Stanley Kubrick's 1960s motion picture Dr. Strangelove comes alive on stage at the Noël Coward Theatre. Armando Iannucci and Sean Foley's adaptation of the film satirically revisits the tense moments of the Cold War with a very strong cast, bringing buckets of laughter to the audience.
The show begins with a row of political leaders and soldiers swaying and singing Otis Reading's “Try a Little Tenderness”, which gives a quirky start to a joyous oddball of a play. The curtains fly up and gasps from the audience are eventually guaranteed due to Hildegard Bechtler's impressive set design. Ambitious set pieces included a grand war room at the Pentagon and bomber plane taking half the stage with the smiling, talented Steve Coogan at the wheel, playing one of four characters he plays throughout the production.
Throughout the play, Steve Coogan bounces between deluded scientist Dr Strangelove, nervous officer Captain Mandrake, clueless President Muffley and out-of-his-mind pilot Major TJ Kong. The actor shows his impressionist talents as he effortlessly flits between roles and presents it as a balancing act. The actor shows some moments of impressive quick changes with a flourish. His comical bravado fits well into the cast and shows great comical chemistry, especially with John Hopkins playing loopy General Ripper. The two actors create a storm of insanity, which could be compared to the comedic style of a Monty Python sketch.
Giles Terra saunters in as war-obsessed General Turgidson, displaying some great laugh-out-loud moments, reacting off his fellow cast members in the war room. He displays many laughable moments in physical comedy and one-liners, especially with his overly-suspicious counterpart Russian Ambassador Bakov played by Tony Jayawardena. The two characters naturally bounced off each other add some great energy to the production.
Dr. Strangelove takes a fun, ludicrous look at a very serious situation that could have changed the course of time. One thing about this play is that it is adapted from a 1960s film with very few changes. There are aspects of the play that are not timeless and should stay in the past, such as multiple occasions of misogyny, a male-dominated cast, and Nazi jokes. The play is not one for the whole family but does highlight that it is sometimes better to embrace a tragic situation through laughter rather than horror.
Review: Ramsey Baghdadi Photos: Manuel Harlan