one4review | On 24, Aug 2024

A triumph in all departments.

Tim Larkfield gives a wonderful one-man performance on the life of Director James Whale.

Some background – Whale was an English Hollywood director and mostly remembered for his 1930’s horror output of Frankenstein, Bride Of Frankenstein, and The Invisible Man.
Mostly dismissed as a director for hire at the time, through the years his work has been reappraised and regarded as one of the greats.
Simply put, if Whale was alive making movies today he’d be regarded as an auteur with the likes of Stanley Kubrick or Christopher Nolan (who incidentally were/are big fans).

The show refreshingly avoids the obvious tropes of a linear narrative, rather having different people in his life (his mother, film producers, actors, and partners) and Whale himself in different timelines popping up to weave the story.

The emotional heart of the show deals with Whales early life, his career in the army, dealing with his homosexuality, his move to Hollywood and his self-imposed retirement from the industry. It’s not overbaked and there is a lovely balance of snippets of the famous and not so famous films of course acted with great aplomb by Larkfield (His portrait of Doctor Septimus Pretorius from Bride Of Frankenstein while short is a stand out). Another huge plus is he treats these characters with respect and restrained where a lesser actor would go over the top.

This show was a real surprise, a must for all film lovers from that time period.

“It’s Alive I Tell You”, as great theatre should be

****
Guest Reviewer – Steven
Zoo Southside – Studio
18.45 (1hr)
Until 25th Aug