The Messiah at The Bunker, Dalston

The Messiah at The Bunker, Dalston

18 May, 2012
by: Ricky PS

An uneven but promising production of The Messiah that doesn't really qualify as "immersive", says Ricky Sayeed. 

The “true” story of Jesus and his disciples roaring through Judea, spreading proto-Marxist messages, lying through their teeth and trying to fake an execution is a great tale to tell. However, last night’s performance of The Messiah, directed by Andrew London, began so drearily that it was hard to take the rest of the evening seriously, despite some very decent performances.

Similarly, if you bill a play inaccurately, it takes a while for the audience to get over their disappointment. The production is not “immersive”, as it is described, because there was no point at which I could forget I was part of an audience. It isn’t enough to walk us from one theatre space to another, or to seat us at dinner tables whilst the last supper is enacted in what is very clearly the stage space. However, there is some pretty effective interaction. Zoe Wellman and Nicholas Gauci both give completely entertaining, if conventional, stand-up turns as Satan and Caphuis the pharisee, respectively. The disciples preach to us with affecting passion, and during Jesus’ sermon make good use of the audience as a crowd. 

But this cast of naturalistic actors aren't always up to the demands of Steven Berkoff’s text, which leaps from one genre to another. David Fairs, for instance, is not impressive as Pilate’s cartoonish servant, but as Judas gives a strong, more traditional performance, especially during his monologues. Similarly, the performers’ physical skills are very mixed. The disciples seem embarrassed by their own mimed game of dice, but their quasi-dances work well. As Satan and Mary, Wellman and Alice Brickwood deserve praise for their twisting, climactic hammering of nails into the body of Graham Dixon’s Christ. As she crucifies her own son, Brickwood turns maternal love into brutal violence just by clasping her hand. It is stunning.

This moment is especially powerful because Dixon had already strikingly expressed Jesus’ fear of his own execution; its bone-splintering agony and the unpredictability of what would come next. He produces some clever moments of aggressive irony, and sensitively handles this fake messiah’s massive vacillations in self-awareness and honesty. 

Most of the night paces along, no one gets bored, and although rotting industrial spaces are very familiar territory, designer Dahlia Gellert has made The Bunker look good. With a bit more work, London's production of Berkoff’s script might have yielded the same results.



The Messiah runs at The Bunker in Dalston until 26th May. 



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Ricky PS