Review: The Most Expensive Orgy in History

First Theatre Company’s The Most Expensive Orgy in History, a new play by Conor Norrington and Alex Ottie, was Directed by Emily Oliver and Natasha Ketel, with Auguste Voulton as Assistant Director and Jude Wegerer as Producer. The Durham Union’s debating chamber was a brilliant venue choice, its grand wooden accents and cosy interior providing a brilliant backdrop for the play’s intimate action. The staging was almost in the round and the action focused on a small table strewn with half-drunk bottles of spirits and the discarded musings from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s typewriter. The most surprising aspect was a tight, in-house jazz band who provided a subtle soundscape to accompany pivotal moments and liven up the party scenes. They were a most welcome addition and never overshadowed the action, but also made their subtle presence known.

The only real let down with this performance was the script; written by Conor Norrington and Alex Ottie. The production itself was slick, the acting was largely gripping and the staging was accomplished; the script however, whilst presenting a good pastiche of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s writing, felt verbose and overindulgent. The plot follows the gradual breakdown of the much lauded (and troubled) writer F. Scott Fitzgerald and his equally troubled wife, Zelda. She begins to realise that she is nothing more than a muse for her husband to feed off, insert into his stories and flout to Manhattan’s high society. Jack de Deney’s delivery as Scott was slick, if a little grandiose and Daisy Hargreaves showed a strong range of emotions and demonstrated the torment of Zelda consummately. The production started strong with a rousing rendition of a roaring twenties party, filled with youth and optimism, and then cut short by the dark foreshadowing in Scott’s dialogue. It was a bold opening for a production, teetering on the edge of cheesy, but nevertheless retaining its dignity.

Whilst the acting was largely excellent, all performers felt limited by the writing which caused a few lines to be garbled as everyone was forced to reconcile emotion with the non-naturalism of the script’s dialogue. The writing simplified and subsequently improved as production continued, and the two protagonists’ relationship broke down, leading to some very memorable moments in the latter stages of the play. There was ample opportunity here for them to let rip and allow themselves to take full advantage of the emotion that was necessary in the intimate argument between Scott and Zelda, leading to the standout moment of the play.

Another moment that sticks out is Zelda’s descent into psychosis as she is beset with visions of the fictional Daisy Buchanan and own her mother. Whilst this was well-handled, it wasn’t made immediately clear who these visions were. More could have been done in the writing to reaffirm what was happening on stage. The same can be said for the sudden switch in time and place as the action shifted between France and New York. The hilariously awkward scene with Scott and Ernest Hemingway (played by Alex Berridge-Dunn) was handled well, with the unsubtle comedy providing welcome comic relief.

I would contend that the emotional split of Zelda and Scott came too late in the plot and subsequently felt rushed, with the action suddenly grinding to a halt. It would have been nice for the seeds of this eventual divide to have been sown more clearly earlier on. The ensemble work was strong, with the three minor characters in Zelda’s entourage providing vapid chatter to demonstrate the ultimate meaninglessness of the Jazz Age.

It must be said, that for such a complex piece with so much ensemble work the direction was superb. The stage always seemed lively without seeming messy and all performers maintained good proxemics and knew how to make the best use of the space, managing to address all three sides of the audience equally. The tech too was accomplished, providing lighting changes that worked with the band to create and release tension.

The production really cannot be faulted from a theatrical standpoint; direction, tech, staging and acting were often exemplary. It just feels like a shame that for much of it, the show was fighting against its own script. There are a few lines in the play where Hemingway and Fitzgerald are discussing their work and musing as to whether it is ‘genius or nonsense’. That sums up this production really – and I’m inclined to think it was almost an equal measure of both.

The Most Expensive Orgy in History will be playing at the Durham Union Debating Chamber on Palace Green on 1st December, 2:30pm and 7:30pm.

Photo by Rahul Shah