★★★
One gigantic picture frame imposes itself above a wooden dining room table, an end of which has a chair slightly ajar, inviting us into this otherwise secluded set. The production company, The American Vicarious, bring their work Our American Queen across on its Trans-Atlantic voyage into The Bridewell Theatre, near Blackfriars station.
It’s a political encounter with the lead up to the 1864 U.S presidential election that follows one of Abraham Lincoln’s secretaries and his power-driven daughter Kate Chase, through a spirited dance with their possible future in U.S government. Complete with dashing senators, secretaries who mostly write poetry and the influential women who actually run the show, this performance investigates the personal motivations that inspire most bids for power.
Kate is the script’s beating heart. Leading the diplomatic dialogue or quiet emotional fervour, she sends the plot in its multiple directions. At first, Kate is driving her father’s political ambition by gaining support for him in the upcoming election but she becomes jaded when faced with who she feels compelled to marry. Should she accept the engagement from the lacklustre Senator Sprague who would finance their family’s campaign? Or does she couple up with Secretary John Hay, the man she really loves? It is here, that things begin to fall apart. Let us just say that toys are thrown out of the pram, tempers run high and the set is thrown about a bit. Who doesn’t love a period piece set being torn to shreds?
Here’s my issue: The play as a history lesson is spell binding, or as a character study of Chase—one of America’s most powerful women—and the work does well to reveal how a solid director and a good team of actors can breathe new life into a script. The writing quite frankly drags and running for almost 90 minutes, the work really needed an interval as its compact scenes, spiralling one on to the next, contain so much historical detail. It was very unsurprising to learn that the play is written by Thomas Klingenstein, a political historian and as work went on, this became more obvious. Still, applause must be given to the whole cast, who built a rapport with their characters and with each other that could tangibly be felt bouncing around throughout.
Director Christopher Mcelroen, alongside Lighting and Video Designer Beril Yavuz, are the real architects behind the work. It is their intuition, bravery and technical skill that works with every visual capacity of the theatre to bring the space to life. It would be impossible to consider how every small detail works together to create a lively, vibrant and engaging set that contradicts or complements the emotions on stage.
Overall, Our American Queen is a valuable and engaging work showcasing how a stage can be employed to the best of its ability. This being said, sometimes a script does need a cut here and there, no matter how much actors fight for the relevance of each and every line.
Our American Queen will be performed at the Bridewell Theatre until 7 February.
Words by Harry Speirs
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