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Henry Hitchings's rating
Decade, Commodity Quay - review
By
Henry Hitchings
9 Sep 2011
Decade is an ambitious attempt to mark the 10th anniversary of 9/11.
Twenty writers have been commissioned to pen responses to that day's events, and director Rupert Goold has stitched these into an often dazzling tapestry which, instead of recreating the catastrophe, shows a selection of its consequences.
The venue is a disused office building a few minutes from Tower Bridge. On arrival, we undergo a brisk airport-style security check.
We then take our seats in a large space where designer Miriam Buether has recreated Windows on the World restaurant at the top of the World Trade Center.
The different contributions, which switch from documentary and historical exposition to pure fiction, are interwoven in a graphic and visually arresting fashion. This includes dance sequences and smart choreography by Scott Ambler.
It can be hard to know where to look; there's a risk of cricking one's neck as one cranes to see the next vignette, and Adam Cork's detailed soundscape enhances the charged atmosphere.
As the action flits around, we encounter tour groups visiting Ground Zero, widows who come together each year to reflect on their loss, and a fantasist who claims to be a survivor of the attack, as well as worshippers at a London mosque, panicked bus passengers and angst-ridden speed-daters.
Bursts of earnest rhetoric and blind rage mix with wonky theories and confessional interludes. At times this is immensely affecting. There's some particularly deft writing by Lynn Nottage, Mike Bartlett and Ella Hickson. Samuel Adamson offers a poignant verbatim piece based on the words of Scott Forbes, who worked in the South Tower, and Simon Schama serves up a passionate paean to tolerance.
The results sprawl - fragmented, contradictory and occasionally flabby, yet also disturbing and deeply human. Goold's production is fluent and artful, and the cast of 15 is totally committed to his vision.
There's an especially sensitive performance from Tobias Menzies as Forbes, while Charlotte Randle and Emma Fielding are magnetic in several roles, and Kevin Harvey is a hypnotic presence.
It may be possible to dispute the claim that 9/11 is "the defining event of our times" and argue that Decade is overlong and doesn't tell us much we didn't already know, but this is a bold experiment in engaging with history, realised with flair.
Until October 15 (020 7724 1617).
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
Reader views (2)
I agree that if staging a 9/11 play that supposedly doesn't seek to restage the actual tragedy, then dont set it in Windows on the World restaurant. And dont have 5-6 instances where lights go out and loud crashing noises occur.
Also, if the play takes place mostly in NYC, make sure the cast's varied American accents are perfect. Some were (Tobias Menzies, Jonathan Mancini). But many weren't.
Claire Prempeh, most notably, wafted through at least 3 or more accents for one character; ranging from Long Island ish suburban white, to very stereotypical Southern African American, to Valley Girl - and everywhere in between! And most shockingly: she the date '01 as "naught one" . The American way to say it is "Oh one". I call that poor direction. Especially for such an important date!
The review of this show in VARIETY also mentions the sometimes poor accents.
- Sandy, London UK, 28/09/2011 12:53
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I was disppointed by this piece.
You start off by having your credentials checked by immigration officers who want to see your documents (tickets). They ask questions like 'Are you a patriot?' Whatever you answer, they let you though. The idea is sort-of-neat, but most people seemed to come out giggling, which is maybe not the best frame of mind to start off with for a show like this.
Then you're supposedly in the restaurant at the top of the World Trade Centre. You're led to a table, where there are presumably authentic menus for steak, omelettes, and such. None of these are actually available, but the bar is open, so you can buy wine, at hefty theatre prices. Once again, a neat idea, but a bit camp, and out of key with the fairly grim show that will follow.
A lot of authors contributed snippets to the script, and some are much better than others. I felt that there was a lot of American self-pity, and no tough analysis of what they have done to the Middle East in the name of the War on Terror.
I think Alecky Blythe wrote the verbatim bit where British Muslims spoke about the effect of 9/11 on them. Unlike the rest of the show, this told me something I didn't know already.
The cast were versatile, and there were some striking choreography, especially a number where airline stewards' safety instruction gestures got increasingly manic.
But did the show add up to saying more than that 9/11 was a bad thing? Some waffle from Simon Schama was - well - very waffly
- George, Brackley, U.K., 09/09/2011 11:57
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