| Mayhem and Madcap Mischief |
At Louche Theatre |
| Louche Theatre- the Erpingham Camp , Morlan Centre Aberystwyth , August 7, 2016 |
Joe Orton’s early one-acter has a small connection to the theatre of Wales. Peter Gill was director for its reworking as part of a double bill for the Royal Court. Entitled “Crimes of Passion” it combined “the Erpingham Camp” of 1965 with “The Ruffian on the Stair” of 1963. In April 1967 Orton replotted his tale of a dystopian holiday camp. The fate of the camp proprietor-cum-commandant was changed. The “Diaries” record a telephone call from Gill on 15th April 1967. “A wonderful job” is the director’s verdict “the speech of the Padre after Erpingham has fallen through the floor is magnificent. Absolutely first-rate.” Scotland is in a strange place. Aberdeen, for long the second richest region after England’s southeast, is thick with shrinkage and redundancy. The politics are angry, very angry- a look at the Parliament debate of 28th June is revelatory. Yet the culture has a booming confidence, that starts from the top. Nicola Sturgeon is on a platform this August with Jacky Kay to discuss poetry. That kind of breadth is admirable and indicative. And the arts in Edinburgh have a growth that is untameable, three thousand live events with fifty thousand performances. Theatre is just one strand shouting for attention. Amidst the melee a small number of companies does a service in revisiting moments of importance in theatre’s history. A few years ago a group of Cardiffians shaved their heads to play the skinhead band in Trevor Griffiths' fascist-themed “Oi for England!” This year Louche of Aberystwyth has reached further to a key point in history. Its era was still one where all plays were read by the censor for minute scrutiny as to transgression against morality and decency. “The Erpingham Camp” plays on the boundaries of what was permissible. Orton does not fall back on a single four-letter curse and is the stronger for it. Instead he does what playwrights do, structure, plot, visual action, crescendo. Upon the substructure of craft he lays his distinctive voice of mockery, parody and mayhem. Orton is a tough call for a small company and director Harry Durnall gets it dead right. The actors need to play it straight. So Kenny is a figure of absurdity, spending most of the action in a Tarzan leopard skin. But Daz O’Connell plays him for real. He really has been affronted at a stage in a person’s life that is both momentous and vulnerable. In a cast of eleven there is some audacity in the role for Sean Byrne, carried off with much sweetness. Milly Jackdaw as Erpingham in severe black dress is a whole new persona of fierce dominance. Her reading is James Bond and a picture of Churchill adorns her desk. As she imposes a food ban on her guests and looks to resort to fire hoses and tear gas she snarls “this whole situation has been fomented by a group of intellectuals.” Hillary Nun is ebulliently Irish Riley fatally over-promoted beyond his competence. Cat Deering maintains a calm superiority as befits a Civil Defence worker and once Young Conservative. Orton’s mockery is lightly political, more focused on his depiction of a fawning Padre. Paula Gallagher is Jessie Mason, a staff member of questionable virtue. Matthew Fullwood is sound recordist, the music taking in Buddy Holly and “La Marseillaise.” Caroline Clark is again wardrobe mistress. Billy Butlin’s Redcoats are now a small item of the past. Butlin was an early master of the power of television advertising and his army of staff a key part of the brand. Orton’s variation is a lurid yellow jacket. Louche’s front house is manned by the yellow-jacketed duo of Nest Howells and Sue Harris, rendered unrecognisable beneath giant beehive wigs. The Morlan Centre is a large space and the shift to Edinburgh’s Nicholson Square will enhance the intimacy between company and audience. Aberystwyth on a Saturday evening has one advantage; the squawk of seagulls adds to the holiday camp ambience. Returning to the first performance of “the Erpingham Camp” it opened 6th June 1967. “A great deal of enthusiasm from the audience” Orton recorded. He skipped the post-show celebration for his usual appointment, on the Holloway Road. Before he leaves he says “We must wait until tomorrow for the verdict.” “F*** the critics” says Gill “They don’t matter.” From the playwright “This is bravado. Of course they matter.” “The Erpingham Camp” has already played three venues in West Wales this spring to appreciative houses. Its one-night return to the Morlan Centre was a preview for the Fringe. It should do well at Edinburgh; it opens Greenside 15th August. |
Reviewed by: Adam Somerset |
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