A Clockwork Orange
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Cititour.com Review
While September is admittedly very early to make predictions about an entire theater season, it’s hard to imagine there will be a more spectacular New York stage debut than the one being given by English actor Jonno Davies as the menacing Alex deLarge in Alexandra Spencer-Jones strikingly intense adaptation of Anthony Burgess’ legendary 1962 novel “A Clockwork Orange,” now at New World Stages.
It’s not just Davies’ physique that inspires awe – even if it’s award-worthy on its own merit and prominently displayed throughout this strangely homo-erotic revisal of the work – it’s the actor’s sinewy grace, his ability to spout both Burgess’ weird Russian-inspired slang (called Nasdat) and speak Shakespearean elegance with equal ease, and, above all, his complete commitment to embodying the psychologically wounded yet almost inherently evil 15-year-old gangleader that makes a viewer unable to watch almost anything else on the stage -- despite the Herculean efforts of eight other actors, who inhabit over two dozen characters.
Of course, it’s almost a dream role for any actor. More than five decades after the book’s publication (and 46 years since Stanley Kubrick’s visually remarkable film version), Alex remains the ultimate antihero, hero, and cautionary tale. (Eerily, though, the work is no longer strictly dystopian – the setting is described as “England. Now.”) Moreover, Alex is also eventually presented as a symbol of maturity (as Burgess’ once-omitted final chapter of his book has been restored), adding one more dimension to the story.
That outcome can be hard to imagine during the early sections of Jones’ sparse, movement-heavy adaptation, as Alex and his fellow “droogs” (convincingly rendered by Matt Doyle, Misha Osherovich, and Sean Patrick Higgins) commit unspeakable acts of violence on random Londoners, almost without consequences. But Alex is eventually imprisoned, where he finds favor with the dim chaplain (an excellent Timothy Sekk), who wrongly believes the young man has taken the lessons of the Bible to heart.
Yet, after Alex’s violent tendencies once again go too far, the government intervenes (in the person of a self-aggrandizing interior minister, well played by Ashley Robinson) and he is subjected to the “Ludovico technique,” an extreme aversion therapy created by the overly ambitious Dr. Brodsky (an excellent Brian Lee Hyunh). Alex is then essentially re-programmed to not just subsume his violent urges, but to lack any free will at all or any opportunity to feel pleasure. Davies’ uninhibited physical and emotional work during these difficult scenes are truly remarkable.
The debates of whether prison rehabilitation is ever an answer, and what happens if the punishment is worse than the crime is, truly at the heart of Burgess’ story, but Spencer-Jones rather oversimplifies the philosophical discussions. Indeed, one often feels that style has overtaken substance throughout much of the play’s 90-minute running time, with some sections, striking as they are, skirting a little too close to a pure modern dance performance. (The show’s score cleverly blends original music, English techno-pop, and healthy doses of classical music, as the works of Beethoven are crucial to the plot.)
Spencer-Jones might also have benefitted from the work of a stronger adaptor or dramaturg: the last 15 minutes (complete with a strange dream sequence) may leave some audience members hopelessly confused. But in the end, they should not feel hopeless. I’d hardly call “A Clockwork Orange” a feel-good show, but there is some sense (much needed in our times) that perhaps the dawn actually will follow darkness.
By Brian Scott Lipton
Visit the Site
http://aclockworkorangeplay.com
Cast
Jonno Davies, Matt Doyle, Sean Patrick Higgins, Brian Lee Huynh, Timothy Sekk, Aleksander Varadian, Ashley Robinson, Jimmy Brooks, Misha Osherovich
Open/Close Dates
Opening 9/2/2017
Closing 12/2/2017
Box Office
212-239-6200
Theatre Info
New World Stages
340 West 50th Street
New York, NY 10019
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