Friday March 29, 2024
MOJO
Review

MOJO

By Whitney Fitzsimmons
June 7 2014

Mojo, Sydney Theatre Company at Wharf 1, 24 May- 5 July, 2014. Photography by Brett Boardman, above: Josh McConville, Lindsay Farris and Ben O'Toole; right: Lindsay Farris

There's no doubt Jez Butterworth's script Mojo is a high-octane fighter jet just waiting to shoot off into the sky. But unfortunately this production instead tends to trudge along like a plane full of freight.

It's disappointing because the elements are there. Iain Sinclair is a great director and has gathered together an exceptional group of actors - even at the last minute replacing Sam Haft for Lindsay Farris, who does a fabulous job as Baby under what is a difficult circumstance.

The banter between Potts (Josh McConville - who can make carrying a spear interesting) and Sweets (Ben O'Toole) is lively and engaging, but it isn't enough to sustain the entire play.

Eamon Farren as Skinny gives a wonderful portrayal of a young man desperate for approval, but sick of paying the price of being abused to get it.

MOJO

Pip Runciman's set and David Fleischer's costumes give the production the gritty feel of Soho in the 50s when there was a "wonderful collision of rock and roll and gangland violence".

This production does have genuinely funny moments and the end is probably one of the most convincing acts of theatrical violence I've ever seen.

But overall these little nuggets of gold aren't enough to string together a continuous thread of engagement. It's difficult to say, but ultimately Sydney Theatre Company's production of Mojo is lacking just that

 

 

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