Review: A ROLE TO DIE FOR, Marylebone Theatre
Photo credit: Steve Gregson
Since we first saw this delightful play at The Barn in Cirencester back in February, its central storyline about who decides the casting of the next James Bond has been resolved in the real world, with Barbara Broccoli finally relinquishing control of the production process to the new rights holders, Amazon MGM Studios. She said just a few weeks after we saw the show: "My life has been dedicated to maintaining and building upon the extraordinary legacy that was handed to Michael and me by our father, producer Cubby Broccoli". It is rumoured that Broccoli and Michael Wilson ceded creative control of the franchise and sold the creative rights to Amazon for an estimated $1 billion! Jordan Waller, who wrote this prescient tale, is very careful to say in his programme note that “the character Deborah at the heart of this play is a “total figment of my imagination” but the parallels are inescapable.
As the play transfers to the lovely Marylebone Theatre for a short season, Tanya Franks (best known for her role as Rainie Cross in Eastenders) slides seamlessly into Janie Dee’s stilettos as Deborah and the wonderful Philip Bretherton continues as Malcolm (not in any way based on Michael Wilson) and Harry Goodson-Bevan continues to charm as her son, Quinn, the intern on the production and natural successor to the family inheritance. The fact that the story has moved on in the real world curiously makes the play more enjoyable as we peep into another dimension of the Bond metaverse. The underlying themes seem more interesting and the comedy sharper as the play sparkles with glorious one liners and Bond references.
The script borrows deliciously from the dimension that we are familiar with right from the start with the iconic music, five pictures of past Bond actors and a wonderful bullet hole shaped spotlight across the stage. Throughout the play, there are lines that sound like they resonate from past films, and it prompts a nostalgic recollection of scenes from them. When they want to dump an actor, it is suggested that they just “Lazenby him”.
The alternative universe comically explores the way the franchise has slowly (very slowly) evolved from the male dominated macho world of 1962 when James Bond, a white philandering misogynistic killer, first exploded onto our lives in Dr No. Is Deborah earnestly protecting her father’s legacy to pass on to her son intact, retaining the iconic image of 007 or is she willing to move with the times, represented by Quinn, to take the character forward for another sixty years? The decision of who to cast as the next Bond after Daniel Craig is critical to answer the franchise’s modern detractors and attract new cinemagoers while satisfying the core audiences. In an era of social media hype and gossip, the decision is much scrutinised and control over the narrative is more difficult.
When Quinn, described by his boyfriend as a “mediocre nepotism baby”, reveals on the eve of the new Bond announcement that the chosen candidate is an alleged sexual predator (“#Dr No Consent” or “#Moon raper”), it sends the producers into a frenzied panic. How do they find a replacement in 22 hours especially when “no one wants to tag team a pervert”. Two candidates emerge Theo (Obioma Ugoala), the black well-spoken Cambridge educated actor (his father used to pick him up in a DB3!) who does a perfect screen test and has read all the original books, or Richard (Peter McPherson) who tests better on Malcolm’s new algorithm and looks like his predecessors.
The action is set mainly in Deborah’s wood panelled office but there is a wonderful transformation in Act 1 into the screening room, designed by Cory Shipp, which feels like a set from a 60s Bond villain, setting up some great physical business with the chairs for Deborah and Malcolm. Director Derek Bond gives the show a fast-paced farcical delivery and makes the most of the scripts innuendo and colourful language to generate plenty of laughs, all delivered beautifully by the excellent cast.
There is so much to enjoy in this play and despite the resolution of the control of the franchise in the real world since it was written, the exploration of the expansion of the Double O Universe (just like the Marvel Cinematic or DC Universes) and the potential of VR Bond experience means we know there is more to come from this iconic character and it remains “a role to die for”. We will have to wait to see who is cast as the next Bond to save the world but in the meantime, we can enjoy this cleverly written and highly enjoyable commentary on the casting process and modern sensibilities.
**** Four stars
Reviewed by: Nick Wayne
A Role To Die For plays at London’s Marylebone Theatre until 30 August, with further info here.
