Baby name
books write that Alex is a short form of Alexander, which means helper
and defender of mankind. I can't help but think that in shortening Alexander
to Alex, some of that heroism is lost. Most Alexes I know talk too much
and smirk a lot. The Alex played by Robert Bathurst is no different,
but in addition to talking too much and smirking a lot, he cheats and
grovels and does whatever it takes to get his way.
First taking form in Daily Telegraph comic strips in the 80s,
Alex is the brainchild of Charles Peattie and Russell Taylor. He is
a City of London banker barely clinging to solvency despite financial
downturns. The strip is said to offer an insider's view of the world
of finance and the lifestyles of its denizens. Alex is married to Penny,
and their relationship is one of the issues that come under scrutiny
in this theatrical production.
The loosely tied string of events that makes up Alex's adventures for
this production offers plenty of opportunities for one-liners about
Alex's ignorance of the state of his marriage and his absence of any
moral compass. But, jokes aside, Alex was never my friend - he was too
mean and moved too fast and talked too much for me to keep up. Due to
a resourcefulness born of desperation, he keeps one step ahead of the
plot, but this puts him far ahead of the audience too - and audiences
prefer to be one step ahead, or at least on the same level as that characters
they are watching.
We are introduced to Alex as he is dropped off at his porch, drunk
as a skunk, and he proceeds to sneak up the stairs to avoid waking his
wife. Alas, he is caught. What can Alex say to get out of this pickle?
"Good morning dear, I was just leaving for work. Bloody early morning
meeting, cross-continental time zones, you know. I was trying so hard
not to wake you."
Later, at work, Alex discovers a financial boo boo relating to one
of his biggest clients, Mr Hardcastle, and he brings his Eurotrash junior,
Sebastien, to find a back door out of the mess. Along the way, Alex
learns that Sebastien, whom he treats like a dog, is his boss's illegitimate
son. Also, his wife leaves him, which Alex wouldn't mind so much, were
it not that he needs her to keep his job - so he gives in to her blackmail
to take her shopping and on holiday. And this, after a twist of events
and a showdown with his boss, is where we find Alex at the end: on a
moonlit beach with his wife serving him drinks with little umbrellas
in them.
Perhaps because of its comic strip origins, the play's events are overly
episodic so that the audience, even though caught up in the action,
never gets the chance to be immersed emotionally. The performance was
basically one-and-a-half hours of Alex making snarky comments, with
bits of situational humour thrown in. A shorter performance which cut
out some of the more overlong scenes might have made the show less tedious,
and Alex's rhetoric would have been less tiresome and better appreciated.
West-African-born, British theatre actor Robert Bathurst took on the
challenge of portraying the comic strip hero, Alex, in what was essentially
a one man show. He played the role of Alex live and in person, while
the rest of the characters were 2D, animated projections, whom he reported
the speech of or gave voice to directly. The cleverness of the latter
was that it was difficult to tell whether Alex was mocking the other
characters when he took on their voices (for example, he put on a mock
French accent as Sebastien, saying, "Ooh la la, Alex, you like my purple
pants no?") or whether we were supposed to accept that these were simply
the characters' "real" voices. At other times, Alex would
simply "report" what the other party said, as in the scene where he
begged his wife to return home. Here, he groveled at the feet of the
animated projection of his wife, and "listened" to her talk,
then he replied, "What? You want me to take you out for dinner? What
for? You have a microwave and a fridge!"
As might be expected from a production that once played Broadway, the
mechanics were quite stunning. Onstage there were numerous white screens
on which characters, scenery or captions would appear, recalling the
show's comic strip origins. The timing of the projections had to be
completely in sync with Alex's actions. A character projected on the
screen would respond to Alex and Alex to it, so essentially Bathurst
was acting across the set. During the picnic scene, for example, he
set up a picnic mat and basket and placed two similar screens around
it - one housed his wife and the other his boss. He took turns running
between them, tirelessly placating both with near-perfect timing. For
being able to pull this stunt off, and with flair, Bathurst deserves
a round of applause. The production crew: Leo Warner and Mark Grimmer
for video design, Phil Eddolls for set design, Colin Grenfell for lighting
design and Ed Clarke for sound design, all deserve a hearty pat on the
back too.
If I'd grown up reading Alex comics, maybe I would have deeper
sympathy for the character and like him more. But Alex belongs to the
generation before mine: he is a product of 80s corporate culture, and
is now an outdated, alien and dying breed. From what I could tell, most
of the audience enjoyed Alex more than I did - perhaps nostalgia
heightened their enjoyment of the production. Sadly for me, this was
not the case. Still, I was susceptible to Bathurst's charms and the
skillful, invisible direction that guided his moves, so that I was nonetheless
swept up in the action and found myself laughing along with the rest.
First Impression
Alex is a comic strip brought to life by mixing a live performanceby
Robert Bathurst with 2D projections. The story plays out an adventure
from the life of the eponymous lead and, as always, Alex's utter lack
of self-awareness is fodder for mockery. Bathurst's energy is inexhaustible
and the show is entertaining enough, but it never reaches beyond the
superficial. You laugh at Alex as much as you laugh with him because
the show never quite gets you to sympathize with him or take his side.
The play dips in particular during the more emotional scenes - you will
find yourself tapping your feet, waiting, in between the jokes. Alex
is jolly good fun for an evening if you have no plans, but otherwise
you might think twice about catching it. |
"Alex was never my friend - he was too mean and moved too fast
and talked too much for me to keep up"
Credits
Director Phelim McDermott
Video Design Leo Warner & Mark Grimmer for Fifty
Nine Productions
Animation Charles Peattie
Set Design Phil Eddolls
Lighting Design Colin Grenfell
Sound Design Ed Clarke
Alex is Robert Bathurst
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