In this strange mix of medieval pageant and modern morality play John Heffernan’s engagingly plays a foppish St George, rescuing his lady, the feisty Elsa (Amaka Okafor) from a deliciously dastardly dragon, played by Julian Beach like a villain in a melodrama, in three time periods.It begins with a rather sweet, camp version of the original legend then, a year later in the world of the play, we’re in the Victorian period when the dragon has become a capitalist amidst “dark, Satanic, mills” and we end up in modern London where he’s infected everyone’s positivity.
It’s staged, stylish and impressively, by Director Lyndsey Turner and designer Rae Smith in the National Theatre’s largest most prestigious auditorium, The Olivier, and it felt there was a lot riding on its success; the last two plays there, Salome and Common were such massive flops that there have been calls for the Artistic Directors dismissal.
I'm afraid it isn’t going to persuade anyone they’ve been wrong in their condemnation. It’s baffling to me how anyone imagined this play was worthy of such a lavish, high profile production.
Rory Mullarkey is credited as the writer and he’s drawn on Evgeny Schwartz’s 1943 play The Dragon, a Russian allegory of Stalinism. I can quite see that an allegory of shifting notions of Englishness has potential in the time of Brexit, I can also see why the morality play format is worth exploring in a contemporary context but this play squanders both opportunities.
The first act would be fun as a village hall Christmas show, the second act makes obvious points long windedly and the modern day scenes tie themselves up in knots before fizzling out to conclude very little.
It’s quite enjoyable for the first hour but I struggle to think who would consider seeing this worthwhile. It’s too wordy for kids and too simplistic for thinking adults.
Deconstructing the concept of a hero is now so common in popular culture that it barely seems worth revisiting. The real heroes on this occasion are the poor actors who had to go to work every day and rehearse such pointless waffle. Three stars for their efforts.
The BIG sensation in London Theatre at the moment is the young playwright James Graham. In a few short years he’s gone from pub theatre to having two major plays running in the West End, in neighbouring theatres on St Martins Lane.