Chase reviews ALFIE

Alfie - By Imperial Productions Barons Court Theatre "What's it actually about, Alfie?" by Dan Chasemore for remotegoat on 20/03/09

What's it all about?

As Jude Law discovered, there is an inherent risk in resurrecting a somewhat iconic character from our past and presenting it to a modern audience. Alfie Elkins is a product of and a reflection of his time, he's what people think of when they refer to 'the sixties', along with The Beatles, Carnaby Street and the Mini Skirt. So upon taking my seat in the atmospheric and intimate Barons Court Theatre, I was wondering, was Alfie coming to visit us, or were we about to visit him?

Unfortunately, I'm still none the wiser after this quirky, and highly uneven play.

The play follows our hero, Alfie Elkins (Adam Mendlesohn) through various episodes in his life, as he dallies with various women with sublime amorality. His outlook is selfish with a refreshingly honest philosophy about exactly what (thinks) he wants out of life. Alfie is a rakish cad, a charmer with an eye for the ladies, a cheeky chappie and a solid mate. 

Mendlesohn tackles this role willfully, however, unfortunately he doesn't display the innate charisma needed to reel the audience into his misogynistic world of birds, shagging and light ale. His asides to the audience, whilst sometimes hitting the spot, often fell flat. Perhaps as a modern audience, we were wary of associating ourselves with such an un-PC protagonist - and as such Mendlesohn seemed to find it difficult to keep us engaged in his story. Without any real depth to the character it was hard to sympathise with Alfie, leaving him a simple, boorish, cockney thug - albeit a well dressed one.

As different women come into and out of Alfies life, we are treated to a number of vignettes of differing levels of quality and style. In his dalliances with Gilda (Kelly Woodgate), and Lily (Elyse Marks) both actresses prove more than a match for Alfie, with excellent performances. Elyse Marks in particular is excellent, as she presents Alfie with the harsh consequences of his actions after a harrowing backstreet abortion. If the rest of the play had contained half as much power and subtlety as these few tense moments, we were in for a treat.

Unfortunately this was not the case, as the play lacked any specific direction as to what it wanted to be. Music choices were clumsily on the nose ('Baby Love' for the pregnancy, 'She's Not There', when Annie leaves) and the pace and atmosphere of each scene seemed to wildly fluctuate, from the 'comedy' doctor with the Harry Potter glasses, to the sitcom double takes from love rival lofty, to the 'Carry on Doctor' hospital scene, I never got a sense of what this play was actually trying to be. 

Or as Alfie might say - "What's it all about?"