|  HOME   |  REVIEWS   |  WHAT'S ON   |  MAGAZINE   |  SUBSCRIBE   |   ADVERTISE

Sunday August 1 2010 TIME:          US  |   UK   WEATHER:  US  |   UK   THE AMERICAN MAGAZINE ONLINE       Back Issues WHAT'S ON       Diary Dates SPORTS       Features & Blogs FEATURES       Politics blog THE NEIGHBORHOOD   "Life in the UK"       American Groups       Essential Contacts       Money       Education       Driving       Property

RECENT ITEMS • U.S. Embassy London Warden Message: Demonstration, April 1, 2009 • Diversity Lottery Fraud • Presidential Election Summary • Embassy Relocation Plans • Important Changes to UK Visa Regulations • New Embassy video service • New Republicans Abroad website • Josh Hamilton – A Real Sports "Feel Good" Story • IRS Extends Hours • Ambassador Tuttle Gives 2008 Churchill Lecture

REVIEWS Alex by Charles Peattie and Russell Taylor Leicester Square Theatre, London December 8, 2008            Reviewed by Jarlath O'Connell ‘Alex is a city institution,' the blurb says. When this one–man show began its world tour in September in Melbourne one might have easily chuckled along at the egocentricity and snobbery of London's most notorious merchant banker. Now, with the economy tanking and merchant bankers held in the same esteem as rats – or estate agents – it is perhaps not so funny anymore. Robert Bathurst as Alex at the Leicester Square Theatre. Photo by Tristram Kenton Alex is a one–man show, based on the highly successful cartoon strip of the same name, which has appeared in the Daily Telegraph since 1992. The job of fleshing out what is literally a caricature was given to acclaimed director Phelim McDermott, who had a worldwide smash with the glorious Shockheaded Peter. He brings the same visual flair to this. What could have been a very wordy evening is transformed, as the actor playing Alex shares the stage with a wonderful panoply of animated video projections, so that the cartoon strip literally comes to life. The other great asset of the piece is Robert Bathurst, the star of British TV's Cold Feet. He completely gets under the skin of Alex and wins over the audience by sheer force of smarm. The convoluted plot involves him trying to rescue both his marriage and a take–over deal whilst all the time looking after number one. The character, like much in satire, serves as a safety valve for the readers' own frustrations and resentments, against their tedious colleagues, their hectoring spouses or the general idiocy of political correctness. The play also serves to explain to the uninitiated some of the grubbier aspects of merchant banking, reminding one of the definition of a cynic as "one who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing". The night I went the audience was packed with people who looked just like Alex or his wife, all having a ball. Until December 20, 2009 www.leicestersquaretheatre.com

Copyright © Blue Edge Publishing Ltd.   |  Disclaimer   |  Privacy Policy |  About us |  Contact us