Watching The Artist at Work
Robbie Fairchild and Briana Craig in rehearsal for The Artist. Photo by Mark Senior Written by Penny
The Artist is a new production from the McOnie Company, which will debut at Plymouth’s Theatre Royal in May 2024.
Based on the 2011 film and adapted for the stage by Lindsey Ferrentino and Drew McOnie, with direction and choreography also from McOnie, The Artist tells the story of silent movie star George Valentin, whose career and way of life is threatened by the new cinematic trend for “talkies”.
The cast includes multi award-winning international dancer and actor Robbie Fairchild as George Valentin, returning to the UK stage for the first time since his acclaimed leading performance in An American In Paris, West End favourite Gary Wilmot as studio boss Al Zimmer, and Briana Craig (42nd Street tour) as rising star Peppy Miller.
I was lucky enough to be invited along to a rehearsal, to see The Artist in action. Drew welcomed us to the spacious rehearsal room at Southwark’s Jerwood Space, introduced the company and gave us an overview of the show.
He explained that it’s hard to categorise, is it a play, a musical or a dance piece? I’d say it is all of these. The bulk of the storytelling is achieved through McOnie’s stunning choreography, underscored by music that evokes the silent movies that made central character George Valentin a star. There is minimal dialogue, and when the show is on stage most of this will be projected on screens, again silent movie style. This will serve as a stark contrast when later on in the piece, talking pictures start to take over. The interactions between the characters at times take on the exaggerated and stylised performance that you’d associate with silent movies, becoming a lot more natural in the lower key scenes away from the film sets.
The production is only two weeks into its rehearsal period, and the company has already created something stunning. The ensemble cast members take on multiple roles – including party goers, characters in Valentin’s films, Hollywood big hitters and hangers on, and even playing clouds as we go into a gorgeous sequence that shows us what’s going on in starlet Peppy’s imagination.
The chemistry between Robbie Fairchild (George Valentin) and Briana Craig (Peppy Miller) is already fantastic – they are both mesmerising dancers, adept at telling their characters’ stories through their interpretation of the choreography. Every move and gesture has a purpose.
The inclusion of a pet dog for Valentin somehow makes him more human and sympathetic. Uggie the dog is a puppet, controlled by Matthew Caputo, who Drew tells us, has only had a couple of days to rehearse the role. He’s already given life to his canine character and there is an incredibly moving moment towards the end when Valentin is alone with his best (spoiler: maybe his only) friend.
Although only a couple of weeks into rehearsals, The Artist already looks as if it is going to be an experience that everybody will want to shout about and I’m really looking forward to seeing the full production.
The Artist runs at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth from 11th to 25th May 2024.
