Hogarth’s Progress Part 1, The Art of Success, Rose Theatre, Kingston

The Art of Success was first produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1986. it was written by Nick Dear, he has now written a companion piece, set 30 years later and they are being presented as a double bill at the Rose Theatre in Kingston, under the title “Hogarth’s Progress”. The first play depicts Hogarth’s life at the time just before the copyright act came into force when he had just done “A Harlot’s Progress” and before he started “A Rake’s Progress”. The second will depict him in later life. They are meant to complement each other and still work as stand alone plays.

Set in London in the 1730s, “The Art of Success” is a ribald and raucous story, telling of the partying antics of many of the renowned people of the day. These include Hogarth himself, the satirist Henry Fielding, Prime Minister Robert Walpole, brothel keeper Elizabeth Needham and even George II’s wife Queen Caroline. Many scenes are salacious and slanderous, reflecting the satirical plays of the time that led to the passing of the Theatrical Licensing Act. Hogarth was instrumental in causing the engraving copyright act to be passed and there is a subtext to this play about the ownership of art and about how art develops in times of social change, which chimes with the present day challenges for art in the different forms of social media.

Having said all that, the main thrust of the play is a bawdy farce about an epic night on the town and is meant to be enjoyed as just that. In this respect it works well.  It has funny jokes, although it occasionally veers into Carry-on territory. It is merciless in lampooning the aristocracy and it has enjoyable characters. The cast is spectacular, every performance is good.  Jasmine Jones is excellent as Sarah Sprackling, she manages to get a great balance between comedy and pathos. Jack Derges as Henry Fielding is both funny and loathsome. Bryan Dick does a fantastic job of holding it all together as runs about the town in various stages of disrepair.

The set is ingenious, I liked how contemporary it manged to be while still displaying the 18th Century. I cannot imagine that they had the ability to use the effects on display here when it was first produced 32 years ago, and I enjoyed the little nods to modern technology in the direction. “The Art of Success” is a play that you continue to appreciate after you have left the theatre and I am looking forward to seeing part 2 “The Taste of the Town” when it opens next week.

 

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Get Out (dir. Jordan Peele) 2017

Get Out has a number of “jump back in your seat” moments which is always a good thing in a horror movie. It also has humour, both laugh out loud bits, and some sly, embarrassing, observational moments. These carry you along nicely to the next scary part.

The acting is good, Bradley Whitford is excellent as a white liberal intellectual, explaining his guilt away. Catherine Keener is creepy as the psychologist mother.  Daniel Kaluuya is good at noticing the slights but not taking offence, a fine line to tread.

I really liked Jordan Peele’s manner of dealing with incidental, institutional racism in this film. It is there throughout the movie, and it isn’t ignored, but it is supposedly not the main storyline. The front story is a brainwashing, Stepford, comedy/horror thing. He shows great promise in his first film, with his light touch on an awkward subject. Interestingly, he has just become the first black debut director to have his film gross over $100 million.

There is some gore, enough to make you feel some disgust, but not enough to want to hide behind your cinema seat.

The ending is interesting too, it is always nice to have a finish that is unexpected, and this finale suited the movie much better.

I have to say that I really enjoyed this film, a great mixture of comedy, horror and social comment.