Marc Warren stars in this disappointingly mediocre production adapted from a far superior text.
Novel Theatre number Lloyd ‘Cool Hand Luke’ Jackson among a pantheon of real and fictional rebels in the programme for their adaptation of Donn Pearce’s 1965 novel.
At first glance it’s a cap that seems to fit – Marc Warren has just the right amount of idle charisma to make the role his own and especially convinces when embodying a Southern Fried ‘spirit of punk’ that sees him beholden to no one, least of all his fellow convicts who want to turn his exploits into legend. The rest of the cast never lack for effort and enthusiasm, particularly Richard Brake’s simmering, relentless Boss Godfrey and Lee Boardman’s effusive (if occasionally over-camp) Dragline.
When the elements combine, as they do to great effect in Cool Hand’s ‘key note’ egg-eating challenge, the production has shades of Oh Brother Where Art Thou? with an undertone of Slaughterhouse Five. It’s a shame, therefore, that much of the rest of Emma Reeves’ adapted script feels exactly like what it is – a sequence of events excised from a far richer source, that never feel truly embraced by the stage. Many of the minor characters (particularly Josh McCord’s Rabbit and Tom Silburn’s Curly) aren’t sufficiently fleshed out, the narrative meanders unnecessarily and, most crucially of all, Reeves shoots the bolt of Cool Hand’s background too early, rendering initially engaging flashbacks slightly tired and repetitive by the climax.
Director Andrew Loudon pulls the occasionally disparate parts together as best he can, and it's to his credit that Cool Hand Luke never feels like hard labour. But even Warren can’t entirely pull off the cringe-worthy “you gotta keep a real cool hand” line, and ultimately the production shies from a complex exploration of amorality towards a feel-good all-rounder that never reaches its true potential.
Cool Hand Luke runs at Aldwych Theatre until 7th January 2012
Image by Alastair Muir
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