Gareth's Culture and Travel Blog

This appears to be a marmite show. I don’t like marmite, but I liked this play about the rise and fall of Hollywood film mogul Robert Evans, which feels more like the filming of his life than the staging of it.

Robert Evans left the ladies clothing business he ran with his brother to become an actor after a chance meeting with Norma Shearer, as a result of which he played her late husband in Man of a Thousand Faces. Within six years he’d switched from actor to producer and in another five years his meteoric rise took him all the way to Head of Paramount Pictures. His extraordinary catalogue of successes there included Rosemary’s Baby, The Godfather, Chinatown and Love Story, but he became disgruntled making money for the studio but not for himself, so he decided to fly solo. This was much less successful, not helped by drug scandals. His personal life was just as colourful, with seven marriages all lasting less than five years, the most notable to Ali MacGraw, with whom he had his only child.

Simon McBurney has adapted his autobiography (with James Yeatman) for the stage, but he’s done it in such a way that you feel you are watching Evans’ life being filmed. There’s live video from a camera on rails (as in film) and a screen which is used for projection, scenery and shadow play. Eight actors play multiple roles, often straight into a microphone, and it’s very fast paced and technically complex. It’s the first time I’ve seen an autocue in the theatre, which was at first disconcerting but by the end understandable. The fact that many of the characters are well known to us – Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Francis Ford Coppola – adds a certain frisson. Initially, I thought the continuous use of one style would make it a bit monotonous, but in reality, with such a fast pace, you remain in its grip throughout.

I found it fascinating biographical theatre and captivating staging.