Arnold Wesker belongs to a lost generation of playwrights whose work and promise exploded onto the stage of The Royal Court Theatre in the late 1950’s. Championed by the legendary director of the English Stage Company, George Divine, Wesker quickly rose to prominence with the success of his first play Chicken Soup With Barley. Along with other writers of his generation including John Arden, revivals of Wesker’s plays in recent times have been few and far between. The decision therefore by the Royal Exchange Theatre to revive Roots, arguably Wesker’s best known play, is to be loudly applauded and cheered from the rooftops.
Largely considered by many to be a period piece, director, Jo Combes succeeds in imbuing her production with flair, wit and passion, to make the play connect in a very modern and direct way.
Having escaped from rural Norfolk to live and work in London with her socialist boyfriend, Beatie returns home for a short holiday. Filling in the time waiting for the long expected arrival of her boyfriend, (mockingly referred to by her family as the “Prince of Egypt,”), she relentlessly regurgitates his socialist philosophy. This is the age of skifle and the hydrogen bomb and Wesker clearly uses Beatie as a mouth piece for his own generation’s confusion and uncertainty. In the devastating final act, Beatie rants against her mother accusing her of not possessing any majesty. It is only when the foundations of her own world begin to fall apart that she undergoes a remarkable epiphany and discovers her own true voice.
The acting in the production is superb and in the casting of Claire Brown as Beatie the Royal Exchange Theatre has discovered a major new talent. Incredibly this young actress only graduated from Drama school in July. Her performance is exciting, daring and exudes great charisma and warmth. A wonderful supporting cast is led by the excellent Denise Black as Mrs Bryant.
This stunning production played out on Liz Ascroft’s impressive rustic set, which fully captures both the smells and colours of rural living (aided by terrific atmospheric lighting and sound by David Holmes and Gerry Marsden) is both a glorious tribute to the pioneering work of the Royal Court Theatre and also proof, if any was required, that Wesker deserves to be considered one of the finest British dramatists of the Twentieth Century.
Roots runs at The Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, until 1 March 2008.
