Reviewed: Ring Round the Moon

The mathematics department is home to a senior lecturer who specialises in linear algebra. For the sake of this review, we will call him 'Doctor D'. A slightly scruffy man, who looks as though he hasn't quite had enough sleep, he is nevertheless a genius, and as you watch him race through his material at quite a spectacular pace, you can't help but get the feeling that he is very, very good at what he does.

It is odd that this man should be brought to my mind when I watched a completely unrelated piece of theatre, but the life of a reviewer is a lonely one, and as I sat by myself in the bitter cold of Trev's John Knott Hall during the interval, my mind wandered to the striking likeness the character of Messerschmann bore to this senior mathematics professor, "If Doctor D were masquerading as a Jewish billionaire business magnate", I thought, "what would he do differently?" Before I had time to explore that thought, the house lights came down and the second half started. I would have to leave that particular question for a later date…

The story is a satire of the European society of the early 1900s, but still carries pertinent messages about money, class and property, as well as being brilliantly funny and at times quite affecting. In terms of plot, the play chiefly revolves around a party thrown by the manipulative Hugo in honour of a Jewish business magnate's daughter.

The idea of recreating a party in honour of a billionaire's daughter on stage on a low budget is a tall order for even the most resourceful of backstage crews and, naturally, the results weren't brilliant. As I sat and waited for the play to begin, I let my eyes feast on the sumptuous set; suffice to say my eyes were almost as hungry after feasting as they had been before. The makeup and costumes were similarly a little rough around the edges, with a few actors apparently wearing suits to a black tie dinner, and the butler curiously sporting lines of war-paint beneath his eyes.

Fortunately, the acting made up for these defects. Foremost among the performances was Felix Stevenson, who was faced with the challenge not just of playing two characters in one play, but also of portraying a villain with enough charisma to keep the audience liking him even in his nastiest moments; a very difficult challenge indeed, but – gladly – one which Stevenson nailed, and in doing so, provided the glue that just about held the production together.

Although important, Stevenson was by no means the only one whose performance raised an already high collective game. Van der Lande, as the butler Joshua, put on a formidable performance, providing well-pitched humour that never failed to amuse. Ellen Milton, as the neurotic Madame Desmortes, also had hilarious comic flair, managing to potray a wheelchair-bound eccentric with such energy that she brought palpable vigour into all her scenes.

In this, however, there lies a strange irony. The woman who played her part entirely from the seat of a chair actually came closest to repairing the play's biggest weakness – an overall lack of pace, which reduced the chemistry between otherwise well-formed characters and made them seem flat.

The blocking was unfortunately flat as well. Stevenson broke headline news in a couple of scenes by jumping onto a box or even, on a few truly remarkable occasions, by jumping onto a chair. But aside from this the actors remained largely where they stood, a real short-falling, as it made some scenes where the natural chemistry of the actors should have shone through seem tedious.

Although the interludes of dancing made a refreshing change, there were a number of scenes which lacked this energy. The scene between Diana and Isabelle, for instance (both actors played these parts well, it must be said), should have been sharp and bitchy, but felt awkward instead due to the stilted blocking. The moment when Messerschmann broke down and tore his money to shreds was actually very touching, and quite poignant, but, again, the blocking lacked energy and made it feel stale, which was a real shame.

So on the subject of Messerschmann, and in answer to my original question, if Doctor D, a professor of mathematics, were masquerading as a Jewish Business magnate, or any other character in this play for that matter, he probably wouldn't mind the out of place costumes or the sometimes-dodgy makeup; he probably wouldn't portray Messerschmann's despair at the world with as much subtlety, nor match Hugo's oozing charm, nor Lady India's seductive passion; he probably would, however, race through the material and bounce around the stage with the electric pace this play – as an overall piece – lacked.