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Duncan Moore's production for KDC at the Baron's Court Theatre was innovatively staged and technologically well realised, bursting with creative ideas and solutions to the demands of the text and space. Popcorn isn't about subtle characterisations. Elton wants you to laugh and to think. Here are near-perfect stereotypes plucked from the pages of Hello Magazine and National Enquirer, to play out his what if? scenario: Pier Burnell, repellently vain and louche as director Bruce; Alix Hearn suitably grating as his diazepam downing ex-spouse; and, as their offspring Velvet, Nikki Bozdogan exuding the teenage disdain of the Rikki Lake generation from every pore. Good performances also in Susie Hooper's Brooke Daniels (the stripping, snorting centre-fold-turned-actress willing to use her body and hand gun to be taken seriously), Stephen Palmer's Karl Brezner (as Bruce's profit paranoid producer) and as the media with their pants down, Cathy Burnell and Marcus Mollan. The finest performances in the evening, however, came from Irwin Sparkes and Katrina Mallon as the Mall Murderers, who displayed brilliant timing and team work, combining threat and humour seamlessly. Katrina Mollan switched simpering innocence with a hell cat's vengance at a moment's notice in her portrayal of stationary loving, blood lusting Scout, whilst Irwin Sparkes commanded the space in a near flawless performance which displayed the kind of dangerous cunning and logic that can make a man a murderer or president at fate's whim. The design, by David Illari and Haf Stephens, made the very most of the theatre's intimate setting: we could all have been in this kitch director's study, dominated by a huge television screen, video library and slightly sinister snoopy collection on the top shelf. Strategically placed around the theatre extra tv monitors ensured that audience members not blessed with the ability see round corners, were equally exposed to the show's multi-media content: Bruce's Oscar night speech and clips from the aftershow party (complete with Celebs courtesy of Madame Tussauds) and in the final moments, the live link up to the watching nation. In the director's note, Moore points to 'the blame culture' in which we live, ' every month a different culprit... is accused of soley corrupting society", Elton's message is this, that we should all take responsibility for the world we live in, for our own hand in it. In this well thought out, balanced production, it's a message well served. Leaving a theatre entertained is good, leaving thinking too, is even better; but best of all is leaving having been entertained, provoked and treated to the kind of committed ingenuity which was threaded through this production on every level. A real treat and a fine example of what KDC can do, congratulations to the whole team. Sarah Dickenson | ||||||||||||
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