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Review: Big Society! ***
Leeds City Varieties
AS a piece of political stagecraft Red Ladder’s lampooning of David Cameron’s big idea is gratifying, but as an example of stand-alone theatre it leaves you much less satisfied.
Needling the powers that be is a credible pursuit for a company, particularly one so vehemently left wing, but juggling that pursuit with a loose narrative and music hall delivery is difficult – that much is obvious as you watch Big Society!.
The music hall element is absolutely joyous, they’ve really captured the aesthetics of Edwardian theatre. No mean feat, you could argue, given that the venue they’re staging it in is already a lush vestige of a bygone era. But the real achievement here is in creating a production which taps into the spirit of the age, as well as the look.
What works less well is the vehicle – the tale of a team of variety performers desperately trying to survive in the Britain of a century ago. It’s a time when aristocrats, millionaires and royalty remain at the apex of a society where the poor and vulnerable are left to suffer their miserable fate. The message from the start is simple: not much has changed.
It’s a very worthy message too. And they don’t stop there. The police are dragged in for a bashing (presumably a reference to one or two controversies, ranging from the News of the World paying officers for information right up to the botched investigation into Stephen Lawrence’s murder) and the tabloid, phone-hacking press, represented by the ominous presence of a cynical journalist from the Double Standard newspaper.
There are some witty and stinging one-liners in there which, sadly, seem to get lost. Personal favourites include “While most people like to drink at the fountain of knowledge, she’s content to gargle and spit” or “Democracy is now like two wolves and a sheep deciding what they should eat for tea”.
Unfortunately the storyline feels too flimsy, too token, and some of the comedy which carries it along is crude, cringeworthy and raises no more than a few mild titters.
Big Society! is at its best when it’s delivering apparently straight comedy sketches, the most obvious being in the second act when lead star Phill Jupitus appears on stage as David Cameron, ventriloquist, with the dummy that is Nick Clegg balanced on his knee. At moments like this, the subtext is instant and requires no further, clumsy enhancement. Sadly, there are a few points in the show where the politics bludgeons you over the head with little or no redeeming features.
Chumbawamba’s music is first rate, however. With songs like We’re All in this Together, they manage to heighten the mockery but do so with intelligence and some seriously catchy tunes.
Phill Jupitus is also a superb performer, but then the rest of the cast are equally talented, brilliantly executing an overburdened concept. Big Society! feels a little like they’ve tried to do too much in one show, though, I’m sure for the audience such a rare piece of stage satire will attract, it will do just nicely.
Rod McPhee
To February 4, Leeds City varieties, swan street, leeds, from £10, 8pm, mats 2pm, Tel. 0113 2430808 www.cityvarieties.co.uk
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