Ben Hur

“Get a shift on with the rowing, we’ve got to be in Syracuse by teatime…”

Ben Hur, the epic play, is written by Patrick Barlow as a very funny parody of the book of the same name, not of the movie (unlike his previous adaptation of the 39 Steps, which is largely based on the 1935 Hitchcock film). The 1959 cinematic production had a cast of ten thousand; the book, of course, has even more. The Cosmopolitan Players did it with eight, and a bit of audience participation.

Devotees of Barlow’s hilarious and hysterical National Theatre of Brent recognised the style immediately: frenetically confused acting, malapropisms, chaos and confusion abounded in a maelstrom of quick changesamongst the delightfully floppy sets (the four-foot-high Mount of Beatitudes had to be seen to be believed)

Every actor is playing an actor; each one of whom is playing many parts, ranging from slaves, Roman centurions, biblical characters, right through to waves and mountains – simple! ‘Doubling’ parts didn’t come into it; the Cosmopolitans were trebling, quadrupling, and… whatever comes next. Their ranks were occasionally swollen by adroit use of dummies; one of whom even had a speaking part.

In a production such as this, an understanding of the play’s unique atmosphere is of supreme importance. Director Carolyn Craven pitched the piece exactly how it was intended. To create such frantic muddled and comic confusion, while driving the narrative, requires intense concentration – and the entire company got on board.

The casting could not have been better; Nick Leitch as Daniel Veil, who plays the eponymous hero (and breaks in and out of the characters) was excellent; he, and his fellow performers, understood the prime rule of comic acting, often forgotten on the amateur stage: funny people don’t know they’re funny; that’s what makes them so funny. Glen Routledge was superbly villainous as the Roman Messala, and serene as Jesus. Kristina Fielding gave a dynamic performance in a wealth of love-interests, characters and wigs. Richard Hunt gave a wonderfully surreal portrayal of author General Lew Wallace, struggling through the fog which heralded his appearances. Graham Siddle, amongst his other duties, was hilarious as Ben Hur’s mother; an outrageously dead-pan Jewish momma never to be forgotten. Emma McGrath, Joanna Bucktrout and Georgina Rushworth had more parts in this one play than many actors ever have in a career.

The pace and humour never abated; the success of this performance was chiefly due to the teamwork of a very dedicated ensemble; even the audience got involved, simultaneously playing galley slaves and slave-drivers, battling on the high seas.

Clever use of projection set the scenes in just the right way; on stage, moving mountains, animated wavesand hysterical chariots proved once more the old saw: funny sets don’t know they’re funny; that’s what makes them so funny.

Patrick Barlow’s Ben Hur is not to be attempted by the faint-hearted. Fortunately for the delighted audience, Cosmopolitan Players are not faint of heart.

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