Chris Murray, What's On 1992
The Third Policeman
Chris Murray, What’s On, 16/12/1992
Adapting Flann O’Brien’s comic novel The Third Policeman, a tale that involves the absurd concepts of an unknown philosopher, an attempted murder and one man’s nightmare journey through hell in search of his bicycle, was always going to be a tough task. Ridiculusmus theatre company have tackled it with vigour.
On arrival the audience are offered drinks and raffle tickets before being whisked off their feet, literally, to participate in the barn dancing that sets the play in motion. In this promenade performance we are herded around the angles of an expensive loft space, ushered through wardrobes and given lights to illuminate the action. All very inventive but there are drawbacks, without a clear narrative thread, being moved around adds to the confusion and correspondingly, doesn’t allow a much needed focus for the action.
The ensemble cast work well: Kevin Henshall’s bewildered Yer Man is contrasted nicely by Angus Barr’s laid back version of yer Man’s soul, while David Ulrick-Woods brings key comic touches to the bumbling Sergeant Pluck without descending into caricature. Individual scenes come to life when the language of the novel is given free rein, in an interrogation scene where questions can only be answered in the negative for example, or where Yer man wriggles out of a conviction because he has no name to put on the paperwork. Likewise, the production has some neat touches (a wardrobe that turns effortlessly into both a lift and a confessional, but these constitute inspired moments rather than sustained cohesion.
This is an over ambitious production. Ridiculusmus have remained faithful to a novel that was unpublished at O’Brien’s death, possibly unfinished and very likely unadaptable. It calls itself ‘an astonishing parade of nullity’ but as the man in the urinal mentioned in the interval, it beats watching telly. Flann O’Brien would have been proud.
Related pages:
.. Rick Jones, Time Out 1993 .. Ian Shuttleworth, London 2001