25 July - 12 August 2006, The Old Red Lion Theatre, London
Michael McClure’s legendary play THE BEARD returned to London for the first time since 1968.
Arguably the most controversial play of the 1960s, THE BEARD details an imagined meeting between two legends of America’s recent past: the sultry, platinum blonde movie star, Jean Harlow (played by Victoria Yeates); and the baby-faced, quick tempered outlaw, Billy the Kid (Christopher Daley). Set in the blue velvet of eternity, this battle of the sexes leads to a final scene that is one of the most celebrated and widely discussed of the modern theatre.
The production featured new music written exclusively for the revival by TERRY RILEY.
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Michael McClure’s hour-long two-hander is a little piece of theatrical history that ranks
alongside Jack Kerouac’s On the Road and Alan Ginsberg’s Howl as a milestone in the annals
of the American Beat movement. First performed in California in the mid-1960s, it outraged
the authorities (it climaxes in a witty simulated sex act that perhaps explains the otherwise
enigmatic title) and saw the actors charged with ‘lewd or dissolute conduct in a public place’
and arrested. |
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Victoria Yeates (resplendent in white silk and mink) and Christopher Daley (full of baby-faced
allure in his awkward britches) are magnificent as the Kid and Harlow and they are impeccably
directed by Nic Saunders.
THE STAGE The first revival in almost forty years of Michael McClure's obscenely poetic reverie on myth and sexuality is an opportunity to reclaim a very interesting small play from being relegated to a minor footnote in theatre history ... Barely an hour long, the play sustains its poetic intensity and evocative mood without overstaying its welcome ... Nic Saunders directs with a clear sensitivity to the play's tone and meanings. THEATRE GUIDE LONDON This revival by Nic Saunders acts as a reminder of some of the more bizarre events that took place in theatres during the late 1960s and with good performances from the actors makes the Old Red Lion a hip place to be this summer. BRITISH THEATRE GUIDE |
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... well decorated and finely acted production ...
THE SPECTATOR MAGAZINE Michael McClure’s writing has been described alternately as a ‘blob of protoplasmic energy’ (Allen Ginsberg) and ‘one of the more remarkable achievements in American literature’ (Times Literary Supplement). An acclaimed member of the Beat Generation, McClure caused more drama than even he had intended with ‘The Beard’ when San Francisco police arrested the actors playing the two lead roles on August 8 1966. The accusations included ‘obscenity’, ‘conspiracy to commit a felony’, and ‘lewd or dissolute conduct in a public place’. When the authorities’ charges were dropped, a triumphant two fingers was given to the suffocating restrictions of theatre censorship. Unfettered by the play’s fascinating legacy Nic Saunders’ production quickly establishes itself as provocative theatre in its own right. The Old Red Lion’s seats have been re-upholstered in blue velvet, echoing the night-blue backdrop and chaise-longue: these and a glittering chandelier evoke McClure’s darkly poetic vision of eternity. A rumble of minimalist repetitive chords plays as Jean Harlow (Victoria Yeates) and Billy The Kid (Christopher Daley) appear and seem through their movements, momentarily, to hang in mid-air. Both RADA graduates, they immediately assert their ownership of the stage: Daley through a swaggering brooding belligerence, and the white-satin-clad Yeates through paradoxically hostile flirtation. This is a text to be delivered like music: deliberately devoid of characterisation it’s driven by echoes and sounds both snarling and sensual, a stream of hallucinogenic consciousness. Daley especially wakes up its poetry; every movement of his body brings shimmering life both to its obscenity and its sensuality. Yeates responds with a performance both savvily witty and elegant, displaying the excitement and fear in a petulant encounter that gains crucial coherence as it develops into a potent sexual dance. McClure was in the audience on opening night, and the look of delight on his face was testament enough to the production’s idiosyncratic power. TIME OUT ... this production is undoubtedly a powerful piece of drama ... CAMDEN NEW JOURNAL |
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The perfect balance of physicality and intelligence in The Beard. I am delighted with the
masterful direction of the rebirth of Billy the Kid and Jean Harlow in London. The long
ago production of The Beard in London was well received but in those times we had to
have a brashness about it. This production changes all that, and the difference brings
out a new visceral physicality along with the palpable emotional warmth and the frissons
that the play naturally sets off in the spectator. It’s a fresh blend of the play’s possibilities.
I can feel roominess in this production, which gives space for wit and intense confrontation to flourish in their full colour. The last "tableau" of the play is a delightful and fresh flourish in itself. There’s real dynamism in the colourful and authentic staging and elegant mise-en-scene, as well as the direction of well-chosen actors. I would be delighted if the sun shines warmly and a [further] new production goes roaring on from the Old Red Lion’s beginning. I regret that I can’t go see the play tonight, with a few old friends who have seen other productions. They’d love this. It’s a jewel! MICHAEL McCLURE |
 Nic Saunders (left) and Michael McClure (right) outside The Old Red Lion Theatre |
 Filming the GHOST TANTRAS documentary |
THE BEARD - to me - was sensational. The music of Terry Riley builds up the tension in eternity, which is the setting for the action. Two characters, Jean Harlow and Billy the Kid. You are so close you can see the grime in the fingernails of Billy, has he risen from the grave or is he just a dusty cowboy? The evening goes by in a rush with two exceptional performances from Christopher Daley and Victoria Yeates who, despite being English, maintain impeccable American accents throughout, some feat. Michael McClure has always had a foot in rock and roll and it shows in THE BEARD.
BEAT SCENE MAGAZINE |
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THEATRE 14167 has a very limited number of A2 size play posters for sale (image right) from the Old Red Lion
production of THE BEARD signed by both Michael McClure and director Nic Saunders.
For further information : posteroffer@theatre14167.co.uk |
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