Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell

Bewley’s Cafe Theatre

***

Phelim Drew’s adaptation and one-man performance of Orwell’s book sets itself a high bar in the lowest of places. He taps in to the manic energy of Orwell’s writing: there is the chaos of the Parisian kitchens, cast in hues that make them sound like the seventh fiery circle of hell; there are darker turns, still, in the horror of London spikes, or the eerie,unapologetic depravity of Charlie, a restaurant regular. Little that Orwell has written, here and elsewhere, has lost the hum of relevancy, from the causes of poverty and its long-term effects – “it annihilates the future” – to its everyday toll of boredom.

The speed and volume in Drew’s delivery is impressive but it’s also almost ceaseless. Rather than omit sections, the entire book is almost crammed into just over an hour. There’s little time to let Orwell’s words and Drew’s actions breathe. Barely has the audience’s laughter died at one of Orwell’s cutting rejoinders, than it finds itself once again plunged again into the horrors of the plongeur.

Ends Sept 20th