Theatre 503 and Fairground present

Bonnie and Clyde

Photo by Farrows Creative

by Adam Peck

Directed by Tid

Theatre 503

15 Jan- 18 Feb - 2011

A review by Carmen Nasr for EXTRA! EXTRA!

This is Bonnie and Clyde stripped bare - and there’s not a bullet or getaway car in sight. Far removed from the thrills and kills of the all-American bandit shootout and the smell of gunpowder and burning tyres, the haunting and intimate final days of Texan outlaws Bonnie and Clyde will set your heart a poundin’ with no less intensity and suspense. In a true example of the unique power of theatre, up and coming theatre company Fairground shows us how it’s done.

From the very moment the gun-toting Bonnie and Clyde entered the realms of American outlaw folklore, almost every cultural manifestation of the duo has come hand in hand with the thrill of the chase and the glamour of the open road, yet writer Adam Peck fearlessly places the couple in the calm serenity of the wilderness of the American South. In the decaying remnants of a wooden shack, following a spree of robberies and murders, Bonnie and Clyde spend their final days talking, arguing, loving, praying and waiting for what they know is the inevitable end. Executed with a hauntingly beautiful aesthetic and bold lyrical vision, the production is a delicate weave of the real and the unreal, with profound effects.

Chris Gylee’s design is atmospheric even before the lights go up. Crammed onto the tiny stage at Clapham’s Theatre 503, Bonnie and Clyde’s tiny and relatively realistic hut is surrounded by tall corn crops crafted from white paper, skilfully merging in a sense of the unreal. The cramped set strongly evokes the claustrophobic confinement of Bonnie and Clyde, while at the same time the dream like corn crops extend the audience’s imaginative vision to the vast open landscapes of the American South. The duality of freedom and entrapment is skilfully handled in all aspects of the production. The original musical compositions by the very talented Peter Swaffer-Reynolds are haunting and fragile - sad melodies that are somewhere in between the slave harmonies of early rural America and Tom Waits. It is clear that the conceptual vision of the piece was very much a shared process between all those involved in the creative process, and it is that makes it such a convincing piece of theatre.

Catherine McKinnon and Eoin Slattery as Bonnie and Clyde respectively, perform with all the intensity and tragic humanity that the fearless cultural legends demand. With pretty much flawless southern drawls, explosive chemistry and an unsettling energy combining a lust for life and an acceptance of the inevitability of death, McKinnon and Slattery both give a very powerful and engaging performance.

Writer Adam Peck must surely be the star of the show. The play is a harrowing epitaph to the infamous couple, marked by a real mixture of tenderness and emotional violence. Peck’s Bonnie and Clyde speaks beyond its subject and about the ever repeating tragedy of humanity’s search for love, life and meaning. Director Tid, also artistic director of Fairground, delivers a show that both whispers and screams of the intimacy of love and the violence of death. Succulent and seductive, this is theatre that leaves you wanting more.

Box office: 020 7978 7040

www.theatre503.com
www.visitfairground.co.uk

Theatre 503 at The Latchmere,
503 Battersea Park Road,
London, SW11 3BW

7:45pm Tue-Sat and 5:00pm Sun

£14/£9 Concession