The problem with most versions of Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange is they invite comparison with the masterful Stanley Kubrick film. But Alexandra Spencer-Jones’s highly physical production is imaginative and striking enough that comparison is irrelevant.
The all-male cast sets it apart and the dynamic it creates is one of macho dominance. It sizzles with energy but also leaves the audience deeply unsettled.
Burgess — despite also penning the stage adaptation — was never proud of his 1962 dystopian satire, writing it in three weeks because he needed the money. While thought-provoking, it’s not exactly subtle and Spencer-Jones embraces this. The fight choreography is brutal, the imagery is basic (minimal props coloured black, white, or orange), and the actors surge with testosterone.
Though all nine actors are impressive, Martin McCreadie is especially memorable as teenage psychopath Alex. During his “aversion therapy” sweat streams down his body and the veins in his neck strain so aggressively I was worried he’d give himself an aneurysm.
I caught the show’s debut last year when it took the Edinburgh Fringe by storm. The claustrophobic intensity was stronger in a small, sweltering Fringe venue. But Action to the Word still prove that they are a theatre company worth keeping a heavily shadowed eye on.
Until January 5 ( 020 7478 0100, sohotheatre.com)