Tag Archives: Oliver Johnstone

“Antigone” at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

Inua Ellams’s adaptation – after Sophocles – is a strong piece full of bold thinking. As a play about democracy, the work feels timely. And there is a passion to both the writing and the production that creates a formidable energy.

Antigone is re-imagined as a youth leader from a Muslim background. One of her brothers becomes a police officer and the other a terrorist. It’s the latter who is denied a burial by Prime Minister Creon, who passes oppressive anti-terrorist laws and gets rid of the bill of human rights.

The changes are though-provoking and benefit from fulsome characterisation: not just Zainab Hasan’s lead role, which she performs with aplomb, but all Antigone’s family, who are depicted with equal care. The result is great roles for her brothers Eteocles and Polyneices, played by Abe Jarman and Nadeem Islam respectively. And her sister Ismene, played by Shazia Nicholls, is far more than the usual foil. Creon, who has been looking after the family, is made a strong study in power and Tony Jayawardena’s performance in the role is superb.

Ellams’s appraisal is full of intelligence, leaving the efficacy of protest an uncomfortably open question. Our heroine is released from prison through public opinion rather than debate – it’s ratings that count for rulers. And Ellams has a strict eye on privilege; it’s made clear that Antigone and her family have power. The roles of Haemon and Eurydice come to the fore, making important parts for Oliver Johnstone and Pandora Colin who bring a great deal of emotion to the show.

Sections of the script in verse are the highlight: Ellams’s language brings force to the stage. But while the choreography from Carrie-Anne Ingrouille is good, the music by Michael ‘Mikey J’ Asante is overpowering. Sound is often tricky at Regent’s Park but isn’t the only problem in the production. Ellams’s plotting is great – this Antigone is exciting – but Max Webster’s direction feels rushed. A fast pace doesn’t always make a play more thrilling; the production comes across as nervous.

There are, also, tensions between the original and what Ellams’s has made from it. The contrasts are welcome but cause clucky moments. The remnants of Sophocles’s play, like the characters’ names or concerns for the city state, lead to stumbles. The show needs more change rather than less. Overall, this isn’t a big problem. And the solution seems easy – keep the structure of the source but do away with the ornament – but it does stop good ideas becoming great theatre.

Until 24 September 2022

www.openairtheatre.com

Photos by Helen Murray

“Teddy Ferrara” at the Donmar Warehouse

Contemporary American campus politics drive Christopher Shinn’s play, which sees the suicide of a gay student appropriated by college interest groups for their own ends. This university life is disorientating in its modernity and, for a serious, emotive topic, engenders a curiously cold work.

A crew of bland and earnest characters talk at, rather than to, one another. Debate infiltrates their personal lives, fuelled by self-obsession. Although the performances, strictly controlled by director Dominic Cooke, are fine, the cast struggles to leave impressions: the jock and his girlfriend, the guy in the wheelchair, the radical black professor – we get the point that diversity brings challenges. Shinn pokes fun rather than saying anything new.

Ryan McParland (Teddy) in Teddy Ferrara at the Donmar Warehouse - photo by Manuel Harlan
Ryan McParland

Luke Newbury, in the lead role of Gabe, who occasionally expresses contrary opinions, provides the most appealing character. And Ryan McParland is impressive as the awkward titular character, bullied and living out his fantasies online. But the only roles that really stimulate are the college president with bigger ambitions – a nice comic job for Matthew Marsh ­– and a “controlling” student journalist, played by Oliver Johnstone, who provides the majority of tension in the play.

While the plot of Teddy Ferrara is a touch predictable and the sexual politics presented too bluntly, the way people currently communicate is cleverly revealed: there’s a lot of broadcasting and not enough conversation. As Gabe says, “the texting never stops” and nor do political slogans or buzzwords – “micro-aggression” was a new one for me.

Oliver Johnstone (Drew) and Luke Newberry (Gabe) in Teddy Ferrara at the Donmar Warehouse - photo by Manuel Harlan
Oliver Johnstone and Luke Newberry

The dialogue consists of an uncomfortable, often amusing, mix of cliché and jargon, teen vlog and academic journal. This is particularly noticeable in scenes of romance – for a play so much about sexuality, Teddy Ferrara takes pains to be unerotic. Everything the characters say sounds familiar, whether through social media or web cams, the committee room or a speech, self-help books or pornography.
Christopher Imbrosciano (Jay), Griffyn Gilligan (Jaq), Oliver Johnstone (Drew) and Matthew Marsh (President) in Teddy Ferrara at the Donmar Warehouse - photo by Manuel Harlan
A memorial for Teddy, who none of the characters knew, leads to a clever conclusion. The remembrance silence, when everyone at last shuts up, makes for the most eloquent moment of the evening.

Until 5 December 2015

www.donmarwarehouse.com

Photos by Manuel Harlan