PHAEDRA…………………………………….Lydia Owens
MS FAWCETT………………………………..Jane Lobb
MR PARSONS………………………………..Jim Ward
JOHNNY ‘ROOSTER’ BYRON…………….Duncan King
GINGER……………………………………….Chris Learmonth
PROFESSOR…………………………………..Felix Catto
LEE………………………………………………Josh Lawson
DAVEY…………………………………………Wayne Sheridan
TANYA…………………………………………Emma Lamond
PEA……………………………………………..Hazal Han
WESLEY………………………………………..Frank Goodman
DAWN…………………………………………..Fiona Cullen
MARKEY……………………………………….Joshua Williams-Ward & Oliver Barrass
TROY WHITWORTH…………………………Patrick Neylan
Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the woods!
Jerusalem
Thanks to Phil Cairns
When I was asked to review Jerusalem, I had my doubts that I could comment on a play that within a few years had become such an iconic piece of writing, with Mark Rylance virtually owning the role of Johnny ‘Rooster’ Byron. But I thought, having never seen the West End production of Jerusalem and having lived in the West Country for several years, I was in a good position to review BLT’s offering.
William Blake’s Jerusalem is often mistakenly thought as being a hymn to all that is good in England. But it is also about dark, satanic forces corrupting the land and it is the dark, satanic force of Rooster Byron that has for many years been a corrupting influence in the village of Flintock
Jerusalem is Jez Butterworth’s hymn to the England of myth and ancient tradition and like Blake’s hymn, it is the dark, satanic aspect that is explored. This England is not the homogenised, multicultural one – the England that no longer has a separate identity and Flintock is not the chocolate box country village. Its underbelly of rural life with underage drinking, drug taking, sexual abuse and housing problems is exposed.
And who better to represent this England than the character Johnny “Rooster” Byron. The part is a gift for an actor. Duncan King’s performance was a piece de resistance, when he was on the stage I found it difficult to take my eyes off him, he oozed energy and charisma. The key to the character is in the name – Byron, and like his namesake Rooster is “mad, bad, dangerous to know.” Johnny Byron is mercurial, his mood changes with the wind. Duncan King portrayed the dangerous to know, with menacing conviction and mercurial madness with energy. But he lacked the charmingly bad. Johnny is charming and manipulative. He is a man who has survives on his wits and charm, who has an effect on all around him. Rooster is a raconteur but Duncan King lacked the lightness of the storyteller’s skill. The monologues – being held captive by Nigerian traffic wardens; the conversation with giant and the wonderfully poetic visions on the wood – all need to be told with pace and feeling. Duncan King lacked the ability to draw the audience into the story and as a result the monologues felt over long and slightly tedious.
The opening scenes were a tour de force worthy of an Elizabethan dumb show – speaking nothing but saying everything. The Cross of St George, the rave, Rooster’s milk and egg “hair of the dog”. The set (designed by Tony Jenner) was a masterpiece: the forest, the beaten up caravan and all the paraphernalia of rural squatting.
I could not find fault with Dan Amour’s direction or his eye for detail. He had the ability to coax great performances from his actors but I benefitted from having a professional dialect coach. I did not expect authentic Flintock accents but a consistent, generic West Country accent was essential. Several of the cast struggled with this and one had virtually no accent at all!
The gang which Rooster surrounds himself with demonstrated a terrific piece of ensemble acting. I felt the group had grown up together knowing each other for years rather than just being put together for the production. Lee (Josh Lawson) was probably the most intelligent of the group. He realised there is a life outside of Flintock and at the end of Fair Day escapes to Australia – or does he? Josh Lawson’s portrayal of Lee demonstrated an ability and maturity way beyond his years. Then there was the unambitious Davy (Wayne Sheridan), lumbering through life, happy with his lot. Wayne played Davy as if he was slightly ‘special needs’. There was a great moment when Davy, in a sulk pulls the hoody over his head and sits hunched up in a corner. It is these little directorial touches and attention to detail which turn a good production into a great one. And finally, wannabe DJ Ginger (Chris Learmonth). I thought his frantic, nervous energy was maybe a touch too much and could have been reined in a little. There were times when he seemed to be acting the character rather than being it. With a bit of subtlety and pace in the peformance, the audience would have been able see another aspect of Ginger’s character. Ginger is the young pretender to Rooster’s “empire”. He has hung around Rooster while his own peer group has moved on. He is the only one in the group that questions and challenges Rooster. The two girls Pea (Hazel Han) and Tanya (Emma Lamond) were played with a fearless energy.
Phaedra (Lydia Owens) looked fantastic and ethereal on stage. Every inch Spencer’s “Fayrie Queene” but I felt she could have developed her character further and given it more depth. Phaedra has an interesting back story: a serial runaway, hints of sexual abuse from a violent stepfather, none of which were apparent in her performance.
A pivotal scene in the play is between Troy (Patrick Neylan) and Rooster, Troy describes events which happened off stage: Rooster passed out in a drunken stupor while his followers piss on him and take photos of him on their mobile phones which get sent around the village. This is the beginning of Rooster’s downward spiral. From this moment on, the audience knows Rooster is a “has-been”, living off past glories and his misdeeds are catching up with him. There is also the hint that Troy is not looking for Phaedra out of stepfatherly concern but from a motive far more sinister. Patrick Neylan’s acting hinted at Troy’s contained anger and malevolence.
The most endearing of Rooster’s gang is the Professor (Felix Catto). In the early stages of dementia, he wanders through the wood reciting odes to Spring. Felix played the Professor with a touching mixture of innocence and sadness. This was a part that could have been written for Felix to play!
A fabulous sight to behold was Frank Goodman as Wesley, dressed in full Morris man regalia! Tired and downtrodden, a slave to the brewery and to his wife, needing a “cheeky gram” to get through the day. Frank delivered a tirade against his wife, the brewery and life in general with sincerity and feeling. My heart ached for this broken man.
Jerusalem contains a couple of meaty cameos: the bored, bovine council officer Ms Fawcett played by Jane Lobb and her sidekick Parsons played by Jim Williams-Ward. Ms Fawcett never forgot to apply her lipstick when reciting the Trent and Avon bylaws to video camera. Refusing to get annoyed when Rooster threatens blackmail. She was his nemesis!
In contrast, is Rooster’s wife Dawn (Fiona Cullen), now making a respectable life for herself and her son Markey (Joshua Williams-Ward alternating with Oliver Barrass). In a short scene, Fiona Cullen gave a convincing performance as a woman who was still attracted to Rooster but repelled by his way of life.
Jerusalem was, as they say in the West Country: “a proper job, my lurvver”!
– Lorraine Spenceley