Maybe the hype got to me a little bit, and don’t get me wrong, Ink is more than a solid play and production, but I wasn’t quite as dazzled by it as I thought I might be.
I of course know who Rupert Murdoch is, but my knowledge was limited to his role in Fox News, which is not covered in this play. It’s not that anyone will have a difficult time figuring out what’s going on, but James Graham doesn’t hold your hand with who these people are nor the relationship between The Daily Mirror, Mail, Telegraph, Guardian or Sun. You pick up quickly, but I assume most Brits have a deeper appreciation for these papers the way New York audiences would have a connection to a play about The Times, Post and Daily News.
Murdoch purchases The Sun, the paper with the lowest circulation on the totem pole, and installs Larry Lamb (a truly superb Jonny Lee Miller) to have it surpass the stodgy Daily Mirror in one year’s time. It’s pretty obvious that he will achieve the goal (otherwise why would they turn this into a play!), so the interesting part is seeing how low into the muck Lamb is willing to go to sell papers.
Nothing is off limits. Sex, girls, pop/rock stars, gossip, salacious crimes and trashy give-a-ways: give into the population’s basest instincts and sell, sell, sell.
The production immediately will remind you of Enron. There is music, some singing, choreographed movement. This worried me as I hated Enron, but this is a much better play.
The set is awesome: a pyramid of stacked desks with lamps and typewriters hidden in the cracks and crevices; piles of newsprint shoved in any available nook. The lighting is very effective too. Projections of actual Sun articles flash across the back wall. Cool stuff.
Carvel may have won the Olivier for Ink, and he is excellent, but this is the Jonny Lee Miller show. He rarely leaves the stage for the full 2:45 and is turning in a hell of a performance. The ensemble (mostly Americans) is strong and keep up with the dialogue that clacks along faster than a typist hammering away on a typewriter.
They try to make connections to the present with the dumbing down of the news, moral decay caused by the celebration of the crass and sleazy; it does feel relevant without pressing too firmly on the issue. I kept thinking of The Good Fight and the generating of fake news stories and doing what it takes to manipulate the news to get results.
The play is a cerebral joy, but doesn’t allow you to become very emotionally involved. An interesting look at a year of British history with some wonderful performances.
Marie: Don't be in such a hurry about that pretty little chippy in Frisco.
Tony: Eh, she's a no chip!
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