PERFORMANCE REVIEW: The Overcoat

The Overcoat
Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith

The snappy slogan, “Get the coat, get the girl, change the world” promises an innovatively devised spectacle of the classic Gogol tale. And this is, in a sense, what you get in Gecko’s flashy piece of theatre, as we watch the lowly clerk Akkaki’s quest to win the affection of his heart’s desire— his co-worker Natalya—by trading in his tattered overcoat for a more dapper equivalent.

In an impressive piece of stagecraft, Akkaki is sucked through his bed into a dream world and with the contrast between the sterile office environment and the ethereal glow of Akkaki’s imaginary realm, the boundaries between reality and fantasy slowly become conflated. This is at once one of the production's greatest strengths and one of its greatest weaknesses: the fantastical elements negate the need to stick to any strict plotline - and yet in spite of the evident visual splendour of the piece - the audience is bombarded with almost too many images and sounds to make much sense of anything.

This is not to say that it is not an effective piece of theatre. Amit Lahav, who directs the production and acts as the play’s protagonist Akkaki, offers some delightful comic touches. The eclectic mélange of languages uttered by the cast members is used ostensibly as a theatrical device that aims to disengage the audience from the plot and instead focus its attention on the physicality of the action unfolding. Unfortunately, as a linguist the overall effect comes across as both cacophonous and rather distracting. However, for the audience at large it does succeed insofar as it forces one to disregard the dialogue altogether and become absorbed in the actors’ bizarre antics.

The real stars of the show are undoubtedly set designer Ti Green and lighting designer James Farncombe. Their use of furniture, props, lighting and shadows cannot be faulted and together create the atmosphere upon which this production so strongly relies. Although, at times Dave Price’s musical choices suggest a wish to 'foreignise' the production, the music is intimately connected with the kinetic energy of the characters and, in turn, helps maintain any sense of continuity and momentum.

This is an entertaining albeit perplexing piece of theatre that departs from Gogol’s original text to locate itself in a land of fantasy and dreams. To its credit, if anything, Gecko’s version challenges the common misconception that Russian literature is lengthy and turgid and visually rejuvenates Gogol’s satire for a modern audience.

Ruth Collins