I know? As I said at the start – I am the outsider; detached from the rest of the audience. There’s no denying this is a solid production, with a dream cast of West End talent. And there’s no denying its guaranteed success. It has bludgeoned its way into its cult status – but at the cost of sensitivity.

 

Reviewed by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Pamela Raith 

 


Heathers

Theatre Royal Haymarket until 11th September

 

Previously reviewed by Jonathan this year:
Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Hung Parliament | ★★★★ | Online | February 2021
The Picture of Dorian Gray | ★★★★ | Online | March 2021
Bklyn The Musical | ★★★★★ | Online | March 2021
Remembering the Oscars | ★★★ | Online | March 2021
Disenchanted | ★★★ | Online | April 2021
Preludes in Concert | ★★★★★ | Online | May 2021
You Are Here | ★★★★ | Southwark Playhouse | May 2021
Abba Mania | ★★★★ | Shaftesbury Theatre | May 2021
Cruise | ★★★★★ | Duchess Theatre | May 2021
Amélie The Musical | ★★★★ | Criterion Theatre | June 2021
Forever Plaid | ★★★★ | Upstairs at the Gatehouse | June 2021
Forgetful Heart | ★★★★ | Online | June 2021
Express G&S | ★★★★ | Pleasance Theatre | June 2021
The Hooley | ★★★★★ | Chiswick House & Gardens | June 2021
Staircase | ★★★ | Southwark Playhouse | June 2021
Bad Days And Odd Nights | ★★★★★ | Greenwich Theatre | June 2021

 

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