THE SCORE
Theatre Royal Haymarket
โ โ โ 1/2
โCox, booming yet nuanced, is at a canter to reach the next cutting quipโ
Whatโs The Score?
The sporting pun is not entirely misplaced. A major sequence in this uneven play of ideas sees the sycophantic court of Frederick the Great hosting a frantic wager with Carl, the son of composer Johann Sebastian Bach.
Itโs a 1747 head-to-head between supreme monarch and ageing genius.
The king claims elderly Bach, freshly arrived from Leipzig, cannot improvise a three-part fugue based on Frederickโs own simple melody which has been worked into a knotty puzzle by his three stooge composers. It is, says one, โunfuguableโ.
Carl says otherwise, betting his meagre funds and his standing in court on his father, who is sick, tired, unpredictable and cantankerous but still โthe greatest composer in Europeโ.
This showdown is typical of writer Oliver Cottonโs hodge-podge script. It is fun, elaborate in the set-up, and Brian Cox โ who doesnโt just inhabit Bach but swallows him whole โ lands the multiple pay-offs exquisitely.
But where does this fit into the play? Is it the highlight, a metaphor, or just some passing frippery? Does the play even know? The script roams freely across a number of topics โ religion, morality, tyranny, creativity, inspiration โ without really choosing a main course.
Its purpose, perhaps (and it is a grand and worthy one) is to provide a sufficiently gargantuan role for the operatic, rip-roaring Cox, who is on top form.
With his accented voice emerging like an eruption of lava from the depths, he leaps on the fluctuating states of Bachโs mind with an actorโs relish.
So much to choose from.
Thereโs indignant Bach, outraged by the kingโs warmongering. Thereโs morose Bach, losing eyesight and significance. Thereโs courageous Bach, challenging the tyrannical king over his soldiersโ debauchery. Thereโs tormented Bach, everything coming from God but now troubled by doubt. Above all, thereโs sitcom Bach โ with his masterful pauses, hangdog putdowns and dry asides.
Cox, booming yet nuanced, is at a canter to reach the next cutting quip. Professional discipline dictates that he cannot yield to an obvious urge to eyeroll at the audience for another bite at the comedy cherry.
In his wake, the supporting cast do their best to keep up.
The expansionist king (Stephen Hagan) is affably dangerous, talking about Prussia First in terms that are disconcertingly relevant. His verbal duels with Bach, which anger the monarch but also give him a momentโs pause, represent the dramatic peak despite lacking real threat or menace.
A good show too from Jamie Wilkes as Carl, the son and foil, who does much of the thankless legwork supporting an ailing and disgruntled Bach. The brainless scheming of the three composers Christopher Staines, Toby Webster and Matthew Romain (as Quantz, Benda and Graun โ โlike a firm of bent solicitorsโ) is goofy in a Blackadderish way. And Peter De Jersey goes to town on French philosopher Voltaire playing him as Shrekโs Puss in Boots by way of โAllo โAllo.
Their court intrigue โ all behind-the-hand whispers, elaborate bows and fake flattery โ is aided considerably by Robert Jonesโs sumptuous period costumes and stately sets in director Trevor Nunnโs easy-on-the-eye drama.
Curiously, and despite the title, music plays second fiddle here, with the cast miming unconvincingly at the harpsichord. But that is perhaps indicative of the production as a whole. Nearly, but not quite.
THE SCORE
Theatre Royal Haymarket
Reviewed on 27th February 2025
by Giles Broadbent
Photography by Manuel Harlan