Pretentious
ego? Well no, surprisingly not.
The Death of Socrates by Plato, adapted by Amyas Merivale, is
a strong production and one that deserves to do well. The first night
performance was confident all round and though the piece occasionally
strays from the dramatically engaging into the realms of the theoretically
interesting, this is countered by some unexpected comic flourishes from
Joseph Fenton (Crito/Callicles) and some strangely modern instances of
slapstick humour which lighten the dialogue-based exchanges and give the
play some important pace.
The story is taken from The Last Days of Socrates, a collection
of four of Plato's dialogues which portray the trial, imprisonment and
death of Plato's teacher and idol. The adaptation is well-thought out
and well structured and the register, a careful balance between philosophers'
theorizing and realistic vernacular, was maintained throughout.
In general the cast bring the debates to life warmly. After a slow opening
(excusable in that explanation to the audience is the priority), the show
is ignited by some of the more off-the-wall interpretations by the cast.
Star of the show was undoubtedly Joseph Fenton, whose wonderfully wide-eyed
delivery hinted at the decadence of Caligula, where he would have fitted
in perfectly. Fenton brought most of the laughs, though Merivale (who
directed and played three parts) came in with solid performances off which
his humour could bounce.
Merivale's idea of splitting Socrates into two characters leads to some
interesting moments. It gives Socrates an advantage while onstage over
the other characters which works well and particular moments when one
Socrates is speaking while the other actors interact with the other Socrates
are the most effective. The device may seem a little arbitrary at first,
but it gives Ben Van Der Velde some funny lines, which he makes the most
of. I found the difference in accent and appearance of the two Socrates
slightly jarring, but only because two of the other actors in the cast
looked more similar to each other than the two Socrates did.
The set was minimal, consisting of blocks and a bed, and there were few
if any props. This was a practical solution, but the more realistic costumes
seemed to come from within a different theatrical convention. On the whole
however, the direction proved to be very competent, if not particularly
daring, and the most important objective of clarity was achieved.
The lighting was smooth and confident and some lovely pale blues were
well used to add a slight chill to some of David Botham's narrations.
However there was a notable absence of sound effects or music which could
have been used to add to the atmosphere.
The last speech by Socrates (Botham), was crucially well delivered and
provided one of the most intense moments of the play. Echoing, or foreshadowing,
Hamlet's To be or not to be speech, it brought a sudden, but convincing
gravity to the procedings. Botham's performance was engaging, but due
to the splitting up of Socrates into two parts, both actors had less room
for variation within their character.
All in all this is a show worth watching for a number of reasons. Merivale
certainly has a sense of rhythym and dialogue, and although this time
his script verges on the verbose, he shows moments of great wit and amusing
characterisation. If these aspects are given a slightly larger share of
his next work, he could well produce something that is very good indeed.
It is a modest production which realises its own limits and makes for
an enjoyable and thought-provoking evening within them. If you're afraid
that this is typically pretentious student drama, don't be. It's really
rather good.
Daniel James, 17.02.04
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