Rhona Foulis
posted 23 December 2005

In their first collaboration, which opened in New York in 1930, Moss Hart and George Kaufman chronicle the invention of the 'talkies' in 1920s Hollywood. The National's spirited production captures the fever of excitement and anticipation of the time. But does it warrant the hype?

Jerry, George and May are struggling to 'make it' on the New York Vaudeville circuit; Jerry sells the act and the trio cut loose for LA. Their 'chance of a lifetime' means cashing in on the rise of talking movies by setting up an elocution school for actors. We watch them journey to Hollywood and integrate themselves into the industry, seemingly unencumbered. But Hart and Kaufman's structurally unsound script exploits plot contrivances that are difficult to swallow. On the East-West train, Jerry, George and May co-incidentally bump into Helen Hobart, a well-known film columnist. She introduces them to the most famous film producer in America (Mr Glogauer), who immediately buys their proposal of voice coaching for his stars, and the moronic George is suddenly promoted to Supervisor of Glogauer Studios. By complete fluke, George makes one of Glogauer's most successful pictures and is hailed a genius, to unanimous, rave reviews (as in The Producers). The audience can forgive such implausibilities where the tone allows, but one of the great problems with this play is its generic confusion.

Once in a Lifetime isn't funny or ironic enough to work as a comedy; there isn't enough entertaining music and dance to work as musical theatre; nor is there an emotional or dramatic core to make a compelling play. The production simultaneously mocks and celebrates the Hollywood industry. At the play's strange and sudden ending, George ridiculously buys 2000 aeroplanes, before blowing up the Glogauer Studios with dynamite. In Edward Hall's production, there isn't a hint of irony or symbolism to this explosion and the closing suggestion is that the trio will remain in Hollywood, despite their experience of exploitation. A shallow world is depicted by a shallow play, in which the characters are insubstantially defined.

May is our window into the dramatic world, as the sceptical outsider and also the most rational character. She quickly wises up to the flakiness of the industry and even dares challenge Mr Glogauer - so why does she stay in LA for so long? The audience also misses out on the relationship between Jerry and May. The opening scene implies that they are a couple, but Hall never shows them as romantically involved; by the end, the scripted breakdown of their relationship has no impact and just sounds odd. Likewise, it is difficult to stomach the romance between George, an unattractive middle-age dotard, and Susan, a stereotypically dumb blonde and aspiring actress. They meet before George finds success - so why does Susan find him so appealing? Such character chinks partly reflect the enormous size of the cast. With 50-odd characters in a shared narrative, the play lacks any real protagonists and it is hard to engage with and care about any one particular story - although perhaps that's the point. This is a sketchy play for a sketchy world, in which no one really communicates and, as a writer character says, 'Nobody is acting like a human being'.

Having performed Glogauer in the RSC's version over 20 years ago, David Suchet gives another commanding performance, as does a detailed Victoria Hamilton as May. The same could not be said for Issy van Randwyck, however, who is unbearable as a shrill Helen Hobart. The National's production is certainly watchable and sustains its audience interest, but primarily for its visual splendour and tremendous dramatic pace. Mark Thompson's incredible set uses a revolve to display the Pullman car of the cross-country train, before spinning round a spectacularly opulent, catwalk-like staircase at 'Hotel Stilton' in LA, which then turns into the black and white backdrop of the film studios. Thompson's stunning white, gold and black design applies both to his set and costumes, so that the characters are literally enveloped into the glitzy world of Hollywood, like part of the scenery.

Once in a Lifetime both mocks and indulges in the whims, frivolities and celebrity culture of the 1920s Hollywood industry. All that glisters is not gold, and that certainly goes for this Edward Hall production.

Till 11 March 2006