Look Back in Anger
By John Osborne
Directed by Erica Whyman
Richmond Theatre 12th – 16th May

Look Back in Anger is without doubt one of the classics of British Theatre if not the world. 1956 was a very good year for those wanting something to regale against, Suez Hungary, Hanging, Rock and Roll, Teddy boys and young people in general. But the biggest thing that Jimmy Porter regales against is himself, he, the character, needs to feels the pain of being alive and as such Look Back in Anger changed the face of theatre. No longer did we have pot boilers where we were asked what would happen if so and so happened. Instead we were made to feel what it is like.

Bill Ward plays the part of Jimmy Porter with tremendous energy, a cauldron of emotions spill out in a constant whirlwind of a performance. Years later, John Osborne felt that the original character was being sadly misinterpreted. Was Jimmy Porter a sadist, anti feminist closet repressed homosexual? Osborne really wanted us to see him as a comical fellow in love with himself, regaling against anything in order to feel something so as not to feel dead. Well we certainly get that from Bill Ward, right from the start he attacks every rant as though it will be his last word and he must say it before he dies. The shock stunned the audience into silence. Maybe we, the audience, have changed too much. Perhaps we are too used to this angry young man and his many alter egos to feel alive or maybe people were waiting to see a soap star fail and not be able to keep this energy going for 3 hours, if so they were disappointed for Mr Ward did, with aplomb, keep this level of performance to turn the evening into a memorable one.
I was however disappointed with the set, there is no need to make a play out of the play; there is no need to remind us that we are in a theatre. The intimate setting of an attic bed-sit was lost in what was almost a television stage of a room and that I found distracting. There was no need for this is a great piece of drama that stands the test of time. This performance from Bill Ward did not need any adornments from the set.

We all know Jimmy Porter, he is the neighbour you nod hello to, but hope, truly hope you never get stuck in the lift with. He is the original of Victor Meldrew, with a liberal sprinkling of Frank Crawford, Hancock and even Charlie Chaplin. There can never be a happy ending for Jimmy; disaster is mitigated only by more disaster. No wonder he is so thin as his inner energy eats into his fibres. What are we too do, stand aside and ignore him? Laugh at this comic character and pass by? Or, for a moment embrace him and feel the pain of being alive?

Reviewed by Evan Rule