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Moberly’s House Play 2011 - 'Frost/Nixon'

The night before this performance, I took the liberty of familiarising myself with the Watergate scandal, and finally got around to watching the 2008 Oscar nominated film, in which Frank Langella gives a stunning portrayal of Richard Nixon. In portions of Moberly’s play, James Hanson outshone his contemporary actor, this was a performance of the highest order. It is something of a growing partnership between James Hanson and Alex Mullan; from the somewhat glory days of ‘The Union’ to their second successive directorship of a House play, it is a partnership that seems to pay dividends wherever it applies itself.

American rock anthems quietly set the mood as I found my seat; a packed house buzzing with the excitement you get only before the certain Houses that tend to produce top plays year after year. We were greeted by Alex’s dulcet, succinct tones, which filled us in on the intricacies of Watergate. A relaxed persona and flowing speech typified Alex’s stellar performance for the rest of the evening, easing us into the setting of an America reeling from the controversies of a corrupt President.

I don’t mean to do a scene by scene analysis but the introduction of Hanson was something to be remembered, stooped over his presidential desk, slicked back hair and that deep broken American accent that could only belong to Nixon, there is no other way to say it; it was nailed. Slick and extremely clever alternations of the key speakers of each scene characterised the play; a key speech or section of dialogue was often followed by a spotlight upon a supporting cast member who gave us his reaction, this to and fro from event to reaction deserves praise to be lauded towards both the directors and lighting manager. It was with such a technique that we were introduced to the passionate James Reston Jnr, played by last year’s best supporting actor; Joe Baio, it does seem that a nomination for the same award is likely to be heading his way.

Supporting performances, as stated from the phrase supporting performance really should seek to do no more and no less than to provide a strong and steady backdrop, whilst making no attempt to steal the limelight. Other than Baio, principal supporting players; Woolley, Kinsey and Morgan did this most creditably, and any criticism would be unfair to the three. Kinsey as the straight-laced Brit, Woolley as a reporter with a ‘face for radio’ and Jack Morgan as Nixon’s loyal subordinate, the professional dour almost manipulative demeanour portrayed brilliantly. All three will be strong contenders for nominations along with Joe.

The American accent is one that has reared its head on three occasions this House Play Week (WT and MH, with ST to come), and for all the times we are exposed to it on the mass of imported stateside T.V, it is still one of the hardest accents to portray convincingly. Whilst the accents varied in quality through the cast, the general impression given off was that of (when necessary) American actors playing American roles, a feat that is definitely to be commended.

See the Programme

From the slick changes in set, cleverly disguised by short musical segments, to the pre-recorded news reel like snippets, every aspect of this play was meticulously considered and executed. But I suppose in the interest of a balanced review, I must find a fault. There was a hint of a forgotten line in one of the interviews between Nixon and Frost, but this was glossed over by professional ad-libbing by Alex and James. And that was it really, the phrase that describes the entire play; professionalism. I have only said this about one other play in my time in Clifton; I would have paid for that privilege.

I think analysing one final scene is justified; the final interview, this was both James and Alex’s crowning moment, tracking James’ progressive emotional breakdown coupled with Alex’s definite easing off of aggression, leading to a gentler almost caring David Frost was like the start of the play (and like the middle for that matter) nailed.

Congratulations gents, this will take some beating.

* * * *

Moberly's House, strong opposition every year and once again they did not disappoint. With a very different offering to last year’s sublime; Blackadder, the duo of Hanson and Mullan aided by Ben Clatworthy were at it again, centre stage leading, what was in fact perhaps the best House production I have had the privilege of watching over the past four years. Of course, as a member of School House it pains me to say this, however the truth is that there is very little that I can actually criticise.

Just like last year, James and Alex were leading the show both on and off stage. The direction of the play had been clearly thought out again as they both appeared more on stage than anybody else, it left for some obviously challenging moments, yet they pulled through and clearly everybody knew exactly what to do.

It all started with a short monologue from Alex, soon to be seen as David Frost, very cleverly introducing and explaining the goings on and really giving the audience a feel for the background. However it seemed that he was not as eager perhaps as he had been the previous year as Edmund Blackadder, he played a more reserved character which although put him less in focus, gave his supporting cast a real chance to shine. And shine they did, Jack Morgan being given a much more senior role than ever before excelled as his namesake Mr Brennan. Joe Baio was another of the moderately sized cast who shone, delivering a sterling performance as the eccentric and if not partly evil James Reston Jnr. The rest of the cast remained very dedicated to their background acting although one did perhaps feel that they were at times unsure of how to portray themselves so resolved to the ever favourite; hands in pockets. Also coming across well were the difficult American accents that were needed, and although certain members at times lost them, on the whole we knew where we were, whether it be England, America or even Australia.

As well as being introduced to the plot at the beginning of the play, Moberly's produced a very insightful and interesting programme. This informed us of the 'events of Watergate', and it also gave us nuggets of background information on our soon to be beloved Frost/Nixon.

Bearing in mind that we were supposed to feel like we were in the 1970's, the costumes chosen really adhered to this, with jackets and ties or even suits being the dominant choice of attire. Props were actually few and far between, except for the two old fashioned cameras that had cleverly been brought in. Not only had these been an excellent acquisition in aid of showing that we were in a TV broadcasting building, it again placed us firmly in the era.

A simplistic set saw the use of three stage hands come in very handy, especially at the beginning whilst there were several 'spot' scenes, the stage hands quietly and discreetly got on with rearranging the set in the darkness. This was a very good idea as we learnt that Moberly's ended up being very pushed for time and perhaps could have done some more adapting at the end in order to make sure they did not exceed the strict time limits set by the judges.

Another way in which the scenes were set for the audience was during the scene changes, some music would be playing much like it had the year before with the ever famous Blackadder theme tune. Again just like with all productions Ben Clatworthy seems to work on, there were no technical complications, and in fact there were some very nice uses of lighting including the red tint and the division of the 'teams' at the recordings when the stage was divided into three sections, two of which were the raised platforms on which Frost and Nixon's teams stood, and the other of course being centre stage on the two protagonists.

Overall, I must admit that although perhaps there were one or two extremely minor snags, Hanson and Mullan really pulled off an outstanding spectacle. Alex’s portrayal of Frost was understated but brilliantly observed and thus convincing (it would have been so easy to overplay this part) but it was James Hanson who really stole the show with his outstanding portrayal of Nixon. From the moment he walked on he stayed in character and dealt with the emotional highs and lows of a complex human being brilliantly. The play was 'polished to perfection' and will most definitely be remembered for years to come.

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