Giving us yet another reason to be glad we live in Canberra this year, local theatre company Paris Hat Productions is staging the 1956 John Osborne classic Look Back In Anger at the Courtyard Studio of the Canberra Theatre Centre.
A play rife with emotion, that spawned the term “angry young men”,Look Back In Anger centers on Jimmy Porter, a disaffected, restless young man whose anger at the complacency of the world around him escalates to the point of violence, resulting in him lashing out at his wife, Alison, and his family. Added to this volatile mix are Jimmy’s friend and flat-mate, Cliff, and Alison’s actress friend, Helena.
The play offers insight into the disillusionment of the modern world, and is as beautiful as it is bleak. An emotional journey of sorts, Look Back In Anger is driven by four distinctly different characters, each offering specific and relatable qualities for the audience. Where Jimmy is grappling with his dissatisfaction at the world around him, Alison is struggling to understand her husband, and maintain a semblance of their relationship. Both Cliff and Helena are catalysts creating a different tide in the household, affecting Jimmy and Alison as well as themselves.
Director Cara Irvine was not unaware of the effect that such an emotionally volatile play could have on the cast.
“Working on this play has been quite emotional for everyone; I know for a fact that it has taken its toll on the cast, who spend hours during rehearsals living the intensity of these characters,” she agrees. “I have been very lucky though; I have a great cast who work amazingly well together.”
Jimmy Porter is played by Ben Williams, Australian National University graduate and star of many a local production, including Free Rain’sWho’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, and Paris Hat’s debut production of Closer.
Also a Canberra local is theatre veteran Fiona Atkin, starring as Alison Porter. Currently in the midst of her PhD on Sam Shepherd at the ANU, Fiona has appeared in an overwhelming array of performances, and will this year also direct Paris Hat’s production of Equus.
The company enjoyed a successful season in 2007, with productions of David Mamet's Sexual Perversity in Chicago and Patrick Marber's Closer. This year, Paris Hat has reformed, and is bound to leap from success to success, with Look Back In Anger leading the charge.
Look Back In Anger presented a number of challenges for its director – not only are the characters complex and the emotions strong, but the play is very much rooted to its 1950s setting. The concerns and trials faced by the characters are linked to the rise of a new middle-class, and the characters are driven by the motives of their time.
Rather than trying to modernize the play and risk losing the vibrancy that the era lends it, Irvine preferred to maintain the original time period.
“When this play was written in 1956, the world was going through a pretty turbulent time,” she explains. “It was the British who really felt the strain. A once mighty empire was beginning to crack and fragment. In the process Look Back in Anger gave a powerful voice to the new generation that was emerging.”
In fact, in 1956 the play sparked major controversy in the theatre industry, as some considered it too dark a portrayal of society, whilst others viewed playwright Osborne as having opened an entirely new door in theatre.
Although the period in which it was written is important to Look Back In Anger, Cara is confident that modern audiences will be able to easily relate to the play.
“John Osborne gave a voice to a generation of disillusioned youth, bringing to light the feelings of ‘angry young men’” Irvine says. “I think that the youth of our generation feel similarly disillusioned and, like Jimmy, over-informed and over-educated. We have a great deal to say, but no-one to listen, and our anger is often taken out on the ones we love most.”
With these dark themes and difficult characters, it would be easy to assume that seeing Look Back In Anger would be a rather depressing experience. However, Irvine suggests that this is not so.
“The magnificent thing about this play is that whilst it can be confronting, emotional and explosive, there are some very tender, beautiful moments too. My cast have really found that balance in the play.”
Audiences can expect a lot from this complex piece of theatre.
“This is a battlefield, where an angry young man attempts to rattle those around him as he cries out for change,” Irvine describes. “The audience will see some amazing performers tackle some of the most brutal dialogue from British theatre. They will explore relationships that are pushed to breaking point, the fullest extent of love, and the anger and frustration of knowing too much and having your hands tied by life and circumstance.”
Promising a thrilling performance, Look Back In Anger will cause the audience to experience the same aches of emotion that the characters undergo. As Irvine enthuses, “Intelligent and often frightening in its honesty, Look Back In Anger was unlike anything to come before, it shocked, awed and even enraged audiences in the 50s, and I hope it will again today.”
Look Back In Anger is showing at the Canberra Theatre Centre’s Courtyard Studio from Thursday February 17 – Saturday February 26. For bookings contact 02 6275 02700.
