SITE GUIDE
SEARCH
REVIEWS
REVIEW ARCHIVES
ADVERTISING AT CURTAINUP
FEATURES
NEWS
Etcetera and
Short Term Listings
LISTINGS
Broadway
Off-Broadway
NYC Restaurants
BOOKS and CDs
OTHER PLACES
Berkshires
London
California
New Jersey
DC
Connecticut
Philadelphia
Elsewhere
QUOTES
TKTS
PLAYWRIGHTS' ALBUMS
LETTERS TO EDITOR
FILM
LINKS
MISCELLANEOUS
Free Updates
Masthead
Writing for Us
A CurtainUp 
London Review
London ReviewThe Ruling Class
|
Dr. Herder: "He can't forget being rejected by his mother and father at the age of 11. They sent him away, alone, into a primitive community of licensed bullies and pederasts." Sir Charles: "You mean he went to public school." |
James McAvoy as Jack (Photo: Johan Persson) |
The first act, which feels half an hour too long, concentrates on the family getting Jack to marry Sir Charles Gurney's (Ron Cook) bit on the side Grace Shelley (played by Kathryn Drysdale) in order to produce an heir who can take over from mad Jack. The problem is that Jack, who is as mad as a hatter, is convinced he is already married to Marguerite Dumas, la Dame aux Camelias. Cue the waltz from La Traviata and Grace Shelley enters dressed as a nineteenth century French courtesan.
Dr Herder, a psychiatrist (Eliot Levy) is called in to help Jack recover his sanity and introduces another God candidate paranoid schizophrenic (Forbes Masson) to challenge Jack's delusions.
The second act sees Jack apparently sane except that he is linked to murders of prostitutes in London's East End.
Soutra Gilmour's set is the right kind of country mansion and outdoor scenes see sunflowers rising from the floorboards.
There are three excellent things about this production which make it worth seeing. Firstly is the magnificent performance of the newish Professor Charles Xavier in the recent X Men films, James McAvoy. It is a beautiful role for him, even if the plot is untidy and anarchic and dated in the class hatred of the politically naive 1960s.
McAvoy plays it for maximum comedy; no reference to Jesus goes without a smile and yet he also appears saintly and innocent. McAvoy is calm and regal as God, mounting the crucifix, erected in the stately home hall, to sleep and scaring the life out of visitors. After the "cure"as the apparently more conventional 14th Earl of Gurney, he is charming and handsome and convinces in adopting upper class bigotry so different from Jack's former Christian ideals.
Secondly is Jamie Lloyd's faultless direction of a strong ensemble cast. Thirdly, and these are the scenes I enjoyed most, there are some wonderful song and dance numbers; among them an energetic rag, Dem Bones, and a rendition of the Eton Boating Song when Jack recalls his days at Eton and passes a psychiatric examination from a fellow Old Etonian sent to assess him.
The butler Daniel Tucker (Anthony O'Donnell) is exposed as a Trotskyite agent but he adds to the comedy. The final, after a few murders, sees Jack taking his seat in the House of Lords among the Law Lords, who are coated in cobwebs, and with his language disintegrating into inarticulate and incomprehensible sounds.
|
Subscribe to our FREE email updates with a note from editor Elyse Sommer about additions to the website -- with main page hot links to the latest features posted at our numerous locations. To subscribe,
E-mail: esommer@curtainup.comesommer@curtainup.com
put SUBSCRIBE CURTAINUP EMAIL UPDATE in the subject line and your full name and email address in the body of the message -- if you can spare a minute, tell us how you came to CurtainUp and from what part of the country. |
| The Ruling Class
Written by Peter Barnes Directed by Jamie Lloyd Starring: Jamie McAvoy With: Ron Cook, Michael Cronin, Kathryn Drysdale, Serena Evans, Paul Leonard, Forbes Masson, Elliot Levey, Joshua McGuire, Anthony O'Donnell, Rosy Benjamin, Andrew Bloomer, Oliver Lavery, Geoffrey Tower Designer: Soutra Gilmour Lighting: Jon Clark Sound and Music: Ben and Max Ringham Choreography: Darren Carnall Musical Director: Huw Evans Fight director: Kate Waters Running time:Two hours 40 minutes with an interval Box Office 0844 871 7632 Booking to 11th April 2015 Reviewed by Lizzie Loveridge based on 27th January 2015 performance at Trafalgar Studios One, 14 Whitehall, London SW1A 2DY (Rail/Tube: Charing Cross) |
|
REVIEW FEEDBACK Highlight one of the responses below and click "copy" or"CTRL+C"
Paste the highlighted text into the subject line (CTRL+ V): Feel free to add detailed comments in the body of the email . . . also the names and emails of any friends to whom you'd like us to forward a copy of this review. |
