Elsewhere
Elsewhere
✭✭✭✭✩
by Ben Jonson, directed by Gregory Doran
Royal Shakespeare Company, Trafalgar Studio 1
January 17-28, 2006
The chance to see Ben Jonson’s Roman tragedy, SEJANUS: HIS FALL, was one of the prime reasons for our trip, and it did not disappoint. The common argument that the play is “too academic” to succeed on stage was obviously made by people who had never seen it on stage. Under the taut direction of Gregory Doran, who has an obvious affinity for this period, the play was absolutely gripping. The 1603 play is very much like a Roman version of “Richard III” but seen from the point of view of Buckingham. Sejanus is the lowborn favourite who has risen so high in power under the Emperor Tiberius (reigned AD 14-37) that the senators murmur that he virtually rules in the Emperor’s stead. Barry Stanton was superb as Tiberius making him a kind of Sidney Greenstreet in a toga, fastidiously tip-toeing around a pool of blood left on stage after a senator commits suicide to preserve his honour.
Yet, this aura of decadence hides a cunning mind. Sejanus thinks his is manipulating the Emperor, but we soon see that the reality may be just the reverse. William Houston plays Sejanus as if her were demonically possessed. In his soliloquies his wild eyes, hoarse voice and taut physical stance make it seem as if the force of evil itself were speaking through him. This is not the only way this part could be played. In reading the play, I had previously imagined Sejanus as subtle Machiavel who may exult in his power but is playing a game of wits with Tiberius. Houston’s performance has the merit of adding an overwhelming intensity to the action since this Sejanus is so clearly a bomb ready to explode.
What made this production an eye-opener was Doran’s ability to create the sense of fear that pervades police state that Rome has become where everyone is spied upon, where all conversations have to held in hushed tones, where speaking or writing the truth, as in the case of the historian Cordus (Keith Osborn) whose books are burnt is a capital offense. The relevance to current debates about government intrusion into privacy was unmistakable. Jonson’s Rome is a place where an even crueler toady like Macro (Peter De Jersey) can rise and where and even more decadent emperor like Caligula (Jon Foster) will soon reign. Though played in togas, the play seemed chillingly modern and Jonson’s clear, uncluttered verse full of trenchant insight into politics and man’s baser instincts. This the first major production since Jonson’s day, made one think the work deserves to be performed at least as much as Shakespeare’s Roman plays.
©Christopher Hoile
Note: A version of this review appeared in the London Theatre Guide 2006-01-31.
Photo: William Houston and Miranda Colchester. ©2005 Geraint Lewis.
2006-01-31
London, GBR: Sejanus: His Fall