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Review: Allison Browning
IT IS A bold move to tackle a piece laden with references foreign
to a Perth audience.
Wembley Theatre Company, under the direction of Bryce Manning,
has bravely tread on a minefield of complex language and scathing
themes with Berkoff's East.
Unfortunately, it fails to pack the punch its rough working class
characters may have been driving at.
Berkoff displays a bleak portrait of ignorance, hostility, despair
and frustration mixed with crude and humorous sexual encounters.
Scenes and recollections from the lives of five London Eastenders
meet in a parody of Cockney and Shakespearian-style dialogue.
Les (Matt Penny) and Mike (Peter Clark) are mates on a seemingly
useless journey though life, receiving and delivering hard knocks.
After fighting over Mike's girl, Sylv (Summer Williams), their
bond grows from trivial bickering to reminiscing over the good
days in Bethnel Green and Whitechapel.
Mum and Dad (Helen Burgess and Peter Niblett) are stuck in the
past, struggling to connect with the present day.
Mum spends much of her time mulling over the dreams that never
eventuated and desperately exerts any last remnant of sexuality
she has that hasn't already been repressed by a disgustingly routine
marriage to Dad.
Berkoff's sexual perversion has Mum jerking off a cinemagoer
only to be shocked when the lights come up and expose an incestual
twist.
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Summer Williams presents a sassy,
scrubbed up Sylv, a little removed from the scrubber she is traditionally
suggested to be, but does so with clarity and conviction.
Matt Penny and Peter Clark are physically cast to perfection
as the rough-bloke duo, Les and Mike, but the physical element
to their blokey mateship is not evident.
This twosome shine, and there is a memorable comic moment where
Mike describes the sensual joy of riding his motorbike while mounted
on Les (who creates a convincing vehicle indeed).
A simple Union Jack adorns a bare stage, leaving an expectation
for the space to be utilised, but Manning has chosen to direct
the action primarily to small areas of the stage.
Recent productions of East have been praised for their
choice of contemporary music arrangements relevant to local audiences,
but in this production, pre-recorded piano pieces underscore the
dialogue in a traditional way.
Berkoff's East is a demanding play, and although it
is engaging, this production fails to capture the true sadness
behind the comedy.
Helen Burgess and Peter Niblett create amusing caricatures as
Mum and Dad but lack the depth the characters deserve.
This play has the power to shock with the potential to make its
audience very uncomfortable; unfortunately, its aggression is
lost in a lightweight approach.
Berkoff has offered a rich platter of complex, engaging characters
and language, but this production fails to provide the salt and
pepper.
East, By Steven Berkoff. Wembley Theatre Company, Rechabites
Hall
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