Notorious for its ultraviolence, you might know A Clockwork Orange as the 1962 book that nearly got banned or the 1971 film that was taken out of circulation by its own director.
Fast forward to 2022 and attitudes may have changed but themes of free will, mind manipulation and good vs evil mean the darkest of comedies has growing relevance.
The play, based on the novel by Anthony Burgess is brought to Aberdeen audiences by Taylormade Productions.
Director Bruce Taylor persevered through the pandemic to bring this play together.
With an original opening date of 2020, this retelling of A Clockwork Orange has been years in the making.
The graft that went into the production could be felt in the opening seconds.
The play kicked off with an energetic musical number and you could tell the cast were pumped up for the performance from the off.
It was as if they’d been waiting their whole lives to get out there… or two years of a pandemic.
Strong character acting
Here we are introduced to the bullying anti-hero Alex Delarge and his gang of ‘droogs’.
Alex, played by Grayson Ross, is an afflicted youth on a path to destruction.
Convicted of murder he then falls into the hands of the government who want to ‘cure’ him.
You get a real sense of Alex’s twisted mind, his lust for ultraviolence and his ironic love for classical music – namely Ludwig Van Beethoven.
Ross plays the character with confidence and combines well-delivered dialogue with lively physical acting.
While Ross is very much at the centre of everything in the play, Alex’s droogs shouldn’t be underestimated in their role in bringing A Clockwork Orange to life.
Ruairi Mackinnon, Russell Dudley and Ciaran Drysder had the difficult task at times of providing a foil for the protagonist without disappearing or distracting the audience from his narrative – and they got the balance right.
Is it like the film?
Stanley Kubrick’s influence is as clear as an azure sky of deepest summer but this isn’t a line for line retelling of his movie.
Bruce Taylor’s version hits similar beats but you’ll find original touches.
Alex Delarge’s iconic rendition of Singing in the Rain? Absent.
But cleverly replaced by Barbra Streisand’s Don’t Rain on My Parade during a closing scene that’s fantastic… Or as Alex Delarge might put it – real horrorshow.
The sexual violence references from the film are there but they are toned down to make the play more palatable for the audience and some of the key roles have been gender-swapped.
Belinda Findlay was one of the stand-out performers of the show as the chaplain – a role that was played by a male in the Stanley Kubrick film.
A language we can all understand
Whether you are fluent in Nadsat – the fictional dialect created by Burgess for the book – or not. You won’t have any difficulty following the narrative.
Actions speak louder than words and line delivery and tone will tell you everything you need to know about each character’s intentions.
The play might have you questioning whether the writer’s 1962 vision of dystopian Britain has prophetic qualities as the character F. Alexander, played by Jamie Drummond, talks through censorship and a government hell-bent on control.
You don’t have to go far to find people in the modern day having similar conversations and it felt like this aspect of the story was included as it might resonate with the audience.
Should you go and see A Clockwork Orange?
The enthusiastic cast will grab your attention throughout and the musical scenes that put a spin on an all-time classic are worth seeing in themselves.
If your affliction is a lack of thought-provoking drama and you need a night of entertainment, go and see A Clockwork Orange – you’ll be cured all right.
Taylormade Productions’ A Clockwork Orange is at Aberdeen Arts Centre from Thursday June 30 to Saturday July 2.
Visit www.aberdeenartscentre.com for more information and tickets.
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