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worldzend presents A British Première of a new/extended adaptation Voltaire’s CANDIDE
Adapted and Performed By PRENTIS HANCOCK
Directed by Brian Cummins and David Roylance
Greenwich Playhouse
7-26 April 2009
A review by David Hermann for EXTRA! EXTRA!
A pile of books, a tankard, a pistol, a beautifully hobnailed leather trunk, a scroll of paper, some more books, a chair, and a 66 year old man in tight-fitting long-johns… These are the basic ingredients of Prentis Hancock’s very own one man show, brought to life by a fresh stage-version of Voltaire’s legendary satire Candide, as adapted by Hancock himself. For its creator this production is the realisation of a long-held dream. Prentis Hancock had wanted his own solo performance ever since the 1970s, when he attended one given by a fellow cast member on sci-fi series SPACE:1999, in which the veteran actor played Second in Command Paul Morrow. Well, finally, here it is, and it is good. Hancock has unlocked the novella’s stage-potential by making Voltaire himself a character, and placing him in the position of narrator. The snoozing philosopher is awakened by the arrival of a letter informing him of a new edition of Candide and prompting him to revisit his satirical masterpiece in well-chosen snippets, which Hancock delivers with equal generosity to all three segments of the Greenwich Playhouse’s intimate auditorium in great, lightsome sweeps, slipping in and out of the role of each character as required. With a face and vocal demeanor faintly reminiscent of Sir Ian McKellen, Prentis Hancock is highly engaging and a pleasure to watch. However, two problems arise for Mr. Hancock and his two directors Brian Cummins and David Roylance. Free from the isolation of a monologue, it is the fast and precise switching of posture, voice and movement that constitutes the allure of a one man show with multiple characters, and Hancock sometimes blurs the boundaries. This is primarily a movement problem, best tackled with a thorough tidy-up of Hancock’s erratic footwork. Such a fantastically agile actor needs a dose of measured calm in certain places, which would also help to give the performance a greater range in dramatic undulation. It would help, too, if Mr. Cummins and Mr. Roylance revisited their blocking in those places where, for example, Candide is in conversation with Pangloss, and got Hancock to assume clearly different poses, in addition to his already immaculately applied accents. There is a general sense that the man we’re watching ranges about the stage more or less willy-nilly, which, while being testament to Hancock’s wonderful spontaneity, can be exasperating. Only the directors, in their function as ‘outside eyes,’ can knock this frenzy into shape, and they should assert themselves. The second and more fundamental problem also has to do with Hancock’s assumption of multiple characters, and it is a matter of acting-approach. Granted, Candide is a satire, but it seems to me that Mr. Hancock plays the minor characters as (sometimes crass) caricatures, which subtracts from the impact they have upon the audience. He plays them still too much from the vantage point of the narrator, of whom he would do wisely to let go almost completely when submerging himself in the narrative. This would generate that sense of magic audiences so enjoy (one man playing many) and simultaneously show off Mr. Hancock’s clearly existent abundance of skill. In short, taking Voltaire’s minor characters more seriously in their own tiny universes would catapult this show to another level altogether. Still, this is already an endearing and undeniably entertaining piece which I would genuinely like to see again once Prentis Hancock has travelled and grown with it for a while; once he has truly made it his - which he will. Oh, and how about a pair of breeches over those long-johns? Please?
GREENWICH PLAYHOUSE
Tuesdays-Saturdays@8pm - Sundays@4pm TICKETS: £11.00, £9.00 (conc.) BOX OFFICE: 020-8858 9256 boxoffice@galleontheatre.co.uk
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y Couzens