The Man Who Had All The Luck 19/01/09

Published on Monday 19 January 2009 09:07

The Man Who Had All The Luck **** Royal Lyceum

SMOOTHLY staged and containing performances that purr like a well-tuned motor, the Royal Lyceum's latest production cruises along – with only some too-obvious turns in the play itself to cause any clunkiness.

The Man Who Had All the Luck was written by Arthur Miller in the early 1940s, several years before his first success with All My Sons and Death of a Salesman. Unsurprisingly, the clunks are accompanied with glimpses of future greatness.

The plot of revolves around one Davie Beeves, a young man who seems to turn everything he touches to gold. Lyceum newcomer Philip Cumbus gives him a sense of innocence and charm in the opening scenes, which later descends into obsession as he begins to believe in his luck.

It is set in small town America towards the end of WW2. Davie, a self-taught car mechanic, is surrounded by people whose luck seems to have run out.

In particular, Matthew Pidgeon plays his cantankerous boss, Shory, a wheelchair-bound veteran who went through the war unscathed only to be blown up in a domestic accident. Andrew Vincent is his maudlin mentor, JB Feller, who likes a drink and lacks a son to inherit his department store.

Davie's luck hits the big time when his sweetheart Hester (Kim Gerard)'s intolerant father gets killed. Suddenly they can get married. He befriends a Austrian mechanic (Greg Powrie) who helps him fix a swish car. The car's owner (Richard Addison) gives him introductions, and eventually helps him set up in ranching mink.

The trouble begins when a scout comes to see Davie's brother, Amos (Perri Snowdon), pitch in the local baseball league. Tutored by their father (Ron Donachie) since he was six, Amos might be good in practise, but he can't take the heat of a real game. Guilt hits Davie badly, that his brother should be so disappointed.

As a production, this is packed with great moments. The arrival of the swish car is a real talking point. The scene with the scout is brilliantly directed, as the characters realise that the awful facts the scout is telling them are not just true, but are their own fault.

The consistently stunning performances evolve and flow. Kim Gerard is particularly strong, bringing first a real joy to Hester then a beautifully observed fragility. But in truth, all help smooth the ride so that the obvious does not become too detracting.

Miller wrote a fable for his times which lacked balance in terms of its storytelling. The first production, in 1944, closed after only four performances.

Yet under John Dove's intelligent direction the point being made, that success or failure might appear to be down to luck but is actually self-inflicted, seems particularly appropriate.

Run ends February 14