The American Clock - The Old Vic

I admit, I was in a bit of a grumpy mood when I got to the Old Vic -  my primary reason for booking to see The American Clock was that Giles Terera was to star, so I was disappointed when, after I had booked tickets, I heard that he had had to withdraw. I assume that the role he would have taken was that of Arthur Robertson, now played by Clarke Peters, he narrates the show, and appears as a millionaire who was one of the few to have seen the crash approaching, and have sold his stocks and invested in gold, preserving his fortune while others lost everything.

Still, it's still worth seeing new productions even if they don't have the people in whom you want to see, so I went along with an open mind.

The Old Vic is having building works done which means that  instead of going in through the main foyer, you go in round to one side, an perhaps as a result of building works and bits of the theatre being knocked around, the building was both very cold and very draughty.    

So the play was struggling a bit against the unfavourable conditions! 

The play is loosely based on Arthur Miller's own experiences as a young man, it covers the period from 1929 to 1939, and follows one family - Moe, Rose and Lee Baum, who, in this production, are each triple cast. I learned,after the event,  that the casting (one white (Jewish) trio, one black and one south Asian) was intended to be an representation of immigrants in America, but  this wasn't obvious, at least to me. I'm not sure how successful it is if you need to be told what it means...

At the outset, the family is well off, with a centrally located  11 room apartment,  a chauffeur, diamonds and dancing for Rose, the assumption that he can attend whichever college he wishes for Lee, and plenty of money for all. As the play progresses, we watch as they gradually lose everything. Rose sends Lee to pawn her jewels, later we see their piano  repossessed, and the family hiding (in their much smaller, Brooklyn apartment) from bailiffs. Lee winds up eventually picking a college, like his friends, based  on which offer free tuition, and later, faking estrangement from his father to qualify for FDR's WPA. 

Although the play focused on the Baum family, it also has snapshots of other scenes - Iowa farmers, almost lynching the Judge who has authorised the repossession and sale of their bankrupt farms,  and scenes from the South. We see, in the background, a friend of Lee's - studying and qualifying as a dentist, but unable to find work, and ultimately we learn of his death, in passing, as Moe comments on the subway delay after a body is found.. 

That said, the play is interesting . It's stages in the round, and there is a live jazz band on stage, and despite the depressing (!) subject matter there's a lot of singing and dancing - a successful Wall Street businessman tap-dances his way out of his office after deciding  he doesn't  wish to be head of a company taking over smaller, independent ones,  for instance, and there is an excellent, understated number as applicants at the welfare office move from individual inertia, to a stamping  rebellious group, roused by a militant socialist.

I hadn't realised ahead of time,but the director, Rachel Chavkin, is the same person who recently directed Hadestown at the National theatre, and I can see some similarities in style .
However, It's a little patchy, and drags somewhat in the second half. The performance I saw was in previews so it may tighten up a little as the run continues, but I think perhaps the fault is Miller's text, not the production!

Interesting, - I think I'd give it 3/5 stars..