Alex
By Charles Peattie & Russell Taylor
Directed by Phelim McDermott
Leicester Square Theater
25th November – 20th December 2008
By Charles Peattie & Russell Taylor
Directed by Phelim McDermott
Leicester Square Theater
25th November – 20th December 2008
Reviewed by Rachel Sheridan for The British Theatre Guide
28th November 2008
Alex is obnoxious, selfish and arrogant, certainly not a man you’d wish to befriend and yet London loves him. After a successful run last year at the Arts Theatre and then jetting off to Australia and Hong Kong for sell out shows, Alex is back in London boasting of his financial and personal exploits once again.
‘Alex’ is a daily comic strip about a banker (with a B!) called Alex. Created by Charles Peattie and Russell Taylor (who interestingly have never worked in finance themselves) they parody the affluent and amoral lifestyle of a city banker through the character Alex. With our current economic crisis and the credit crunch on everyone’s minds, could there be a more topical play in the West End?
The production of ‘Alex’ is literally a comic strip on stage. Robert Bathurst as Alex negotiates his way around the stage, interacting with cartoon strip characters who appear on the various screens against their black and white worlds. The interplay between Bathurst and what is happening on the screens is skilfully executed. On occasions when not interpreting what other characters have said to the audience he in fact becomes the voice of his colleagues and family, slipping effortlessly into that of a northern working class secretary or his eager, flamboyant, French, graduate trainee assistant, Sebastian. As Alex, Bathurst is a proud, pompous snob. He apologises to nobody for who he is (unless it serves his own devious plans) and even as we sit there watching disaster after disaster come his way there is still a smug air of confidence about him.
One does not have to be a financial wiz or a follower of the comic strip to recognise the character of Alex and the world he inhabits (although I’m sure it adds another level of humour if you do). I’m certain Alex himself would say that this play is an intelligent, articulate parody of the world of finance with a fantastic male lead and actually on this occasion, he’d be telling the truth.
28th November 2008
Alex is obnoxious, selfish and arrogant, certainly not a man you’d wish to befriend and yet London loves him. After a successful run last year at the Arts Theatre and then jetting off to Australia and Hong Kong for sell out shows, Alex is back in London boasting of his financial and personal exploits once again.
‘Alex’ is a daily comic strip about a banker (with a B!) called Alex. Created by Charles Peattie and Russell Taylor (who interestingly have never worked in finance themselves) they parody the affluent and amoral lifestyle of a city banker through the character Alex. With our current economic crisis and the credit crunch on everyone’s minds, could there be a more topical play in the West End?
The production of ‘Alex’ is literally a comic strip on stage. Robert Bathurst as Alex negotiates his way around the stage, interacting with cartoon strip characters who appear on the various screens against their black and white worlds. The interplay between Bathurst and what is happening on the screens is skilfully executed. On occasions when not interpreting what other characters have said to the audience he in fact becomes the voice of his colleagues and family, slipping effortlessly into that of a northern working class secretary or his eager, flamboyant, French, graduate trainee assistant, Sebastian. As Alex, Bathurst is a proud, pompous snob. He apologises to nobody for who he is (unless it serves his own devious plans) and even as we sit there watching disaster after disaster come his way there is still a smug air of confidence about him.
One does not have to be a financial wiz or a follower of the comic strip to recognise the character of Alex and the world he inhabits (although I’m sure it adds another level of humour if you do). I’m certain Alex himself would say that this play is an intelligent, articulate parody of the world of finance with a fantastic male lead and actually on this occasion, he’d be telling the truth.
No comments:
Post a Comment