East
East
Berkoff is not renowned for his modesty, but he should be modest about East. More than modest: positively ashamed, in fact. The overriding feeling is one of having wandered into a locker-room, where pre-pubescent boys who know little about sex or violence make them their chief topics of conversation. Look out for Berkoff’s ultimate ‘proof’ of manliness in a scene devoted to Harley Davidsons.
Even pseudo- Shakespearian vocabulary – “do take the trouble to remove thy balls from thee” – does not promote this play from repellent to reputable. With varyingly successful accents – Richard Bliault as Dad can be particularly incoherent – the actors tackle an unfortunate choice of play under the excellent direction of Levitt and Bliault.
Action and energy are well coordinated and Mike (Gus Docx) is exceptionally frenetic, working well with the slightly more subdued Les (Alex Shandro). The painfully apparent social undertones are clumsily brought to the fore by Berkoff at the end of East, but Charlotte Cross manages throughout to evoke expertly the restrictions and aspirations of ‘Mum’ despite relatively little stage time to do so.
The second scene of the play is a silent video-projection, showing the characters meeting and fighting. Unfortunately the fervour and passion of the described fight in the first scene is diluted by the somewhat stilted enactment, and whilst the film is an interesting inclusion, the direction wavers.
Nathaniel Pimlott should be given credit for the stark artistry of the design, as members of the cast sit on black blocks when not in the immediate scene, and the mellowness with which they rise and sit contrasts vividly and successfully with the physical frenzy on stage. If you’ve always thought Shakespeare needed more expletives and fewer of those pesky jesters, this could well be the play for you.
The cast and crew make a valiant effort with material which is essentially ‘a cross between Restoration drama and late-night Channel Five’.
28th Apr 2005