On the face of it I can’t think why anybody would like to hang around with Alfie – he’s selfish, aggressive and thoughtless. Yet, he also has the disarming innocence of a talkative adolescent, and that is a combination that has charmed audiences on radio, film and stage for a couple of generations. However much it’s against your better judgement, it’s worth spending time with Alfie while he’s at Greenwich Theatre.
The 60’s setting of Bill Naughton’s play roots the action in an era when the world was beginning to talk openly about sex and violence – the play marks a coming of age, not just for Alfie but for British society. During his voyage of self-discovery Alfie’s character appeals because he’s uncomfortably like us, an Everyman, constantly surprised by life and forced to shift his moral compass in the face of events.
A small cast of five highly talented performers confidently weave their way through Alfie’s sequence of sexual conquests, leaving in their wake a series of abandoned and hopeless figures. While the females are at the heart of the story, Ben Harrison and Courtney Spence create fine characters that convey the general hopelessness of the male of the species – all seeking the unfulfilled dream of happy partnerships. Gabrielle Meadows and Lisa Howard have the most difficult jobs, skilfully creating the widest range of comic and alluring female characters at, literally, the drop of a hat.
Sex is integral to Alfie’s character and director Adrian McDougall plays this theme well. We don’t have any steamy scenes or titillation on stage, but we do have thoroughly prosaic sex in bedsits, flats and the front of cars. This reinforces Alfie’s ordinariness and sets up the inevitable consequence of his action, an emotionally gruelling abortion scene towards the end of the play. It’s difficult to see any hope for the women who Alfie casts off like abandoned lacy knickers. The play does emphasise that fun must be paid for one way or another – and that’s a pretty depressing thought.
This seriousness is offset by a huge amount of comedy, from the cameo interval performance by the tea lady running the transport café to the inventive use of the band to create sound effects. Alfie too makes people laugh, and Edward Elk’s performance is central to the success of the evening. He has some pretty big shoes to fill, following Michael Caine and Jude Law, but Elks tightens the laces and makes those shoes do the walking. Inevitably Elks echoes his screen predecessors, both in speech and looks, but he never mimics them and he is able to strike up an intimacy with the audience with complete conviction. When he takes us back to ‘my place’ it is clear that we have become friends, and this sense of trust is thoroughly engaging. Elk’s Alfie is warm and honest; he thrives by living on a knife edge between comedy and tragedy.
‘Take me as I am, or not at all’ is one of Alfie’s mantras. I should allow him to take you into his confidence for the duration of the play – but with the proviso that he stays on stage and leaves you in your seat, lest you become a conquest too.