The stage version of A Clockwork Orange is Burgess retort to the Kubrick film. Originally a fairly self indulgent musical, this entirely dramatised version keeps the sentiment of Burgess whilst also carrying the disconcerting nature of the film onto the stage.The plays main character is Alex (Jacob Taee), who can only be described as an executive delinquent. He and his merry droogs spend the first part of the play marauding around committing all kinds of ultraviolence. This includes rape, assault and theft, all of which are done without any sense of mercy or remorse. This has the effect of plunging the audience right into the heart of Alexs cacophonous, dystrophic life style. However, the mood and status quo of the play suddenly changes when Alex tries to assert himself as a leader of the group. This makes his supposed friends extremely angry and so they frame him for breaking into a house and he is subsequently arrested.It is once Alex is in prison when the play really comes into its own. He gets wind of a way of getting out of internment within two weeks, by letting himself be the guinea pig for mind aversion therapy. In order to do this he befriends the prison chaplain (Nick Pullen) who explains some of the moral problems with Alexs quick escape and is Burgess character of virtue throughout the piece. Following a fight in the prison where Alex is framed once again by his so called friends, Alex is nominated for the treatment. The treatment turns out to be a device to limit freedom of choice which leaves Alex nauseous whenever he thinks of being violent or indulging in sexual acts. In a sad twist, the music of his favourite composer Ludwig Van Beethoven is included in the therapy and so Alex cannot hear music without vomiting being induced and from such the play continues and concludes In this production the removal of the songs makes it a much more serious affair as the original songs were ridiculous and placed and the most inappropriate moments imaginable. As a result of this, the play is vastly improved and a sense of drama and general discomfort is kept up throughout as one would expect from this show. This is a great credit to the direction and the ability of the actors to keep up the pace where songs were used to carry the storyline. Certain rhymes from the songs have been kept as dialogue although most of these lines come from Alex, which serves to maintain the ethos of the play as a kind of twisted fairy tale. As far as general direction, they have used the space of C +1 very well. Planting characters in the crowd in pivotal scenes to give a sense of the play being bigger than the venue and to further involve the crowd. This works extremely well and helps to make the whole thing more believable whilst still using a minimalist set of a set of black boxes placed cunningly around the stage. My only criticism of this is that the first twenty minutes moves almost too fast in an episodic manner which only really makes sense to people who know the story already. This is not to say that newcomers to A Clockwork Orange shouldnt go to see it but rather that they should expect to be quite confused until it slows down upon Alexs arrest.This is a brilliant production and has been well directed and well acted. It is well worth the admittance fee and I recommend it to all Clockwork Orange fans. Fast-paced, charismatic chaos.
