Dr Strangelove

Noël Coward Theatre, 12/12/24

Credit: Manuel Harlan

Final rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

If you’re a fan of Steve Coogan (and if not, why not?), this production is sure to entertain you. He dazzles as four of the main characters, from the titular Dr Strangelove, to US President Muffley, to the bumbling British Army Captain Mandrake, to internationally adored Major TJ Kong. And often these characters had to be on stage at the same time, so seeing various body doubles subtly slip on and replace Coogan while he quickly changed and emerged as the next one was quite a thrill. It wasn't always seamless, but given the nature of the goofy story, they get away with it, quite brilliantly. And Coogan's charismatic Dr Strangelove in particular, complete with robotic arm jerking and thick accent, was a real joy.

I went to watch this production having never seen the original film from the 1960s, but I didn’t struggle to follow the plot. Set against the backdrop of the Cold War, a maniac US army general goes rogue and engages his battalion into a nuclear war mission. John Hopkins portrays the crazed General Ripper superbly, and I found myself longing for more of the scenes between Hopkins and Coogan. His sleazy American portrayal was spot on, coupled with the paranoia of a man clearly disturbed by war. His cigar smoking and gun collection topped off the portrayal. Though he did shoot himself at the end of the first Act, which was annoying purely from the point of view of knowing I wouldn't see any more from him the second half.

The mobile set is transported around by the ensemble, going from barracks quarters to the Oval Office in a relatively swift - and often musically accompanied - change. Here the set really comes into its own, with The Big Screen displaying the imminent threat of impending nuclear war on it at all times (during the presidential scenes). And it was truly something to behold. I liked the cockpit set a little less though - although it had the visual screens to accompany it flying through the sky, it did on the whole look a little ridiculous and cheap.

The rest of the cast also worked really well. Tony Jayawardena as the Russian Ambassador was fantastic - it is always a joy to see him perform, having seen him excel in the role of Winston Churchill in Nye earlier in the year.

At times, things did stray into the silly for me, and I found the second half of the play overstaying its welcome by just a touch, but that is the nature of taking on such an ambitious adaptation of something originally intended for the film screen. Unfortunately this production was the subject of some quite harsh reviews, which is a shame because I think it would've put a lot of people off the chance of seeing a very impressive bit of theatre - that towed the line between escapism and also some very genuine anxiety about the likelihood of nuclear warfare, given recent political election outcomes. I enjoyed this quite a bit though.