From The Gutter To The Stars
Rattus rattus: Jack Farthing shows off his rodent-like attributes
[img="HYPERLINK "http://www.oxfordstudent.com/images/3_star.gif"http://www.oxfordstudent.com/images/4_star.gif"] I WAS A RAT! Author: Phillip Pullman; Director: Holly Race OFS, 10th–15th May, 7 pm
The Old Fire Station looks different. Ruffled posters stretch the walls, extolling local shoe-makers; merchants rub shoulders with buskers and thieves, while paper boys shout of marriage and royalty. I Was a Rat, adapted from Philip Pullman’s unorthodox fairy story, leads us back in time to the filth, noise and bustle of nineteenth century London. In the opening scene, Bob, an amiable cobbler, and his wife Joan are disturbed by a young boy who declares that he was once a rat.
Sparking confusion in the police station and mayhem in the classroom, the boy takes flight, only to be captured and exhibited in the sinister fairground of Oliver Tapscrew, played with grimy, Dickensian wickedness by Tom Latchford. Cut loose, then cast out, by a gang of child-thieves, the ratboy is dragged from the sewers to face trial as “a marauding, evil hell-monster,” but the intervention of the Royal Princess reveals more about the child, and herself, than expected.
Jack Farthing shines as Roger the rat, tumbling and whooping, screeching and snapping with the rugged naïveté of a Victorian Stig of the Dump. A vibrant cast stands alongside him, transforming from one role to another just like Roger himself. The performance abounds with humour and pathos, expressing the alienation and displaced identity of Pullman’s tale, as well as its zestful amusement.
However, it is the play’s contagious energy which makes it enjoyable and, equally, tedious in scenes that exist merely to propel the story along. Nevertheless, Holly Race’s capable direction minimizes these lulls, drawing our focus to the yarn’s most vibrant set-pieces to both satisfy and surprise Pullman’s loyal fans. Curious tableaux are retained in the play, such as the figures in the government office donning saucepans on their heads, intriguing and mystifying in equal measure.
The varying atmospheres are cleverly nurtured by Jessica Dannheisser’s complementary musical accompaniment, which shadows the cheerful innocence of Roger amidst the steam and grot of the London underworld. The set design by Anna-Marie Hainsworth compliments this experience, with revolving flats spilling characters on and off the stage.
I Was a Rat transports the audience, depicting a world of personalities and action wildly extravagant and yet oddly recognizable, as though conceived with the fresh eyes of a child. It should provide a reprieve from Oxford’s fixation with ‘serious’ theatre and will, hopefully, inspire others to devise productions of equally deceptive simplicity.
5th May 2005