April 7, 2011
In their compelling new production, London-based theatre company Out of Joint invite the audience to return to the fascinating world of poet, essayist and compiler of the first English dictionary, Dr Samuel Johnson.
Short-tempered and depressive but also extremely wise and witty – Samuel Johnson is one of the most colourful figures of eighteenth century British history. To resureect this larger-than-life man, Director Max Stafford-Clark and actors Russell Barr and Ian Redford have turned to the biography of Johnson written by one of his closest companions, James Boswell. In an interesting transition from the traditional play format, the doctor is introduced to the audience through a series of anecdotes and stories adapted from Bowell’s book.
Besides the Jack Russell who plays Johnson’s cat, Hodge, the cast consists of only two actors. Ian Redford is the eponymous Johnson and Russell Barr plays biographer James Boswell, as well as the vast array of characters who populate Johnson’s biography. The ever-versatile Barr takes on nine characters, including painter Joshua Reynolds, King George III, and even Johnson’s ill-tempered housekeeper, Mrs Williams.
As soon as Ian Redford strides onto stage and introduces himself as ‘Dictionary Johnson’ you feel you are in the presence of the man himself. With a broad Midlands accent and a face as rugged as a sack of spuds, Redford seamlessly captures the rough manner for which Johnson was notorious. Yet, thanks to his subtle and skilful performance, Redford also captures the gentleness and melancholy that the doctor’s gruffness concealed.
Russell Barr is equally convincing as Boswell - who he presents as both Johnson’s beloved companion and his whipping boy – and the intimacy between the pair is so sensitively rendered that at moments during this production you feel you are actually privy to the making of literary history.
To be in the company of Dr Johnson and the colourful characters who inhabit his world is a delight and an education. Out of Joint have a tradition of first-rate literary biography and their latest offering is no exception. I hope they do William Shakespeare next.
Short-tempered and depressive but also extremely wise and witty – Samuel Johnson is one of the most colourful figures of eighteenth century British history. To resureect this larger-than-life man, Director Max Stafford-Clark and actors Russell Barr and Ian Redford have turned to the biography of Johnson written by one of his closest companions, James Boswell. In an interesting transition from the traditional play format, the doctor is introduced to the audience through a series of anecdotes and stories adapted from Bowell’s book.
Besides the Jack Russell who plays Johnson’s cat, Hodge, the cast consists of only two actors. Ian Redford is the eponymous Johnson and Russell Barr plays biographer James Boswell, as well as the vast array of characters who populate Johnson’s biography. The ever-versatile Barr takes on nine characters, including painter Joshua Reynolds, King George III, and even Johnson’s ill-tempered housekeeper, Mrs Williams.
As soon as Ian Redford strides onto stage and introduces himself as ‘Dictionary Johnson’ you feel you are in the presence of the man himself. With a broad Midlands accent and a face as rugged as a sack of spuds, Redford seamlessly captures the rough manner for which Johnson was notorious. Yet, thanks to his subtle and skilful performance, Redford also captures the gentleness and melancholy that the doctor’s gruffness concealed.
Russell Barr is equally convincing as Boswell - who he presents as both Johnson’s beloved companion and his whipping boy – and the intimacy between the pair is so sensitively rendered that at moments during this production you feel you are actually privy to the making of literary history.
To be in the company of Dr Johnson and the colourful characters who inhabit his world is a delight and an education. Out of Joint have a tradition of first-rate literary biography and their latest offering is no exception. I hope they do William Shakespeare next.