Published in The Guardian
Backbeat
Citizens, Glasgow
3 out of 5
Theatre is ill-equipped to represent other art forms. It can cope with portraying a brilliant painter, but struggles to show off a brilliant painting. It can convince us that a play's characters are in a top pop group, but risks shattering the illusion the moment they start strumming their guitars.
That is why it is bold for writer and director Iain Softley to bring his 1994 movie to the stage. Not only is Backbeat about the early days of the Beatles in the seedy clubs of Hamburg where they honed their sound from rough-and-ready skiffle to world-conquering rock'n'roll, but it is also about original bassist Stuart Sutcliffe, who traded stardom for art school before his death in 1962, aged 21. For the show to have a chance of working, Softley has to convince us of the lost genius of Sutcliffe the painter, as well as the primitive potential of a band that would redefine popular music.
Softley does an impressive job on both counts. The walls of industrial sheet metal on Christopher Oram's set create a gritty monochrome atmosphere, as well as serving as a screen for Timothy Bird's dynamic projections. When Alex Robertson's Sutcliffe is at work in his studio, we get a real feel for the intensity of his abstract painting: great splashes of blood-red paint appear behind him, a technique grimly repeated when he finally collapses from a brain haemorrhage.
Sutcliffe and his bandmates kick up an equally credible musical racket, all jangly guitars and chirpy harmonies, as they storm their way through Johnny B. Goode, Please Mr Postman and other period standards. For a show trying hard not to be seen as just another jukebox musical, Backbeat gives a convincing impression of the raw sound of early-60s rock'n'roll, even if Andrew Knott's vocals can't match the abrasiveness of the young John Lennon.
The transition from screen to stage is not entirely successful, however. Unlike the film, the play sometimes seems to be ticking off the key moments in the real-life story, when it could be delving deeper into the love triangle at its heart. It would take more exploration of the relationship between Sutcliffe and Lennon for us to understand the psychological tension caused by the appearance of German photographer Astrid Kirchherr (Isabella Calthorpe). The result is that Sutcliffe's death comes across more as dry historical fact than emotional turning point, and that in turn makes the band's show-closing medley seem less celebratory than chillingly indifferent.
© Mark Fisher 2010
Backbeat
Citizens, Glasgow
3 out of 5
Theatre is ill-equipped to represent other art forms. It can cope with portraying a brilliant painter, but struggles to show off a brilliant painting. It can convince us that a play's characters are in a top pop group, but risks shattering the illusion the moment they start strumming their guitars.
That is why it is bold for writer and director Iain Softley to bring his 1994 movie to the stage. Not only is Backbeat about the early days of the Beatles in the seedy clubs of Hamburg where they honed their sound from rough-and-ready skiffle to world-conquering rock'n'roll, but it is also about original bassist Stuart Sutcliffe, who traded stardom for art school before his death in 1962, aged 21. For the show to have a chance of working, Softley has to convince us of the lost genius of Sutcliffe the painter, as well as the primitive potential of a band that would redefine popular music.
Softley does an impressive job on both counts. The walls of industrial sheet metal on Christopher Oram's set create a gritty monochrome atmosphere, as well as serving as a screen for Timothy Bird's dynamic projections. When Alex Robertson's Sutcliffe is at work in his studio, we get a real feel for the intensity of his abstract painting: great splashes of blood-red paint appear behind him, a technique grimly repeated when he finally collapses from a brain haemorrhage.
Sutcliffe and his bandmates kick up an equally credible musical racket, all jangly guitars and chirpy harmonies, as they storm their way through Johnny B. Goode, Please Mr Postman and other period standards. For a show trying hard not to be seen as just another jukebox musical, Backbeat gives a convincing impression of the raw sound of early-60s rock'n'roll, even if Andrew Knott's vocals can't match the abrasiveness of the young John Lennon.
The transition from screen to stage is not entirely successful, however. Unlike the film, the play sometimes seems to be ticking off the key moments in the real-life story, when it could be delving deeper into the love triangle at its heart. It would take more exploration of the relationship between Sutcliffe and Lennon for us to understand the psychological tension caused by the appearance of German photographer Astrid Kirchherr (Isabella Calthorpe). The result is that Sutcliffe's death comes across more as dry historical fact than emotional turning point, and that in turn makes the band's show-closing medley seem less celebratory than chillingly indifferent.
© Mark Fisher 2010
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