Bonnie and Clyde
Infamous American outlaws Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, played by Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty in the celebrated 1967 film, have once again been thrust into the public eye. Here they are re-imagined and turned into a full-blown singing and ‘drama’-fuelled extravaganza, this time by Ruby in the Dust at the King’s Head theatre. The emphasis is on the pair’s heightened celebrity fashioned by the media, demonstrating that things were really not unlike the world we now inhabit. Killing spree or shaving your hair off a la Miss Britney Spears for attention? Not sure which is worse but I know which I’d prefer.

The setting is intimate and the stage offers a realistic depiction of the Deep South – with a dusty window covered by an old wooden blind and big ol’ trunk, one can almost imagine tumbleweed passing through; the heat can practically be felt radiating across the audience as they wait in furious anticipation.

Fuelled by a film clip of Britt Eckland and Serge Gainsbourg performing a raw musical number about Bonnie and Clyde, writer Linnie Reedman set about creating a sensual piece that focused more than ever on the pair’s extreme youth and obsession with fame, inevitably coming off with a project that would probably manage to smoulder if it not for the leads’ obvious lack of chemistry. Samantha Louise Clark’s Bonnie is good enough, combining a young and innocent fame-hungry child with a woman that ultimately will do anything for the man she loves. She is an engaging and sympathetic actress that fits Reedman’s desire for a younger incarnation of Bonnie, physically at least. Her relationship with Christopher Burr’s WD Jones is a nice touch, giving her the opportunity to act as mother hen to his often confused teenager, just wanting to be a cool member of the gang. Burr is, for the most part, full of relevant emotion and stands out alongside Clark as one of the best performers on stage. Emma-Jane Martin’s tortured Blanche Barrow, sister-in-law to Clyde, starts as a brazen fire-cracker overjoyed at the return of her imprisoned loved one but struck at by the violent events that unfold, she becomes a messy and tragic result of our protagonist’s destructive efforts. She excels better than anyone in the show especially with the more dramatic scenes as she bleeds emotion right up to the inevitable climax.

Gary Tushaw’s Sherriff Ted just left me flummoxed, from his somewhat cringe-worthy, wistful looks to his painfully bad Southern American accent, leaving me with no choice but to look away, often. His move from admiring Bonnie to killing her has no transportation, no cohesiveness or explanation. As with a lot of what I saw here, this performance just did not convince.

Tom Sword’s Cylde, whilst fitting the aesthetics of his character, was simply absent throughout. Where he tried to display emotion, I felt nothing, his actions and body language were too jerky and deliberate, leaving me feeling both bored and uncomfortable.

The musical score, like the show, is forgettable and plods along at a leisurely and infuriating pace, seemingly regardless of the audience it was supposedly entertaining. There was just so much potential here but unfortunately it fell flat, shooting from the barrel of the gun and missing its darn target.

Bonnie and Clyde is playing the King’s Head theatre until 21 September For more information and tickets, see the Kings Head Theatre website.