Low DownVoltaire’s classic satirical novel Candide was written in response to the great earthquake of Lisbon in 1755 and as a philosophical response to Leibniz. Here the story appears in a new version retold by veteran actor Prentis Hancock in the role of Voltaire. It is an adventure story, full of raping, looting, cannibalism, lynching, massacre, then a brief respite in the Utopian land of El Dorado, before we go back to another bout of thieving, betrayal, kidnap, until maturity and experience, if not yet old age set in and our principal heroes, the bold if naïve Candide and his fair love, Cunegonde, settle down and decide to cultivate their garden and take an active role in making their particular corner of this best of all possible worlds the best possible corner of this best of all possible worlds. ReviewCandide has been reworked a number of times, most famously, perhaps in the 20th Century, by Leonard Bernstein, as a response to his experience of McCarthyism in the United States. The contrast between the extreme violence of the piece and the humour with which it is told, the triumph of hope against adversity, comes across very clearly in the musical version, where it has music and wit to help it along. In this production, we are limited to words, and although the dichotomy does come through verbally in this production in an understated way, it has to wade through a jumbled stage to get through to the audience.
The jumble comprises a trestle table bed, a bamboo stool (unused in the production), a large trunk, an armchair, a metal music stand and two intriguing maps hung on either side of the stage, highlighting places the travellers visit during their travels. Unfortunately, the grouping is reminiscent of an assembly of household objects bundled together for a car boot sale – is this the best of all possible sets? Surely not.
In navigating the flotsam and jetsam on this theatrical seashore, Hancock reveals himself as a versatile actor, comfortable with a variety of characterisations, mainly achieved using accents (Paquette is predictably French, but Pangloss is unpredictably Scottish for some reason). His performance is unfussy, and is an individual reading of the text – preferring to go for a left-brain rather than a right-brain reading of it, seeming to emphasise the logic and philosophical aspects of the story over its drama as it unfolds. The recent co-production of Bernstein’s Candide at English National Opera – not without its own problems dramatically – made a point of bringing Voltaire’s story up to date, with references both to 1950s and modern day America, the Baron’s castle clearly being the White House, and a pun being made on West Failure with reference to Westphalia. Hancock’s choice to keep the play true to the original is laudable by contrast, but a leap of imagination is demanded from the audience in many places to fill in gaps that could have been underlined better by an actor of his experience, best known as the 1970s Doctor Who. The old lady’s story of how she ended up with only one buttock is built up brilliantly, but ends up being glossed over in the telling. Highlights are the moments when Hancock jumps out of historical period - for instance, when he says, describing El Dorado, ‘William Morris would have loved it.’ Definitely not the best of all possible productions, but still, bits of it shine. Give Hancock the benefit of the doubt and put this review down to a bad day, go and see it at the end of the run, and you may well be in for a treat.
Reviewed by Leon Conrad 12 August 2008 Website :n/a |
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