The Wolf from the Door, Royal Court - theatre review: 'Anna Chancellor's performance is both mercurial and finely poised'

Anna Chancellor and Calvin Demba play inept revolutionaries in this attack on modern political apathy, laced with exuberant absurdity and moments of twisted humour
Compelling: Anna Chancellor plays aristocratic ice queen Catherine and Calvin Demba plays homeless revolutionary Leo, who's naive and open yet somehow remains elusive even when he takes off all his clothes / Pic: Stephen Cummiskey
PRESS IMAGE must credit: Stephen Cummiskey
Henry Hitchings19 September 2014

What might a revolution feel like? The Royal Court will be exploring this question for the next eight months, and Rory Mullarkey's fervent and bracingly original play launches this extended project. It's an attack on modern political apathy, laced with exuberant absurdity and moments of twisted humour.

The central figures are Catherine, an aristocrat who's intent on relieving her boredom by trashing the social elite to which she belongs, and Leo, a young homeless man whom she regards as the perfect recruit. Together they immerse themselves in a scheme to overthrow the government.

This uprising doesn't take the form we've been primed to expect. Instead it’s comically parochial. The WI equip themselves with sniper rifles, polite clock-makers turn to creating bombs, enthusiastic yogis terrorise local councillors, and office workers contemplate setting about an HR manager with a cheese grater.

In a performance that’s both mercurial and finely poised, Anna Chancellor makes Catherine a compelling mix of firebrand and ice queen. Meanwhile Calvin Demba’s Leo has a quirky charm — he’s naive and open yet somehow remains elusive even when he takes off all his clothes. Director James Macdonald has crafted a production that fizzes with invention. Its mixture of minimalist design and extravagantly bombastic music challenges the materialism and ceremonial pomp that colour so much of our public life.

As for the play: it has already won Mullarkey the coveted George Devine award and the Pinter Commission — a prize given annually by Harold Pinter’s widow Lady Antonia Fraser. So is he the real deal? He certainly has a richly anarchic imagination. And although a weak final 10 minutes diminish the piece’s impact, there’s a fierce freshness in his writing that suggests he’s a young playwright to watch.

Until Nov 1 (020 7565 5000, royalcourttheatre.com)

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