A Critique on 'The Charming Man' by Gabriel Bisset Smith performed at Theatre 503 Benjamin W. Bland Class 2.

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The Charming Man by Gabriel Bisset- Smith, directed by Paul Robinson and performed at Theatre 503 Battersea; documents the rise of a young Black, Homosexual youth worker being dragged up through the political world by the Green party. The play is set in 2015 just before the next election in post coalition Britain. In this political satire, idealism and populism are splashed upon the stage with potent undertones of prejudice, corruption and immorality.

Why did they do this play? Theatre503 is the home of fearless, irreverent, brave and provocative new plays. 1 The Charming Man being very resonant and a story of idealism verses populism 2 definitely fits into 503's aim. Evidently the intention from Bisset- Smith was to highlight how an unlikely political party can rise to power with a controversial candidate at it's forefront, and how this candidate, falls into a trap of corruption.

What appeared several times was a social commentary on how homophobia and racism are still resonant in 21st century Britain, this seemed to override the writers intention and Darren (Syrus Lowe) was used as the unknowing victim of this exploitation. Both messages were prominent throughout and a bi-product of each other, but it is from these unclear objectives of the play why the audience had some confusion.

One of the fundamental problems with The Charming Man was the protagonist Darren played by Syrus Lowe, was not a charming man. His first appearance was attractive, he spoke the truth, his views were honourable he was a charming man. However during the course of the play the likelihood that he could be leader of the green party and second in the running to be Britain's next
1 Theatre503 Website - http://www.theatre503.com/about/ 2 Theatre503 Website, quote from Paul Robinson - http://www.theatre503.com/video/tcm/

Prime Minister dwindled to the point that it was totally inconceivable. This was down to his use of the text, there didn't seem to be a visceral connection, the character seemed to stop believing his own views, thus the audience did the same. Lowe made a conscious decision to make Darren light, bouncy and effeminate which added to the lack of believability. Furthermore there was a lack of weight, presence and leadership to everything he did.

Lowe predominately played the outer state of characteristics and his sexual orientation and race was visibly a more important characteristic than his political views. This ties in with what the objective of the play was, the writing indicates the most important thing is to document the rise of the green party with Darren at the helm, rather than the characters personal life being challenged by conservative Britain. Lowe according to the writers wishes should have been aware that Darren's political views were the most important, the other themes and characteristics would have appeared naturally rather than being imposed on the audience.

On the other hand I would agree with the Telegraph, when they state Lowe's performance beautifully captured a young guy's fresh, vital enthusiasm and his eventual confused [and] lonely demise3. Particularly near the end of the play when Kenny Fox the financier of the Green Party forces him to change his political views and also forces him to be engaged to a woman, it was beautiful to watch the internal struggle, of a man desperate to change the world but surrounded In a sea of corruption. The reason why this specific area of the play worked, was because Lowe put the characters political views first, not the character's personal life and thus supported Bisset-Smith's aims for the play.

David Verrey who played Marcus was delightful to watch he was completely believable as a cantankerous politician, but Verrey also brought a vulnerability an naivety to Marcus, something
3 Telegraph website by Daisy Bowe-Sell - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-reviews/8089688/TheCharming-Man-Theatre503-review.html

which could have easily been overlooked, his voice gave the audience a conception that he was an Eaton Alumni, his little gesticulations, pouring a drink or pulling down his shirt sleeves for example gave us a multi-dimensional character. He without literally demonstrating, showed how the Green Party rose and also the corruption within it, he was the epitome of Bisset- Smiths vision and encapsulated the 21st century politician.

Christopher Brandon who played Kenny Fox, the South African millionaire who financed the Green Party and in his eyes 'owned' the party, was also riveting to watch. Brandon like Verrey presented the corruption of politics, it was later discovered he was financing the green party to control the level of restrictions on oil for himself In the future. His only aim was to win, in his eyes Darren was the best candidate, which again causes problems since Lowe's interpretation of Darren could not possibly have been the best choice. Brandon created a chauvinistic, capitalist but with an inner life and desire, which made the audience believe that he could be the financier of the party. His energy, comedic timing and natural embodiment of the character was impeccable.

