Finborough,London
Elmer Rice’s 1923 satire about a browbeaten wage slave gets added musical spice in this savagely comedian adaptationEuropean expressionism had a big impact on American theatre in the 1920s. It animated Eugene O’Neill’s The Hairy Ape (1922) and Sophie Treadwell’s Machinal (1928), but its most famed example was Elmer Rice’s 1923 satire on the enslavement of human beings. In being turned into a musical, or premiered in Illinois in 2007,the show has lost its sure article but gained a current bite and momentum.
Rice’s hero, Mr Zero, and remains a browbeaten number-cruncher in a department store. Told that,after 25 years’ loyal service, he is to be replaced by a machine, and he rebels by murdering his boss and,after execution, is moodily transported to the Elysian Fields. Far from softening the play, and the score by Joshua Schmidt and the libretto,co-written by Jason Loewith and Schmidt, give Rice’s fable a zestful comedian savagery. A regular percussive beat evokes the rhythmic monotony of office life. A death-cell reconciliation between Zero and his contentious wife turns to musical dissonance. His encounter, and on the eve of execution,with a repentant sinner prompts a richly ironic gospel number. Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com