Lyric Theatre HKAPA March 13-15 & 17-20
 

Basing a play on a film is always a double-edged sword, particularly a film as embedded in the collective consciousness as On the Waterfront. On one hand there’s the danger that the shadow of the movie will be cast permanently across the stage, with viewers unable to shake the previous work from their minds. On the other hand, adapting a much-loved film brings a level of affinity and affection among audiences that would be nigh impossible to conjure with a new work; or, as Simon Merrells (who plays the Marlon Brando role of Terry Malloy) said on the subject at a press lunch ahead of the opening night, “It’s not a curse, it’s a gift.”

It’s hard not to concur, as this Nottingham Playhouse production, which is directed by and co-stars British theatre legend Steven Berkoff, skilfully manages to remain remarkably faithful to its source material while being very much its own entity. Much of this is due to the way the piece is staged. The story of a washed up ex-boxer (Malloy) and his attempts to stand up against the gangsters who control the New York docks after he falls in love with a murder victim’s sister is given a treatment more familiar to Greek tragedies, with a ‘chorus’ of longshoremen/gangsters perennially on hand to react to the unfolding action. Berkoff’s On the Waterfront also employs the veteran actor/director’s signature physical style, with the actors habitually using mime and slow-motion sequences to convey atmosphere and deeds that would normally necessitate props. A simple backdrop showing a silhouette of the Statue of Liberty holding a longshoreman’s hook instead of a torch is practically the only adornment of a deliberately spartan stage.

The performances too are unlikely to be confused with their film counterparts, and this is no slight. (Although Vincenzo Nicoli does sail pretty close to Karl Malden’s Father Barry.) The animated ensemble cast enliven the production admirably, mostly switching between menacing mobsters and downtrodden dockers to good effect, while Merrells gives a likeable and believable performance in the lead that won’t make you forget Brando entirely, but which certainly stands up in its own right.

But this is not to say the piece doesn’t have its issues. While the staging generally worked, and was occasionally brilliant (most notably during the famous “I could have been a contender” scene, in which the cast somehow manage to create a convincing car from three chairs and some low growling), there were moments that contributed to an unevenness of tone. One scene, for example, in which the chorus played pigeons roosting on Malloy’s rooftop, raised significant laughs from the audience, but at the expense of detracting from the scene being played out in front of them. Moreover, while it would have been impossible to turn down the chance to see Berkoff perform as well as direct, his Johnny Friendly lacked the simmering threat that the role demands.

This said, the vast majority of the audience left the theatre clearly well satisfied by what they had seen, but the things that dissatisfied this reviewer were summed up by the final moments of the piece. After receiving a mauling at the hands of the mobsters, Malloy’s climactic struggle to stand up and show the rest of the dockers that he couldn’t be kept down ended on a rather flat note with him unceremoniously joining the chorus as they began to bend over, arms dropped to the floor; it wasn’t until the second tier of actors came out to join them, however, that the audience realised this was a bow and started to applaud.

Paul Kay