Theatre
Decadence (Wyndhams)
Performance artist
Christopher Edwards
This is a revival of Steven Berkoffs play for two actors first seen in 19131.-As well as writing the piece, Berkoff has directed and designed it. He also plays the principal roles of Steve and Les; the one a caricature of chinless upper-class stupidity, the other a caricature of cretinous working- class stupidity. Both exaggerated portraits aim to illuminate the subjects by rendering their essential natures grotesque. The same can be said for the two female counter- parts, Helen and Sybil, played by Linda Marlowe. But, as anyone familiar with Berkoffs political sympathies will know, the main targets of Decadence are likely to be his distorted representatives of the idle rich. And so it is with Steve and Helen.
These days, Berkoff cuts a slightly un- convincing figure as a class warrior and scourge of the privileged few. All the old egotistical intensity is still there, along with the bilious invective, convict-style haircut and sunken eye sockets. But evidence of la dolce vita is beginning to hang accusingly over his trouser-belt. Bourgeois comprom- ise is also suspected by the appearance of a face closely resembling Berkoff's in a sherry advertisement on the inside cover of the programme. Sherry advertisements the final resting place of the radical thes- pian; associated forever, in the popular imagination, with the sound of Orson Welles's full-bodied voice inviting us to sample his sponsor's delicious golden olor- oso.
Yet no one could say Berkoff has dim- inished as a performer. He is an aston- ishingly versatile actor and an accom- plished mime artist. It is hard to think of an English actor with anything like Berkoff's expressive force or invention. Everything he does — from Hamlet or Kafka's Meta- morphosis to his own Sinking the Belgrano is marked by a quality of demonic possession. He is always watchable, some- times quite hypnotically so. If you were asked to categorise Berkoff's style you would have to single out his ferocious intensity. Interestingly enough, these qual- ities make him ideal casting for fascist roles — for instance the part of Oswald Mosley in Absolute Beginners or Adolf Hitler M the television series War Remembrance. Certainly no one is better equipped than Berkoff himself to follow his own stage directions in Decadence which state that the acting must be 'sensual, erotic, flam- boyant'. His acting invariably is.
His writing tries to emulate the achieve- ment of his acting — but with only limited success. The prose is full of a caustic, scatological life. Filth fascinates Berkoff for its own sake, I would say, as well as for its shock value. He relishes excess. Form cation, sodomy and vomit — all feature strongly in the text. Genitalia and other orifices are also well represented. When Berkoff is tired of bodily functions he OIL no doubt, be tired of life. However, the writing does not really possess particular literary worth. It operates best as raw (often decidedly raw) material from which Berkoff composes his extravagant performances. Whatever else the writing may be, it certainly does not rise to the level of a 'study of the ruling classes' as Berkoff rather pompously puts it. Indeed, as a 'study' it is silly when it is not being simply conventional. The character of Steve is held up by Berkoff as a repre- sentative of a class whose parents heart• lessly send their sons to public school. Emotion is stifled, sado-masochistic habits developed in dormitories, infantilism assured and the so-called governing men- tality perpetuated anew. The upper classes experience pleasure in direct relation (apparently) to the pain caused in achieving it. On the Sabbath, these sado- masochistic habits are directed against foxes. Berkoff is not exactly an analytical thinker. Nor in this play, at least, does he show himself as skilful in creating formal structure. Most of our time is spent in the company of Steve and Helen, although there is also a tenuously linked sub-plot where Les poses as some sort of private detective trailing Steve. But what endures are Berkoffs tortured voices, his grotesque expressions and the vigorous life he breathes into his prejudiced 'study'. It is a unique piece of performance art.
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