The Design of This Charming Man was one of minimalism but very effective. Placed around the stage were white tables and stools on wheels. They were used to create different places such as a kitchen, office, pub, radio studio, lounge and community centre. When in the pub for example they created a bar and stool in a semi-circle, when in the community centre a stool was put upside down to create goalposts. Simultaneously though specific props were used, some with great detail. The laptops were green to resemble the party. When Marcus was at the bar a single wine glass was used, to provide us with the exposition. When they were in a radio studio, microphones and headsets were used and in the home. Furthermore when Darren and his partner Luke were preparing dinner, a chopping board, knife and vegetables were used, to give the audience a fell of domesticity. The use of detail only when needed, was very effective, the design and actors worked symbiotically to give the audience a realistic experience.

Although the design did have 2 major flaws, this was the green backdrop, it was a vinyl like substance with red and yellow strips placed sporadically and horizontally . The green I can understand, green for the green party, but it was just so obvious and literal, the fluorescent nature of the backdrop also did not help it. The backdrop may have well of been plain black or white, or just green paint and this would have been more effective, since the actors and other aspects of the design would have made this unnoticeable, instead the backdrop was an eyesore and detracted the viewer from the action of the play. The lighting at one point seemed very alien, it suddenly became very hot and there was a spotlight on Lowe delivering a speech on a TV debate program, it seemed pointless, un-naturalistic and did not compliment the scene.

The costume's were contemporary, ergonomic and most importantly suited each character. The detailed costume's, worked well with the minimalistic set and allowed the audience to see each character individually, without being moulded into the backdrop. Marcus wore a tailored suit, and the character of Suman (a youth helped by Darren) wore loose clothing, he hid and showed his insecurities though his acting, but was able to utilise his clothing to his advantage. A specific moment which worked very well was when the rest of the cast undressed Darren from his jeans and T-shirt to his suit, the changing of clothes was such a powerful literal and metaphorical change, and was executed simply but effectively through the use of costume and ensemble.

One thing which was done from all the actors, which I think was a directorial choice was brilliant pace and momentum throughout the play. All the actors kept the energy up and the audience was kept enthralled throughout, a major achievement for any production. One directorial choice which didn't work was the constant focus on Darren's personal life, his race and sexual orientation, as well as the actor consciously choosing this, Paul Robinson too made this decision. This theme of racial and sexual prejudice has been explored countless times in contemporary theatre. 503's aim as stated

was to create provocative new plays. The focus on this meant it was not a new play, it was a repetition of many before it, and thus not complying with 503's desires, and Gabriel Bisset- Smith's. If the direction and Lowe had done what the designer and other actors had done, the play would have filled the brief of 503 and the writer instead.

The writing kept the audience tantalized for most of the production. The idealistic speeches written for Darren, were precise and passionate, the Wit and sarcasm from Marcus was also riveting. The writing was a good mix of idealism, cynicism and hope, which was all down to Bisset- Smith. The ending however was a mixture of confusion, Darren after a T.V debate started stripping off into a pair of gold 'hot pants' which had been mentioned earlier in the play. Evidently the act was to clearly display that Darren wanted to declare what he was a homosexual man and proud. The fact was if it had not been so evidently clear he was this throughout the entire course of the play, it would have worked, instead it seemed a repeated declaration, and stereotypical, which was tiresome for the audience. The play hit a brick wall and ended abruptly, leaving the audience with questions, and also no resolve.

In conclusion, The Charming Man displayed some brilliant acting, passionate writing and a beautiful insight into the possible future of British Politics. Verrey's and Brandon 's performances were naturalistic, entertaining and kept the audience thoroughly engaged. The design was very pragmatic but highly effective and the entire cast kept the audience entertained. The problem with the charming man though, was Darren was not a charming man and there seemed too much emphasis on the fact that this man was black and homosexual, they gave the sub-text more attention than what Bisset- Smith had given them. This directorial and acting choice, consequently caused the audience to not believe the protagonists political rise. Another consequence of this was 503's aims as a theatre to provide new plays was not done, because Bisset-Smith's objectives for his play were overlooked.