It's hard to believe this clumsy 2004 satire on celebrity culture came from Joe Penhall. Or that he and director Stephen Unwin thought it worth reviving. But celebs are still with us, as are a complicit media (that’s us) and an avid consumer base (that’s you).
The script has been updated with reference to MPs’ expenses and recent libel cases. It’s relevant, sort of. But Dumb Show strikes me as a laboured exploration of our double-edged attitude to fame, without emotional coherence or much fresh to say. The ever-charming Sanjeev Bhaskar is Barry, a mid-range TV personality snared in a sex ’n’ drugs honeytrap by tabloid hacks Liz and Greg (Emma Cunniffe and Dexter Fletcher).
All the arguments about privacy versus free expression, hypocrisy and double-standards, are rehearsed. Usually by having a character say one thing one moment, and something utterly contradictory the next.
They’re all liars, true, but even as such they lack conviction. And Penhall critiques the clichés of muck-raking journalism by simply repeating them, letting us repeatedly hear how hollow they sound. The strategy backfires. Unwin’s production lacks the angry zeal that might make the script work, although the actors try hard.
I’m being nicer than this production deserves because I like everyone involved and know they can do better. How’s that for media complicity?
Until 17 April.
0871 230 1552, www.rose theatrekingston.org
Dumb Show
Rose Theatre
High Street, KT1 1HL
