Tag Archives: Sharon D. Clarke

What a Carve Up!

★★★★★

Online

What A Carve up!

What a Carve Up!

Online via whatacarveup.com

Reviewed – 31st October 2020

★★★★★

 

“a potent mix of Agatha Christie and Michael Moore that thrillingly keeps you on your toes”

 

Minutes after watching the evening News Special featuring the Prime Minister declaring ‘Lockdown 2’, I switched off to watch the online stream theatre production of “What A Carve Up!”. The timing is perfectly apposite, not just because this production is one of the finest examples of the way theatre is having to adapt to reach audiences in the face of a pandemic, but also because the presentation, the treatment and the execution of the story is brilliantly and almost painfully relevant, forcing you to think twice (at the very least) about where we are, and how did we get here?

A co-production between the Barn Theatre, Lawrence Batley Theatre and New Wolsey Theatre, the show is cleverly constructed as a docudrama, based on the novel of the same name by Jonathan Coe published in the early nineties. The original novel, which was hailed as one of the finest English satires at the time, focuses on the fictitious Winshaw family: a dynasty that embodies absolutely everything that is politically and socially corrupt. A family that represents the narrow, self-serving interests of those in power whose influence in (or rather control of) banking, the media, agriculture, healthcare, the arms trade and the arts (the list goes on) ultimately leads to the bloodbath in which they perish; their individual violent deaths reflecting their particular professional sins.

That is not a spoiler! It is merely the starting point. Henry Filloux-Bennett picks up on the story thirty years later with razor-sharp insight and the benefit of hindsight. One of Coe’s novel’s protagonists was Michael Owen, a writer who is the prime suspect in the murder investigation. In Filloux-Bennett’s update the focus is on his son Raymond as he questions the evidence. Alfred Enoch plays Raymond, stealing the show with a captivating portrayal of a dispossessed son, robbed of truth and justice as well as family. He narrates his story straight to camera in the style of a YouTube podcast. In tandem, director Tamara Harvey cuts to a present-day televised interview with the only surviving Winshaw family member. Tamzin Outhwaite is chillingly cool as the interviewer who, on camera, surreptitiously conveys her dislike for her subject; a stunningly honest and believable performance from Fiona Button who portrays the dewy-eyed glamour that ultimately fails to conceal a hard pragmatism inherited from her forebears. The rest of the piece is filled with the ‘who’s who’ of theatre delivering cameos, including Sir Derek Jacobi, Stephen Fry, Sharon D Clarke, Griff Rhys Jones, Robert Bathurst, Celia Imrie, Dervla Kirwan, Catrin Aaron, Jonathan Bailey, Jamie Ballard, Samuel Barnett, Jack Dixon, Rebecca Front, Julian Harries, James McNicholas and Lizzie Muncey.

In an hour and three quarters the subject matter is in danger of being a little stretched but never does this feel over long, and the frequent use of repetition, flashback and re-takes only strengthens the narrative and the message. “What A Carve Up!” is a riveting piece of online theatre; a potent mix of Agatha Christie and Michael Moore that thrillingly keeps you on your toes. The strands are sometimes complicated but eventually weave together beautifully to reveal the whole picture. And it is frightening. Coe’s book is a political satire that in Filloux-Bennett’s hands is just as resonant as ever. If not more so. The Winshaw’s were the epitome of what went wrong back then in a time of ideological change. Whatever your persuasion, this production seems to indicate that we now live in an age of political shamelessness, cruelty and indifference that the Winshaws could only have dreamed of. The skilful impartiality of the subtext is a credit to the writing and the performances. At no point are we coerced into a way of thinking, but the audience, though in isolation across the nation, are probably moved in similar ways.

This production is unmissable. A triumph. Delightfully entertaining and just as thought provoking. Occasionally hard going, but worth hanging on to the bitter end. The closing lines, delivered by Alfred Enoch, are uncannily and deliberately timely. And indescribably heart-breaking.

 

 

Reviewed by Jonathan Evans

 


What a Carve Up!

Online via whatacarveup.com until 29th November

 

Recently reviewed by Jonathan:
A Separate Peace | ★★★★ | Online | May 2020
The Understudy | ★★★★ | Online | May 2020
Godspell Online in Concert | ★★★★★ | Online | August 2020
Henry V | ★★★★ | The Maltings | August 2020
St Anne Comes Home | ★★★★ | St Paul’s Church Covent Garden | August 2020
A Hero Of Our Time | ★★★★ | Stone Nest | September 2020
The Last Five Years | ★★★★★ | Southwark Playhouse | October 2020
The Off Key | ★★★ | White Bear Theatre | October 2020
Buyer and Cellar | ★★★★ | Above the Stag | October 2020
The Great Gatsby | ★★★★★ | Immersive LDN | October 2020

 

Click here to see our most recent reviews

 

The Life – 3*

 

The Life

Southwark Playhouse

Press Night – 29th March 2017

⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Life is a musical that ran originally off and on Broadway in the 1990s. With lyrics by Ira Gasman and music by Cy Coleman it explores a dark and depraved world of pimps and prostitutes, dealers and users around Times Square, New York in the 1980s.

Jojo (John Addison) is an opportunistic hustler who will sink to any low to make it big. Fleetwood (David Albury), a Vietnam veteran will a deluded ambition of making loads of money, is a shady character who pimps his own girlfriend, Queen (T’Shan Williams). Queen befriends ageing hooker Sonja (Sharon D Clarke), whilst out on the streets.  Add into the mix Lacy (Jo Servi) a crooked bar owner, Mary (Joanna Woodward) a naive youngster straight off the bus from Minnesota and sadistic gangster Memphis (Cornell S John) and we’re set for a tale of debauchery, hope and ultimately death.

The show is very nicely housed in Southwark Playhouse’s ‘Large’ auditorium with the cast using every available space to bring energy to the show. The choreography, the colourful costumes, the set, the big hair are all enjoyable to watch but the show just doesn’t set you alive with passion.

Sharon D Clarke has an amazing voice (and much of the hype around the show related to her casting), but it’s not used enough. T’Shan Williams has an equally great voice as does David Albury, in fact the whole cast are vocally superb.

Some of the songs are lively and fun others are moving . But whilst they are enjoyable in the moment, they are sadly instantly forgettable. The first act starts well and the scene is set, but the plot then meanders and goes on for quite a long time. A very long time! The second act is more concise and by far the more enjoyable of the two; the story is much easier to follow and definitely more engaging.

The cast did well but at the end of the day, The Life felt a little dated and was far too long (not helped by a late start and a technical problem delaying the start of the second act).

 

Production photography by Conrad Blakemore

 

 

The Life is at The Southwark Playhouse until 29th April.

southwarkplayhouse.co.uk