I think the buzzword for yesterday was outrageous. It's as good a word as any.

In the afternoon I finally caught up with the current revival of Joe Orton's LOOT at the Tricycle Theatre, directed by Sean Holmes. My heart sank a bit when I saw the auditorium was full of yoot all shouting and braying but they calmed down when the tabs opened and I think they enjoyed it - God knows if I had been taken to see LOOT on a school trip I would have loved it.. all I got was Shakespeare and Ibsen (albeit with Ralph Richardson, Peggy Ashcroft and Wendy Hiller so I shouldn't bitch too much).
I must admit I am spoiled possibly for life with LOOT by seeing it for the first time on stage with Leonard Rossiter's definitive Inspector Truscott, the perfect marriage of actor and role. I saw him twice in the role - once at the Ambassadors then at the Lyric when it transferred - but it is a bittersweet memory as he died backstage during the show four days after I saw it.

That production was directed by Jonathan Lynn at a frantic pace and this one, although enjoyable, just missed out on the timing and some of the performances. Orton's text - although sounding banal and commonplace - needs to be played in the high comedy style of the Restoration playwrights or Wilde, more often than not as the characters use such genteel terminology that they believe give them a more worldly veneer. Matt Di Angelo and Javon Prince played the amoral young bisexuals who have robbed the high street bank by tunnelling through from the Funeral Directors next door where Prince works and they *just* missed the right playing style. They certainly got the farce action right but neither had the depth of playing style to suggest either of the characters' freewheeling, cold-hearted sexuality.

Doon Mackichan also seemed *just* off as nurse Fay, the one-woman genocide machine that has bumped off seven husbands and countless patients for financial gain. Her Irish accent wobbled alarmingly at times and she seemed also to be playing down rather than pitching it to the right level of lethal sexuality. A pity as this really is one cracking role for an actress. Luckily the role of the bewildered Mr. Mcleavy was played by the fine character actor James Hayes and he found the right comic style for the hapless widower whose day goes from bad to worse - I mean, how difficult can it be to get your wife buried? He was great fun.

Of course any production of LOOT should be judged by the actor playing Truscott and luckily this production had David Haig bringing his own charisma and energy to the role. It was no surprise that the tempo noticeably sagged when he was not on stage. Recently David Haig has been seen more as the man driven to heights of panic in comedies, hurtling around the stage in more and more states of desperation. But here he brought the same pitch of comic playing but to the more in control Truscott. The character is never out of control, duped occasionally but never out of control - there's always a suspect to beat up to reaffirm his authority. He really was the motor for the production and it was a joy to watch him prowl the stage drop-kicking Orton's outrageous one-liners into the audience with expert timing.

I must admit the thing I was most worried about was whether to play itself would still stand up - it's hard to be shocking after 43 years (God knows I've tried) but despite the kvetches of some of the critics I found the play still as deliciously venal as ever and at times even the enlightened Tricycle audience seemed to squirm - especially during Hal's lines about wanting to visit the brothel run by Pakistani teenagers who do it for sweets "so remember... stock up on the Mars bars".

As long as there is knowing laughter from an audience at lines like these I don't think LOOT will ever lose it's appeal:
Fay: The British Police Force used to be run by men of integrity
Truscott: That is a mistake that has been rectified

Mcleavy: The police are for the protection of ordinary people
Truscott: I don't know where you pick up these slogans sir. You must read them on hoardings. Later that evening I experienced another outrageous theatrical event - Grace Jones at the Roundhouse. I have been waiting to see Grace for quite a few years now and it was as mind-blowing as I expected it to be.

We endured the standard diva-waiting time of 30 minutes after she was due on stage then an ominous deep sound echoed around the auditorium till the purple billowing curtain dropped to reveal Miss Grace high above the stage on a crane cradle looking resplendent in a tight fitting suit and a tall single feather headdress as the impressive band churned out the opening phrases of NIGHTCLUBBING. Cue jaws dropping and eyes widening from the packed crowd. She then proceeded to give us 15 songs over an extraordinary 145 minutes.

Very soon the pattern was set for the evening: Grace would end the song and slip into the wings, chat a bit - mostly to herself it seemed - then emerge with a new hat, wrap, cloak, mask etc. on top of the corset and tights she wore throughout to launch into the next song. Yes this was REAL diva territory - even Madonna doesn't change her look for EVERY song! We were treated to some wonderful off-stage Grace wackiness "Sorry dahhling I didn't mean to hit you so early in the show. I might be an alien but I still get angry!" and even more scary mental imagery was provided with her frequent exclamations "Get me something to suck... I need to suck something.... schlurppp!

She was amazing - happily telling us how she's 60 but for us to tell everyone she's 70 - this was moments after she had spun a hula-hoop around her waist for the entire length of SLAVE TO THE RHYTHM - and that's a long song! If I had a quibble or two it was the natural disconnect that happened because she did all her audience inter-action while getting changed backstage and that the show was crying out for a bigger theatrical space but she certainly created some fantastic images for her songs.
The Trojan headdress for THIS IS, the billowing cowled top and horned mask for LIBERTANGO, the Church Hat From Hell for WILLIAMS BLOOD - what an astonishing performance that was - and the horned eye mask and green lasers - quelle 70s! - for DEVIL IN MY LIFE and then there were a couple of utter showstoppers:

The silver top hat and black sequined jacket she wore for LA VIE EN ROSE was pure showbiz and perfect for the shuffling latin rhythms of her majestic cover version of the Piaf classic which she recorded all the way back at the start of her career in 1977. As with LIBERTANGO, she made full use during this song of a rotating circular platform which held a huge go-go pole for her to entwine herself around while an enormous wind machine blew her draped outfits around and about her. For the encore of a beefed-up LOVE IS THE DRUG was a visual coup-de-theatre, the stage in complete darkness apart from a shaft of green lasers which beamed down onto the crown of her glitterball bowler-hat which sent shards of green refractions across the whole auditorium... absolutely stunning and wonderfully evocative!

The final number was her collaboration with Tricky and title track of her amazing album from last year HURRICANE - and that's exactly what we got! Wearing a huge billowing cape she battled the big wind machine as it slowly was turned up to 11 - I could feel the cold wind blowing around the walls of the auditorium where I was in the circle - as Grace was blown back across the stage again and again closely followed by her mic stand and sheets of paper blown across the width of the stage. She was quite amazing and after a couple of thank you's - finally addressing us properly! - she was gone. A fantastic evening from a truly unique performer who simply cannot be categorized. Is it possible I have seen the gig of the year so soon into the 2009?
Massive respect to the stage photography of bitter69uk, dirge and gfitz36!