Review: MANHUNT, Royal Court Theatre
Photo credit: Manuel Harlan
As we enter the theatre, he paces the stage behind an iron grid. We can see him through the grid but there is also a second monochrome video image, taken from above and projected on to the steel mesh behind which he is confined. Suddenly, he explodes in anger, as he will do again and again, and the play begins.
Robert Icke writes and directs this account of Raoul Moat’s murders and his time on the run, inspired by Andrew Hankinson’s second-person account of the story. It’s a shocking, thrilling and very immediate production with exemplary stagecraft and fine acting. The fine set by Hildegard Bechtler enables complex effects and offers opportunities for all that the director requires. Manhunt will inevitably be compared to other examinations of toxic masculinity like in Punch and Adolescence, but offers new perspectives on that troubling issue
As Raoul Moat, Samuel Edward-Cook is a terrifying and yet totally believable figure. Cook can portray not just Moat’s physical self and his explosive temper, but also the bewilderment of the confused little boy that he once was. Around him, an excellent cast of seven, plus two young children, play the family and authority figures in his life. Characters are sketched in convincingly through brief snatches of dialogue, enhanced by social media extracts projected like surtitles as the action progresses.
The play is structured into three sections although they run continuously with no interval for around 1 hour 40 minutes. For once, the decision to run straight through without an interval seems justified in view of the need to maintain the tension of the situation.
Each section is treated very differently. The opening account of Moat’s background and his ongoing relationship with the Northumbria Police is played out on a mostly bare stage apart from two plain tables and some plastic chairs. Other characters in the story appear through sliding doors or watch from behind steel grids.
When we move to the story of the police officer shot and left blind by Moat, we are plunged into total darkness. This forces us to listen to the words of the officer who tells his own story. It is undoubtedly effective and certainly shares with the audience his experience of being suddenly unable to see anything.
When the lights come up, we see a totally realistic set with Moat and his hangers-on hiding on the moors. The realism, featuring fire and extensive rainfall, is not extended to the actions portrayed, with an invented dialogue between Moat and his father which seems to have been a wished-for outcome on his behalf. More problematic is the appearance of a shambling Gazza who engages Moat in dialogue and seems to get through to him. Gazza did in fact turn up at the scene but was sent away by the police, and this interpolated scene relies totally on the audience having prior knowledge of his history and weaknesses.
The tonal shift between each of the three sections seems to work against the cohesion of the play, although each is presented with great skill and impressive stagecraft. The involvement of very young child actors seems to add little though, and it must have involved considerable difficulties in safeguarding young performers taking part in such a violent and adult piece of work.
Despite these small reservations, this is still an unmissable contribution to the debate around men and their feelings about themselves. There are remarkable contributions from all involved, but at the centre is a towering performance by Samuel Edward-Cook which thrills and terrifies the audience every time he advances upon them. As we leave the auditorium, he is once more pacing the stage, trapped for eternity in the cage of toxic masculinity.
**** Four stars
Reviewed by: Chris Abbott
Manhunt plays at London’s Royal Court until 3 May, with further info here.
