Theatre Anything Goes (Prince Edward) A Whistle in the Dark
(Royal Court)
High jinks
Christopher Edwards
This column is not exactly noted for its appreciation of musical comedy, but Cole Porter's Anything Goes, revived and adapted at the Prince Edward, is great fun. If you study the credits for the show you see that various hands were involved in putting together the 'book', ranging from P.G. Wodehouse, Guy Bolton, Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse in the early Thirties when it was first performed through to the contemporary collaborators Timothy Crouse and John Weidman. But this is an example of many hands making light work, for the story-line remains wafer-thin. It all adds up to a sequence of slight, occasionally witty sketches about romance and high jinks on an Atlantic cruise. As an antidote to the modern trend in musicals where stories have to carry geopolitical or sociological ballast (viz Chess and Metropolis) in order to satisfy the pretensions of the producers, a virtual- ly invisible 'book' is very welcome. It keeps the megalomaniacal designers in their place for a start. It also places the burden of success where it belongs — on the music and lyrics.
Who better than Cole Porter to bear that sort of pressure? His talent for the popular, sophisticated lowbrow lyric was unmatch- ed. I don't intend to embark on any textual criticism. Half a dozen universally loved songs in this production bear that talent out — for instance, 'I Get A Kick Out Of You', 'You're The Top', 'It's Delovely' and, of course, 'Anything Goes'. And melodically they all have charm and clever invention. You know these numbers back- wards. Here they all are, ready to be enjoyed. The performances are very sound. Elaine Page plays the role of Reno Sweeney with bustle and a dollop of light suggestiveness. She is not a particularly subtle interpreter of Porter's songs, but she has presence and a powerful voice. For the rest, there are some excellent dancers, a fine Thirties liner of a set, and Bernard Cribbins squeezing as much humour as he can out of the role of a disguised New York mobster.
At the Royal Court there is a powerful revival of Tom Murphy's intense and vio- lent 1961 play about an Irish family, the Carneys, in Coventry. The story centres around Michael Carney's failed attempt to better himself in England and maintain a relationship (based upon guilt) with the family he left behind him. He allows his several brothers to come and stay in his new English home with his new English wife Betty. They are only interested in petty crime and displays of tribal violence. And when his father and one remaining brother come over for a visit, this is the cue for an all-out punch-up with a neighbour- ing Irish family to show who is toughest. Michael declines to join them, a character- istic decision which leads the family's own internal struggle to a tragic conclusion. Tom Murphy's writing carries an exhilarat- ing and irresistible tension. It is also unerringly convincing. The theatrical ener- gy this releases is considerable, and a superb cast taps it to brilliant if disturbing effect. Garry Hynes directs. The produc- tion is part of the 1989 London Interna- tional Festival of Theatre.
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