Written by Mark Burgess
Review by Marina Funcasta
I must admit, sitting down in my seat a few minutes before Zeb Soanes’ performance began, I began to realise just how out of my depth I was. Surrounded by familiar (celebrity) faces, and pompous critics, every conversation in my periphery lauded the legendary, eponymous actor: how wonderful he had been in Bridge over the River Kwai, remarking on his utmost dedication to doing his own stunts, and how actors like him don’t come around much these days. I, meanwhile, had never seen an Alec Guinness film. Or really knew much about him.
It is to ignorant minds like my own that Mark Burgess extends the first moments of the script. Recreating a scene where Guinness meets a five-year-old Star Wars fan and his pestering mother, Soanes’ contemptuous air is enough to make clear that this play will not take the sci-fi franchise as its centripetal force.
Instead, we enter a galaxy of personalities, glimmering memories which are star-studded and echoes of a lost time. And of course, some darker, murkier matter. Soanes astounds as Guinness. His vocal control and balletic physicality allows his performance to flow between scenes almost faultlessly. If it wasn’t for a few rushed transitions, this 90-minute one man-show would have all but floated in its apparent effortlessness.
Despite the several voices Burgess writes into the text, Soanes remains a strong and solid Guinness throughout – even if his performance felt somewhat enigmatic. Now having developed a great interest into Guinness, I realise this is, in fact, the Crowning Jewel of Soanes’ incarnation. A muted stare follows Guinness throughout his anecdotes, moving from a whimsical, lonely child, to a somewhat distant, although gentle, older figure.
Guinness’ humour emerges from this ominous personality with lucidity. Selina Cadell employs moments of physical humour, bringing to light the metamorphosis Guinness underwent ahead of playing his wide variety of characters. In so doing, Soanes himself simultaneously exorcises and absorbs his muse, and the characters who surrounded him. I was most impressed during a Lawrence of Arabia skit, wherein Soanes performs the voice of Omar Sharif.
This piece materialises gradually, but with strong presence. A comic reflection of a man behind a somewhat silent myth, Two Halves Guinness is a dignified homage to a Time and Industry which seems to be slipping away.
A Dignified Homage
Two Halves of Guinness runs at Park Theatre, London until May 2nd
Running time: Two hours with one interval
Photo credit – Danny Kaan
Review by Marina Funcasta (contact@corrblimey.uk)
Marina is halfway through an English literature degree at Edinburgh University, wherein she has been (considerably) involved in the drama scene: enjoying performing with their Shakespeare Company shows, but also modern takes on Arthur Miller. However, Marina’s interests are wide-ranging under the theatre genre – enjoying abstract, more contemporary takes on shows (with a keen interest in Summerhall)
