Dr Strangelove

Dr. Strangelove is a 1964 political satire black comedy film co-written, produced, and directed by Stanley Kubrick, famous for 2001 A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, and Eyes Wide Shut among many others.

Well known for his perfectionist directing technique, Kubrick’s vision of Dr Strangelove was no exception. The film was initially going to be a drama until Kubrick decided that a satire would drive the message home with more force.

This production has been adapted by Armando Iannucci and Sean Foley from the original film that satirised the military strategy of Mutually Assured Destruction- the idea that if all the major powers were armed with nuclear weapons, they wouldn’t attack for fear of being destroyed themselves. Sixty years later, it hasn’t happened, but with current world tensions, who knows?

It is a brave move by The National Theatre to take such a milestone piece of theatre and put it on the stage. Fortunately, with Steve Coogan in the lead, it works, and in many ways tops the film version!

In the original film, Peter Sellers played Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake, President Merkin Muffley, and Dr. Strangelove. Steve Coogan (well known for his portrayal of Alan Partridge in Knowing Me, Knowing You) has recreated Seller’s feat and added a fourth character Major T J Kong in The National Theatre’s latest production with some lighting fast costume/character changes. On a side note, Sellers was to play four characters in the film, but an injury prevented this.

Director Sean Foley ensures the one-liners come thick and fast (“You can’t fight in here! This is the War Room”), the pace rarely slows. He uses the vast National Theatre stage to its full advantage and creates a spectacle that is sure to please any fan of the original film, or for people experiencing this story for the first time. His vision is enhanced by Jessica Hung Han Yun’s lighting, Akhila Krishnan’s projections, and Ben & Max Ringham’s sound design and composition.

The play begins at a US air base in Britain. The hut interior with its massive Venetian blinds, just waiting to be disrupted, is the first of a series of mammoth sets (and costumes) by Hildegard Bechtler. The other sets include the famous War Room, meticulously recreated from the film (with a huge electronic map or ‘Big Board’ as they call it working over the scene, showing targets as ‘circles, squares, and squiggly bits’), and a bomber plane.

Dr Strangelove is not a musical, but it does begin and end with a chorus line of military personnel dancing to popular songs and ending with Vera Lynn (Penny Ashmore) singing with equal irony the sentimental World War Two song ‘We’ll Meet Again’.

Coogan is magnificent in each of his four characters, my favourite being Dr Strangelove, complete with an uncontrollable hand that wants to perform a Nazi salute. His pace is stellar as are his fast changes, thanks to the remarkable efforts of his dresser Paul Read.

He is hardly ever off stage and generates most of the laughs. Like Sellers, Coogan avoids going for the obvious laughs and mannerisms, instead, he takes the characters seriously and allows the humour to come from the situation and script, making it all the more believable.

The last projection of Coogan sitting astride a nuclear bomb heading for the Earth is an image that will live in the audience’s minds long after the film has ended.

He looked exhausted at the curtain call when he was himself and had no character to mask the immense exertion it must take to perform this marathon every night.

Coogan fronts an impressive cast including John Hopkins as the cigar-chomping, carpet-chewing and suitably square-jawed General Ripper, Tony Jaywardena as the Russian Ambassador who swings from supreme confidence to fear, Giles Terera who is excellent as the war-mongering General Turgidson, Oliver Alvin-Wilson as Jefferson, Ben Deery as General Staines, Richard Dempsey as Frank among many others.

It is interesting to note that Penny Ashmore’s Vera Lynne (which is sung authentically) is the only female in this machismo-based cast.

I could not help but wonder what would Stanley Kubrick think of this production? I suspect he would be at every performance, giving notes, muttering under his breath, maybe even shouting at the actors (even with an audience present) to ensure the cast got every laugh exactly right!

Dr Strangelove is about two madmen setting off a potential nuclear war. It’s satire but it explores the fanaticism that comes out of the dehumanisation of the ‘other side’ – sound familiar? It is a must watch if you are a Kubrick, Sellars or Coogan fan, or if you just want a good laugh with a warning of what could happen if current politics get out of hand!

Barry Hill AOM

Production Photography credit - Manuel Harlan