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Augustina Seymour as Alison and Patrick Knowles
as Jimmy Porter. Pictures: Robert Day Look back in Anger
Derby Theatre
**** THIS is a very special presentation. Not
only is it a 60th anniversary production, but John Osborne also worked
at Derby Theatre, lived locally, and set the play in the locality.
Legend has it that it was written in 17 days in a
deck chair on Morecambe Pier. It was certainly inspired by Osborne's
ill-fated marriage to local actress Pamela Lane and the death of his
father, Thomas. Director Sarah Brigham’s production is neither a
period piece, nor a modern interpretation. The striking set by Neil
Irish reproduces a faithful facsimile of 50’s living space disappearing
into doorways which gape into a black void into which the cast disappear
and reappear as a header tank and piping hovers overhead. The beating heart of this play is the Angry Young
Man, Jimmy Porter, whose soliloquys and philosophy dominate proceedings.
Patrick Knowles inhabits the character admirably delivering his
trademark tirades with aplomb and conviction. His ambiguous relationship
to his father in law, Army Officer of Empire Colonel Redfern (Ivan
Stott) is pivotal. Does he hate him- or want to be him? Porter’s wife, Alison, is the face of a
disintegratin Augustina Seymour imbues the character with
dignity and poise, her post miscarriage visit to Jimmy is particularly
harrowing, her drab clothes and drab countenance perfectly matched. Opposite her Daisy Badger is the perfect femme fatale as friend and love rival, her cut-glass accent as sharp as her red pencil skirt and jacket. Alison and Jimmy Amidst the conflict, flat mate Cliff (Jimmy
Fairhurst) metaphorically, and physically, wrestles for Jimmy’s
attention. Some of the impact of its original performances
is inevitably lost on modern audiences. The kitchen sink set, vibrant
language, and anti-authoritarian tone are now familiar, even if the off-
stage trumpet lament is not. Colonel Redfern bemoans the good old days
which he has experienced, and lost, Jimmy bemoans the good days which he
has never had, mirroring the post war uncertainty and crisis of identity
experienced by the country. Porter’s misogyny, and his wife’s response, feel
anachronistic to a contemporary audience. Is Porter the disenfranchised
voice of a generation, or just a spoiled, grieving young man, lacking
empathy? To what extent does Alison stay with him because culturally
that is what women did in unhappy marriages at the time, or was it just
that emotionally Osborne could not write his female characters in more
rounded fashion? Brigham’s production neatly offers the questions
without seeking to provide answers in a fulfilling and rewarding
revival. My only criticism was that the diction and volume of Fairhurst
and Knowles occasionally dipped making it difficult to hear.
Nevertheless, this is a powerful and worthy revival of a fine work with
a defining place in theatrical history- runs to Saturday 26th March. Gary Longden 12-03-16
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marriage, as boredom, angst, pregnancy, miscarriage and infidelity
overwhelm her.