NTS Kidnapped Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh 12th April 2023 Review
Kidnapped, a National Theatre of Scotland production, is at the Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh from 11 to 22 April and if you are a fan of the original book then this re-write may not be for you. If, however, you are happy with an updated stage version that bills itself as “A Swashbuckling Rom-Com Adventure” then there is probably much here to entertain you.
Perhaps part of the problem for me with this production is with the source material itself, as although the works of Robert Louis Stevenson have captivated the minds of readers for generations, some stories, like Kidnapped, have perhaps peaked in readers’ interest some years ago. Originally published as a novel in 1893 (the story was previously serialised in a magazine in 1896), this story has been adapted so many times for films and television that I really wonder if there is much new left to add to what has already gone before. I also question just what sort of connection this type of boys’ adventure story has to contemporary audiences, particularly younger people.
What then does this new stage production, adapted for the stage by Isobel McArthur with Michael John McCarthy, and directed by Isobel McArthur and Gareth Nicholls bring to the “Kidnapped” legacy? The answer to that question is as always in the eye of the beholder, but for myself this production is a curious adaptation that, whilst using many of the main elements of the original story, has in the end very little to add to the tale and all too often the comedy kidnaps far too many well worn stereotypes along the way. There are to be fair though more than a few Monty Python-esque moments here too.
It is only fair to start with the positives for this production and Kim Ismay as Robert Louis Stevenson’s wife, American magazine writer Frances "Fanny" Matilda Van de Grift Osbourne Stevenson aka Frances, is superb throughout this show. Not only does she have many of the best (and often genuinely funny) lines, but she also has some of the best songs too. As the narrator of this story, Kim simply has such a strong character in her role that her performance dominates everyone that is on stage with her to the point that much of your focus is on Kim/Frances and not what is happening centre-stage to the main story line. A carefully chosen selection of some well-known song that include “I’ve Been Everywhere” (Johnny Cash), and “A Little Respect” (Erasure) are used very cleverly to fit into the narrative and are done very well. The problem is that once again your focus is distracted from the main story line.
We also have problems with the two main characters in this story, David Balfour (Ryan J MacKay) and Alan Breck Stewart (Malcolm Cumming) and although both characters are well performed by both, Malcolm Cumming so often gets to steal scenes when he is on-stage with Ryan J MacKay simply because Alan Breck Stewart is such a larger than life creation. This leaves far too many scenes where Ryan as David Balfour is simply in scenes of chaotic comedy that work to varying degrees of success.
Perhaps my biggest problem with this new look at an old story is the introduction of a sexual relationship between David Balfour and Alan Breck Stewart, and it is not the notion of both men together that bothers me in the slightest, but the fact that its introduction adds little, if anything, to the new story line. Part of the problem is that we simply do not have the time here to develop and explore at anything more than a superficial level the complexities of their relationship with each other.
To be fair, there are a few interesting set pieces here, but overall there are too many missed opportunities to make this production more than yet another adaptation of a well-known classic story. Having said this though, perhaps much of the humour and at time campness of this production was simply not to my taste, as many other people in the audience seemed to be finding much humour in this pantomime/Monty Python version of Kidnapped.
Review by Tom King © 2023
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
Perhaps part of the problem for me with this production is with the source material itself, as although the works of Robert Louis Stevenson have captivated the minds of readers for generations, some stories, like Kidnapped, have perhaps peaked in readers’ interest some years ago. Originally published as a novel in 1893 (the story was previously serialised in a magazine in 1896), this story has been adapted so many times for films and television that I really wonder if there is much new left to add to what has already gone before. I also question just what sort of connection this type of boys’ adventure story has to contemporary audiences, particularly younger people.
What then does this new stage production, adapted for the stage by Isobel McArthur with Michael John McCarthy, and directed by Isobel McArthur and Gareth Nicholls bring to the “Kidnapped” legacy? The answer to that question is as always in the eye of the beholder, but for myself this production is a curious adaptation that, whilst using many of the main elements of the original story, has in the end very little to add to the tale and all too often the comedy kidnaps far too many well worn stereotypes along the way. There are to be fair though more than a few Monty Python-esque moments here too.
It is only fair to start with the positives for this production and Kim Ismay as Robert Louis Stevenson’s wife, American magazine writer Frances "Fanny" Matilda Van de Grift Osbourne Stevenson aka Frances, is superb throughout this show. Not only does she have many of the best (and often genuinely funny) lines, but she also has some of the best songs too. As the narrator of this story, Kim simply has such a strong character in her role that her performance dominates everyone that is on stage with her to the point that much of your focus is on Kim/Frances and not what is happening centre-stage to the main story line. A carefully chosen selection of some well-known song that include “I’ve Been Everywhere” (Johnny Cash), and “A Little Respect” (Erasure) are used very cleverly to fit into the narrative and are done very well. The problem is that once again your focus is distracted from the main story line.
We also have problems with the two main characters in this story, David Balfour (Ryan J MacKay) and Alan Breck Stewart (Malcolm Cumming) and although both characters are well performed by both, Malcolm Cumming so often gets to steal scenes when he is on-stage with Ryan J MacKay simply because Alan Breck Stewart is such a larger than life creation. This leaves far too many scenes where Ryan as David Balfour is simply in scenes of chaotic comedy that work to varying degrees of success.
Perhaps my biggest problem with this new look at an old story is the introduction of a sexual relationship between David Balfour and Alan Breck Stewart, and it is not the notion of both men together that bothers me in the slightest, but the fact that its introduction adds little, if anything, to the new story line. Part of the problem is that we simply do not have the time here to develop and explore at anything more than a superficial level the complexities of their relationship with each other.
To be fair, there are a few interesting set pieces here, but overall there are too many missed opportunities to make this production more than yet another adaptation of a well-known classic story. Having said this though, perhaps much of the humour and at time campness of this production was simply not to my taste, as many other people in the audience seemed to be finding much humour in this pantomime/Monty Python version of Kidnapped.
Review by Tom King © 2023
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com