The lights go up, the stage is empty. A series of grunts and
crashes introduce Clarence Darrow, the great American lawyer and Civil Rights
defender lying with his legs in the air, beneath his desk. A couple of anxious
minutes go by, with Kevin Spacey pottering around the stage (dressed up like
the office of Atticus Finch) before collapsing into his chair. More time
transpires while Spacey looks around the room, as if greeting each person in
the packed out Old Vic auditorium. A couple of nervous giggles leak out and
just like that, the audience are in the palm of his hand, remaining there until
the very end.
The poignancy of the evening is palpable, this being
Spacey’s final performance as creative director of the Old Vic since he took
over twelve years ago. Fitting then, perhaps, that he takes centre stage in
this one-man play charting the life and work of an eloquent country lawyer who
“didn’t bribe jurors, he frightened them to death.” The intimacy created by
staging the play in the round certainly reproduces a bit of that terror,
Spacey’s full-bodied performance barely contained by the wooden stage. Instead,
the audience become implicit in Darrow’s recreation of famous trials, as well
as intimate scenes involving his first wife.
Impassioned and at times vitriolic, Darrow is presented as a
staunch defender of left-leaning politics in a recognisably ignorant society. Racial
harmony, the eight-hour day and the end of the death penalty are all argued for
over the course of the play, and it’s hard to not leave the theatre considering
these morals against our own society. Darrow is shown to be tired of the world
that he’s been fighting (or teaching) for so long. Ultimately, there’s an understandable
amount of pride in Darrow that can’t be criticised. Of all the 102 men he defended, Spacey tells
us, not a one was hanged.
The script is one that was first staged 40 years ago, with
Henry Fonda in the role. Far from dusty, however, the words are brought to life
by Spacey’s exhilarated movement and delivery; jokes land on cue, moments of
anguish are perfectly realised. After giving everything he has for almost 2
hours, the play comes to its end. The time has flown by. The next time Spacey returns
to the London stage it will be a guest, but one we’ll be more than happy to
have.
Clarence Darrow is on at The Old Vic until 15th June 2015, for further information visit here.
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