MANHUNT at Royal CourtWriter/Director Robert Icke, fresh from his recent Critics’ Circle Best Director success for Oedipus, is a hot property right now, with his pick of projects. Here, he has delivered a spine-tingler of jeopardy and discomfort. Getting under the skin and into the head of a desperate man on the run, is no mean feat and it is important to acknowledge that much of the forensic research required to mount such a story, was undertaken by journalist Andrew Hankinson in the wake of the terrible events of 15 years ago.
In many ways, Moat (a powerhouse performance delivered by Samuel Edward-Cook from the off) makes for a wholly tragic and pathetic anti-hero. A small man in a hulking compensatory muscular frame, we hear how his boyhood was far from idyllic. Son to an erratic bi-polar mother, who locked him in his room and burned his toys, it is easy to see how he developed a belief that the world was against him. In later years after pairing-up and having a daughter with a much younger woman Samantha Stobbart (Sally Messham) his misfortunes, collude with a violent temper to repeatedly land him in trouble with both the police and child protection services. A running theme to the drama, is the appearance of shadowy authority figures, courtroom officials, social workers and others, who sneeringly trawl through his misdemeanours when painting him a rotten apple.
Mid-way through proceedings, one of Moat’s victims recounts the experience of being shot in the face and the subsequent upending of his life. The entire section is conveyed in an uber-effective black-out which lasts perhaps 15 minutes (it was difficult to tell as one focused entirely on the blinded officer’s voice — which was perhaps the point).
As things unravel and the play presents real and imagined conversations with prominent individuals in Moat’s life or those who would have interceded had the police allowed (including a poignant turn from Trevor Fox as former footballer Paul Gascoigne), we get a real sense that those who have researched and mounted this production feel that despite his many failings, it was society which failed this man and acted as a catalyst to the tragic events which unfolded.
In the immediate aftermath to the tragic events, a Facebook page RIP Raoul Moat You Legend which had drawn 35,000 followers, was taken down after then Prime Minister David Cameron declared “Raoul Moat was a callous murderer. Full stop. End of story.” The since disgraced publicist Max Clifford, who quickly moved to represent Ms Stobbart, spoke of her hurt and disbelief that anyone would take his side after she had been shot and her new boyfriend killed during Moat’s vengeful rampage. Ironically it is the police services who perhaps are painted in the least favourable light, seemingly determined to cast the bouncer, come panel beater, come tree surgeon, as a grotesque villain. This production attempts to offer a more balanced assessment of cause and effect, which is perhaps indicative of our approach to male mental health these days, but the play will surely still divide opinion and spark heated debate.
Congratulations to Mr Icke, the Royal Court, the extended cast (which includes: Leo James, Patricia Jones, Danny Kirrane, Angela Lonsdale and Nicolas Tennant) and designer Hildegard Bechtler, for keeping the tradition of theatrical angry young men alive. It’s a hard and difficult watch, but one of the most thought-provoking plays you’ll see anywhere in London at the moment.
