REVIEW: Down And Out In Paris And London, New Diorama Theatre ✭✭✭✭✭

Down And Out In Paris and London

New Diorama Theatre

30 April 2016

5 Stars

Book Now Down And Out In Paris and London, is an amalgam of George Orwell’s novel and Polly Toynbee’s Hard Work. Now playing at London’s New Diorama Theatre this power-packed 90 minutes of theatre, is a reminder that the politics and brutality of poverty, not in any third world country, but in our own supposedly ‘modern’ society, can be oppressive and horrifically unfair.

Staged at last year’s Edinburgh Festival, the play has now been expanded and returns to the New Diorama for an extended season.

Adapted by David Byrne, the action switches between 1920’s Paris, as narrated by Orwell and 2003 London through the eyes of Toynbee. It’s a frenetic production, which perfectly underlines the fact amply illustrated in the piece, that being on the lowest social rung without money and trying to survive can be exhausting. Working far harder than many, those determined to survive and make a go of life are battling against a system that works against them, and some may say is designed to keep them in their place.

This tremendous ensemble led by Richard Delaney and Karen Ascoe as Orwell and Toynbee, whirl across the small stage of the New Diorama, only occasionally pausing for bleak, senseless moments when the horrors of the situation are given a moment to settle. Both actors are exceptional narrators guiding the audience through hunger, desperation and frustration.

Aided and abetted by Mike Aherne, Andy McLeod, Andrew Stafford-Baker and Stella Taylor, it’s a tale told with brutal clarity and heart-breaking futility. The tale is told with such conviction, and intense momentum, that it is surprising that these actors are still standing at the end of the play.

David Byrne’s adaptation and direction never allows the audience to relax. Flawless dissolves between time-streams are beautifully handled by the cast, with little more than a bed, a table and a few chairs. The latter use of a set of swing doors is also tremendously effective.

Ronnie Dorsey’s Costumes and Catherine Webb’s lighting are simple, but when combined with Dominic Brennan’s soundscape, Down And Out In Paris help to convey a message that hopefully might become part of a clarion call for change.

Down And Out In Paris And London is must-see theatre. Concise, brilliantly performed and with megatons of dramatic punch, this is a piece that needs to be seen by those in power. I was agog not at how the system worked, but by the apparent ‘couldn’t care less’ attitude of those who worked in it, seemingly helpless to change the system and resigned to the fact.

Get a ticket and make up your own mind!

Down And Out In Paris And London runs until 14 May 2016

Photo: Richard Davenport