One of the greatest books about theatre and theatre people ever written is Moss Hart’s autobiography ACT ONE. In it he hilariously and vividly charts the progress of his play ONCE IN A LIFETIME from conception to Broadway hit thanks to re-writes made in collaboration with another legend of 1930s and 40s theatre George S Kaufman. It’s intoxicating and persuasive in the book but unfortunately, on stage, by modern standards it’s neither funny as a satire of Hollywood’s Golden age or emotionally engaging as the story of three friends from vaudeville theatre who try their luck in the early talking picture Industry.Down on their luck they come up with the idea of training silent movie stars in how best to use their voice in the new medium, a concept that was later the background to musical SINGING IN THE RAIN.
One of the three is wisecracking May, the other is the dim witted George and the third is Jerry, the object of May’s affection whose character is so wafer thin in Christopher Harts adaptation of his father’s play that he’s barely worth wasting a costume on.
Along the way they meet an overbearing Hollywood producer who mistakes George’s parroting of studio gossip as straight-talking wisdom and promotes him to studio supervisor. His idiotic decisions, such as directing the wrong script or buying 2000 aeroplanes, unexpectedly and unintentionally produces successful films.
Thankfully this production is blessed with an extremely funny cast. The TV comedian Harry Enfield makes his theatrical debut as the studio boss, I’ve performed in a television sit-com with him in front of a live audience so I'm not surprised by his success. However rather than playing an egotistical, bullying narcissist he opts to play the role as a befuddled incompetent which becomes perilously close to the character of George.
Fortunately George is played by John Marquez, who I’ve directed, and whose comic timing is so immaculate that he steals every scene he’s in even when competing with Amanda Lawrence’s deliciously slap-stick turn as a daffy secretary. I also loved Claudia Blakley’s almost dead pan drawl as May, Otto Farrant, pulling off a hilarious double as a snooty waiter and an officious German film maker. It was also great to see Daniel Abelson (who I’ve also directed) giving such a funny and assured performance as a manic Broadway writer adrift and ignored by the studio who’ve hired him.
Elsewhere director Richard Jones tries too hard and fails to make the pandemonium dark and expressionistic on Hyemi Shin’s ugly and cheap looking set.
A slight and blunt comedy transformed by an ensemble of clever comic actors.
The people of America's rust belt, a vast area of deprivation, formally the home of now depleted heavy industry, have been much in our minds recently. Their disillusionment with and establishment politics are seen as a major contributing factor in the election of President-elect Donald Trump.