Tonight:
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Nicholas de Jongh's rating
, On the Waterfront is enthralling
By
Nicholas de Jongh
13 Feb 2009
It takes a rare, rash courage to put one of the great movies of all time on stage, particularly one abounding with as much cinematic mobility and atmospheric detail as On The Waterfront. Director Steven Berkoff has managed the feat in an extraordinary piece of expressionistic theatre and stylised ritual that ranks as a thrilling work of art. Berkoff’s account of how longshoreman Terry Malloy, a failed boxer who never realised there was such a thing as conscience, finally dares to testify to the Waterfront Crime Commission against the mobsters controlling his union, bristles with menace and seethes with unflagging tension.
As Terry, the handsome Simon Merrells makes an extraordinary impact. He looks and sounds faintly like Marlon Brando, even if he lacks the star’s hulking presence. He conveys the flailing, incoherent pathos of the bemused, perpetual adolescent that is Terry, caught between love and loyalty. “I could have been somebody instead of a bum,” becomes his desolate, characterising line.
The key to Berkoff’s triumph is his decision to reject any attempts at realism. Instead he opts for his familiar brand of expressionism, with its signature marks of actors moving as if a Greek chorus, in studied, hyper-slow motion. They mime actions which ordinary players would perform, make noises normally recorded by sound designers. This style can occasionally lead to affected pyrotechnics and unintentional comedy — when, for example, the actors mimic the sounds of Terry’s adored pigeons.
Generally, though, Berkoff as director works to spell-binding effect in this version of On The Waterfront, the stage version written by the now 95-year-old Budd Schulberg, who also supplied the original screen-play. Berkoff’s version relies upon assembling his union mobsters and fearful longshoreman and placing them in tense opposition. Designer Jason Southgate’s duskily lit, black-hewed stage is usually bare, except for the backcloth image of a toppled Statue of Liberty, whose outstretched hand clutches the grappling hook of the longshoreman or a mobster with violence in mind.
The mobsters themselves move like a single unit set upon some secret task — it’s this that makes them so intimidating. They creep or shuffle around the stage’s rim as if they were salesmen of foreboding. They sit with their backs to us in pubs or surround Steven Berkoff’s horrifying mobster chief like loyal automata. They spring to group savagery.
The Waterfront screenplay was originally taken as a coded defence of its disloyal director, Elia Kazan, who to save his career had named supposedly Communist names to the House UnAmerican Activities Committee. Today there is no such resonance. The excitement of the plot, strengthened by Mark Glentworth’s memorable music, depends upon the implicating of Terry and his brother in the death of Joey Doyle. Doyle’s sister, Edie, played with terrific intensity by Bryony Afferson, once she falls for Joey, and Vincenzo Nicoli’s mobster-defying priest, incite Malloy to put conscience first when facing up to the chief mobster, Johnny Friendly. Berkoff invests this villain with terrifying unpredictability as he switches from smiling affability to snarling fury in a trice. I was enthralled.
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Reader views (9)
I totally disagree with with the below reviews. It seem that they got into the wrong kind of play and would have enjoyed more the lion king, for instance. The story, the style, the acting, the mimics, yes the mimics are absolutely superb. Period
This is theatre as its best and am sure this play will be remembered for a very long time. Thank you to all the people involved in this outstanding piece of art that clearly shows the way and it's truly inspirational.
- David, London, 30/03/2009 11:27
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I'm afraid I agree 100% with Confused. I went with great excitement, having been a big Berkoff fan for over 30 years! Unfortunately On The Waterfront came across as little more than a series of drama school acting exercises. The miming was not brilliant, and shouting took the place of real threat. Having read the reviews, I wonder if I have just been beamed down from a different planet. Thank you, Confused, for making me feel I am not alone.
- Jimmy Lizard, London, 21/03/2009 11:33
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Kirstin- Some of the show was nothing short of cringeworthy, particularly the "oirish" banter about whiskey and the reference to "Danny Boy" being a "fine, bave song". Shocking.
Perhaps I'm just not in to physical theatre the way it was done. Also, and perhaps this has more to do with the script than anything else, I really didnt care about any of the characters. Who was I supposed to have liked? Mr Berkoff wanted it to be him, one feels, such was his upstaging portrayal of Captain Hook, or whatever his name was. In fact, on more than one occasion I thought I was watching a stage version of Top Cat.
And at the end, when no-one knew whether it was time to clap or not, that was a piece of directorial over-indulgence if ever I've seen it.
I would say, however, that Merrells and the actor playing the Priest did a great job, but I really dont think this will be remembered as an excellent production.
- Confused, London, 23/02/2009 10:17
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Outstanding theatre..Compelling, atmospheric and wonderful performances from start to finish.
- Rose Brown, london, 15/02/2009 10:08
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Opening night of On the Waterfront was amazing. The creative energy revealed in the play's structure, slow-motion acting, and several brilliant performances took theatre to its highest level.
Having Bud Schulberg, 95, the original author of both the film and the stage play, appear on stage at the curtain call brought on a worthy standing ovation.
The moral of the story--the duty to witness to the truth against corrupt self-serving mafias--- could be compulsory viewing for top bankers and civil servants/regulators in financial services.
- Dr John Bank, London, 14/02/2009 14:00
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to confused...
you should be embarassed not to enjoy this fine piece of theatre, never mind confused...
- Kirstin Gofton, liverpool, 14/02/2009 00:12
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Powerful, haunting, frightening and beautifully staged, with the graphic quality of Sin City. Don't miss it.
- Steve Ackhurst, London, 13/02/2009 17:36
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One of the most incredibly pieces of theatre I have seen in a long time.
I was captivated throughout the play - Especially by the wonderfully talented actor Simon Merrells, where has he been hiding?
(...he would make a great 'Heathcliffe')
- Tara, London, 13/02/2009 12:29
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I find it hard to believe you enjoyed this.
On more than one occasion I was actually embarassed.
- Confused, London, 13/02/2009 10:48
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