Google
 
Web    
www.curtainup.com
Product: World Remix/What Would Judas Do?, a CurtainUp London review CurtainUp
CurtainUp

The Internet Theater Magazine of Reviews, Features, Annotated Listings
www.curtainup.com


HOME PAGE

SITE GUIDE

SEARCH

REVIEWS

FEATURES

NEWS
Etcetera and
Short Term Listings


LISTINGS
Broadway
Off-Broadway

NYC Restaurants

BOOKS and CDs

OTHER PLACES
Berkshires
London
California
New Jersey
DC
Philadelphia
Elsewhere

QUOTES

TKTS

PLAYWRIGHTS' ALBUMS

LETTERS TO EDITOR

FILM

LINKS

MISCELLANEOUS
Free Updates
Masthead
Writing for Us
A CurtainUp London London Review
Product: World Remix/What Would Judas Do?



It's a private note — we won't shoot it— James in Product: World Remix
I came to the conclusion that Jesus hadn't a clue what he was doing - - - Judas in What Would Judas Do?
Product: World Remix/What Would Judas Do?
Mark Ravenhill
(Photo: Mark Brenner)
Although conceived separately, this double bill of one-man shows written and performed by Mark Ravenhill and Stewart Lee, respectively, offers a fascinating comparison. If in their form they contrast, with Ravenhill's piece being a dramatic monologue, while Lee's relies more on stand-up comedy, their subject-matter shares some common ground. With both artists having been involved in theatrical controversy in the past, Product: World Remix dips its toe into the murky waters of Islamic terrorism, while What Would Judas Do? provides a subversive account of Christ's final days. It all makes for an entertaining if flawed evening.

Ravenhill became one of the leading figures of the "in the yer face" British theatre explosion in the late nineties with his fashionably notorious play Shopping and Fucking, but had gone quiet until last year when he had no fewer than four shows staged in London. Product: World Remix was first produced by Paines Plough at the Edinburgh Festival in 2005, and this slightly longer version is once again directed by Lucy Morrison. As a satire on the film business intent on exploiting the post-9/11 terrorism scenario, it is mildly amusing and occasionally pointed, but overall is neither funny nor biting enough.

Ravenhill plays James, a film-maker who is trying to persuade A-list actress Olivia (the excellent, silent Jo Lobban) to star in his forthcoming movie Mohammed and Me, about a Twin Towers widow falling in love with an al-Qaeda terrorist involved in a plot to blow up Euro Disney. As he outlines the increasingly ridiculous and melodramatic story, supposedly a serious treatment of West meets East across the cultural divide, with lashings of sex and violence thrown in, it becomes clear that this is a dumbed-down blockbuster with a fake artistic veneer.

The trouble is the satire is as obvious as the fictitious film is over-the-top, with no real surprises or revelations. We get the point early on, and then the point is repeated until the end — a one-trick pony. Strangely, though from the crassness of the pitch, one would assume we are in Hollywood, the mentions of Heathrow and the London Docklands suggest otherwise, as does the English accent of Ravenhill, whose camply pretentious persona never really convinces.

Unlike Ravenhill, Stewart Lee is a highly experienced performer, as one of Britain's more thoughtful and subtle comics. He first made his name as part of a double act with Richard Herring in the early nineties, but more recently as co-writer and director of the award-winningly blasphemous Jerry Springer, The Opera, whose national tour was cut short due to aggressive campaigning by Christian fundamentalists. One feels that this experience lies behind What Would Judas Do?, another irreverent look at the gospel, with Lee determined not to be silenced.

Although it certainly challenges the orthodox account of Christ's mission, the show is hardly offensive as it presents an interestingly alternative view from the perspective of Judas, here in the guise of a revolutionary socialist. He claims that he was the one betrayed as Jesus failed to lead the people in an uprising against their Roman oppressors. Furthermore, he suggests that Jesus actively wanted Judas to hand him over to the authorities as the route to his martyrdom — without Judas, there may have been no crucifixion, and therefore no salvation for mankind.

What Would Judas Do? is a mixture of extended monologue and stand-up comedy, partly scripted and partly improvised, with Lee not only addressing the audience directly but encouraging interaction — those who respond are given bags of nuts, while others are brought on stage in a shambolic re-enactment of the Last Supper, with supermarket wine and bread. The way the other disciples are portrayed as a bunch of unthinking yes-men to the hippy-like Christ, in contrast with Judas's pragmatic questioning, is nicely done. But Lee is a quick-witted comedian rather than a character actor, and there is little sense of Judas as a person in his own right or of a drama unfolding before our eyes under Will Adamsdale's direction.


PRODUCT: WORLD REMIX
Written by Mark Ravenhill
Directed by Lucy Morrison
Starring: Mark Ravenhill
With: Jo Lobban
Lighting/Sound: Mat Ort
A David Johnson production
Running time: 65 minutes (no interval)


WHAT WOULD JUDAS DO?
Written by Stewart Lee
Directed by Will Adamsdale
Starring: Stewart Lee
Lighting/Sound: Mat Ort
A David Johnson production
Running time: 55 minutes (no interval)

Box Office: 020 7610 4224
Both booking to 3 February 2007
Reviewed by Neil Dowden based on January 12th performances at the Bush Theatre, Shepherds Bush Green, London W12 8QD (Tube: Shepherds Bush or Goldhawk road)

London Theatre Tickets
Lion King Tickets
Billy Elliot Tickets
Mary Poppins Tickets
Mamma Mia Tickets
We Will Rock You Tickets
Theatre Tickets
London Theatre Walks


Peter Ackroyd's  History of London: The Biography



London Sketchbook



tales from shakespeare
Retold by Tina Packer of Shakespeare & Co.
Click image to buy.
Our Review


©Copyright 2007,

GUCCI

|

Aluminium Chronograph

|

PEAK new fashion ladies venting air spring heighten casual sport shoes P8004E

|

Tiffany & Co Hook and Eye Ring

|

mbt shoes

|

MBT Shoes

|

Tiffany&Co Daisy 925 sterling silver rings

|

Rolex

|

Louis Vuitton

|

Affliction Boots

|

Nike Shoes

|

Nike Dunk

|

MP5 Wholesale

|

Atlanta Falcons

|

Abercrombie Pants Wholesale 002

|

Louis Vuitton

|

UGG Boots Mulberry Genuine Australia classic Tall Ugg Boots

|

GUCCI Handbags

|

UGG Boots Classic Argyle Knit Chocolate 5879

|

Louis Vuitton Business Card Holder Ebony

|

MBT Men's Kisumu Tan Sandals

|

MBT Chapa

|

ugg boots

|

MBT Kisumu 2 White Men's Sandals

|

Nike Shoes

|

Louis Vuitton Monogram Denim Messenger Bag PM m95865

|

Bailey Button Uggs

|

Sexy Costume QS0169

|

Phone Wholesale

|

Bikinis Sets

|

Wholesale

|

Car DVD Player

|

LV

|

Tourbillon

|

Tiffany tiffany replica ring

|

Superleggera J12 White

|

Tiffany

|

rolex

|

Mouse Wholesale

|

Nike Air Max 2003

|

Monogram Groom

|

GUCCI

|

Wholesale

|

Nike Air Max LTD (dark blue/white) No.372340

Elyse Sommer.
Information from this site may not be reproduced in print or online without specific permission from esommer@curtainup.com