NYT REP Company
|
The play essentially ploughs through each of the facts that are known about the story, and then imagines what was actually going on when Jones was inside the palace. The play starts 5 weeks before Victoria's coronation, with Edward and his two sisters plotting to enter the palace in an act of protest. However, Edward goes ahead without them and finds himself in the throne room with, shortly after, the soon-to-be Queen Victoria pointing a gun into the back of his head. When he sees her, he falls in love with her. He breaks in again and, disguising himself as palace staff, he takes Victoria around London, showing her his home town. However, on one visit, he is discovered by a specialist unit of security guards who torture him and lock him in prison for 3 months. In the real-life story, Fennimore Cooper had wanted to take him to America, and the palace put on a music hall show about his 'exploits'. Here, a sophisticated director leads an open rehearsal, whilst Jones is remanded in prison, of the play she has made about Boy Jones, which she plans to take to New York. It stars Edward Jones as himself, but, despite the offer of £2 a week, he refuses to go, opting instead to stay in London so that he can see Victoria again. The play continues in this way; more meetings and then another capture, resulting in the torture of his two sisters, in addition to two deaths. As well as this core plot, we see many other snippets of action; Albert arriving in London, a fight in a pub between two men with chicken masks on their head, Victoria's somewhat unglamorous coronation, and a whole host of other things. The play covers a lot of ground, and at only 1 hour and a half, it does lose its way a little as the play progresses.
Unfortunately, the play did not give the young talents on stage a huge opportunity to shine. The text did not really develop many of the characters or situations and the whole thing seemed very shallow. I wasn't able to feel much of a connection with any of the characters. It was meant to be a comedy, and it would be unfair to say that that was ineffective. Many people in the audience were laughing raucously throughout the play, but I must say that I found it more of a farce.
That is not to say that the cast did not do a fantastic job. Jamie Ankrah in the lead role of Edward Jones really stood out. His ability to switch between light-hearted humour and more serious situations was impressive and his performance was colourful and vibrant. I saw him in The Fall as well and he was similarly excellent , definitely a talent of the future. Alice Vilanculo was wonderful as Victoria, delightfully sassy and head-strong whilst simultaneously showing the weakness and vulnerability of an 18-year-old girl who has the significant pressure of ruling an entire country. Another standout performance came from Aiden Cheng as Sasha, an undeniably funny character who is in charge of the secret service operation within the palace. His posture and voice and gestures were just perfect for the role and his comic timing was excellent, the stage lit up every time he was on it. Simran Hunjun as the Duchess, Victoria's mother, also gave a spirited performance and her vocals were stunning.
Given that the talent of these young people was so evident and clearly bursting to come out, it was a shame that the play/musical was no vehicle for them to showcase the extent of their abilities. I found the modernisation of the Victorian era a bit confusing in this production as Spiderman masks are used as well as chainsaws. And the sheer quantity of expletives used was quite extraordinary. I wasn't sure if the play was trying to fill in the gaps of the factual story that is "full of holes", or if it was just going for a quick laugh aiming to exacerbate the implausibility of the historical story.
It was, to me at least, a shallow and farcical play that did not do the talent of the actors' justice. However, that isn't to say that other members of the audience didn't enjoy it - some people stood at the end and lots found it hilarious. One thing that was unquestionable was that the members of the 2018 NYT Rep Company are a talented bunch, I am sure that there are some true stars of the future in it.