Kiln Theatre – until 27th May 2023
Reviewed by Ben Jolly
3***
The Golden Age of Hollywood… how retro. But, did it make the grade?
Retrograde, a play by Ryan Calais Cameron (whose work can also be seen at the Apollo Theatre, currently home to For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When The Hue Gets Too Heavy) opened last night at the lovely Kiln Theatre.
In real time, this pressure cooker play sees its action take place in a high-rise office building, home to US network broadcaster giant NBC in a time of segregation, witch hunts and whisky in your Corn Flakes.
Before the show begins, we are given the opportunity to absorb the beautiful vintage office set, designed by Frankie Bradshaw with light jazz providing a soundtrack as we find our seats, it luls us into a false sense of security, thus making the arguments, back stabbing and chaos in store for us all the more jarring when the time comes.
Sydney is a rising star in New York and when presented with the opportunity of a lifetime in Hollywood, eagerly agrees and comes to meet the network’s “superlawyer” to sign the contract. But there’s a catch, and Sydney now has to ask himself what he is willing to sacrifice and who he has to step over in order to get what he wants from this world. Is it all worth it?
The play is set during a time when Sydney Portier’s career was just about to take off into the global star that he became. Cameron’s characterisation allows us to see a bright eyed, somewhat naive and youthful side of this great actor. The dialogue touches upon Portier’s real life refusal to play stereotypical roles and this shows us early on that this is a man of integrity, an actor who is committed to the craft but prioritises his values above all (refreshing isn’t it).
At the top of the show, we’re introduced to the other two of this three-man band. Mr Parks played by Daniel Lapaine as the corporate lawyer hellbent on securing the star (as long as he plays by his rules) and producer Bobby, sensitively played by Ian Bonar.
Cameron’s characters come across a little flat and two dimensional overall. Ivanno Jeremiah plays a charming and committed Sydney; there are times that his performance becomes presentational during the longer scenes, however, it doesn’t take us out of the moment too much. Daniel Lapaine tackles the shark with tenacity and interestingly you never quite know which side this character is on and what he is really fighting for. Are these signs of a poorly written character or a great lawyer? The jury is still out on that one.
Retrograde takes a while to get going, it’s only about two thirds of our way into this 90-minute drama that stakes start to rise and the intense emotions onstage have us sitting up straight in our chairs. To its credit, when this time comes, we are fully present and engaged, but it took too long to get there.
Important to note is the direction by Amit Sharma, their talent has been injected throughout every moment in the play and I thoroughly enjoyed the dynamic staging of the material.
An entertaining and thought provoking 90 minutes at the theatre; I came away wondering if Cameron has used the setting of 1950s “Golden Age of Hollywood” as a mirror showing how the society we live in today has not changed or evolved. Or is it a warning not to allow it to retrograde given the current state of the world and ever rising racial issues? Pause for thought indeed!