In Review: V for Vendetta at the Lass O'Gowrie

Photo: Laura Evans

After the successful adaptation of The Ballad of Halo Jones by Manchester-based Scytheplays back in 2012, the Lass O'Gowrie, famous for their Fringe productions of Russell T. Davies' Midnight, Year of the Sex Olympics and Coronation Street together with Scytheplays are tackling another of Alan Moore's seminal works: V for Vendetta.

A timeless tale of anarchy against the system, V for Vendetta has endured ever since its first appearance back in 1982 in Warrior magazine. Popularised by the use of the iconic Guy Fawkes mask by protesters, especially since the 2006 film, the story has entered popular culture in a way few things have managed.

The Hunger Games spearheaded a resurgence in popularity of dystopian stories - or perhaps that fascination has never gone away. The thirst for stories of struggle against tyranny, or the rights of the individual has always been there. Written at the height of dissatisfaction with Thatcher's government and with the threat of nuclear war lurking in the background, V for Vendetta potentially becomes a very real flash-forward, yet has endured and remained relevant ever since.

Set in a dark future society where racial and political “deviants” are arrested and held without charge or trial in internment camps, V for Vendetta is a glimpse into one man's idea to fight the system, and the subsequent lengths this idea will go to fight for freedom.  The stage adaptation is largely successful, the staging area evocatively decked out as V's Shadow Gallery. With a smaller cast of characters than the comic, some of the treatment of citizens in this world has faded, but the central core of V's fight against the state burns more intensely than ever.

Part detective story, part thriller, part noir. V for Vendetta offers a multitude of narratives to its readers/viewers. Sean Mason's stage adaptation is pacy, retaining much of the flavour and content of the comic. Having wisely disposed of many of the action sequences allows for the text to breathe and for the audience to concentrate on the words and the messages within Moore's text.

Photo: Laura Evans

Daniel Thackeray's V not only has height in his favour, but a majestic stage presence. Despite the restrictions imposed by the mask, Thackeray owns the stage with his commanding performance. The gestures he makes to emphasise key words act as much as his voice, which wavers from hysterically manic to chilling in the space of a few words. Thackeray retains the ambiguity over V's status as hero or villain that made V for Vendetta so compelling.

Heroine Evey Hammond (Sinead Parker) undergoes a total transformation as V unfolds. Parker is an astonishingly watchable actress and exudes confidence in herself and Evey. She becomes completely enveloped and wholeheartedly believable as this well-defined character. Cast out from V's lair, her dramatic connection with Paida Noel's subtle and haunting Valerie is a breathtakingly shocking sequence.

Watching the quartet of New Scotland Yard cops on the case is almost like watching a surreal episode of The Thick of It, such is the machinations and bungling occurring within. Eric Finch's attempt to understand V is his undoing, and Marlon Solmon's sympathetic and masterful performance conveys Finch's futility nicely.

Photo: Laura Evans

If Daniel Blake's Almond is the Tony Blair figure of the lot, exuding confidence and a very public face, then Brian Gorman's Creedy is very much a figure in the Gordon Brown mould. An unrespected and petty man, Creedy's letching over Leni Murphy's pitiful Rosemary is chilling to watch. Meanwhile, young Dominic Stone, played with relish by Michael Whittaker undergoes his own desperate journey. The Yard counterpart to Evey, he has a naïve streak that makes the audience root for him.

A dark disturbing look at a world in an unspecified near future, V for Vendetta is scarily near to the knuckle. Of the oppressors who shape V, only Carly Tarett's Delia Sutcliffe is (borderline) sympathetic, and she provides one of the best scenes in the play with a stylish and emotive exit. Both Jez Smith's Prothero and Stuart Hudson's Lilliman are thoroughly unlikeable, and in Lilliman's case compellingly hideous. Weighed up against V's dubious politics, it's up to you to decide who's methods are right.

Whilst V for Vendetta is an accomplished play with a clear amount of work and effort gone into it, transitions between scenes could be a little smoother to allow the overall experience to flow better. The loss of a couple of the iconic images from the comic book is a necessity, but a shame. A lack of clarity to visualise the Houses of Parliament bursting into flames, or the fireworks this creates seemed to be lost on some of the audience watching. This said, V for Vendetta remains immensely watchable, and ruthlessly engaging, and is yet another triumph of the Fringe.

–Matthew Chorlton

• V for Vendetta runs at the Lass O'Gowrie, Charles Street, Manchester until Thursday 10th January with an additional performance on Sunday 13th January. It will return on Sunday 27 January in a double-bill with The Ballad of Halo Jones. Tickets available from WeGotTickets or the Lass bar. 

• For more on V for Vendetta and Lassfest, please go to http://lassfest.co.uk/?p=750

• Matthew Chorlton is the creator of The Fiction Stroker web site: thefictionstroker.wordpress.com

Bringing V for Vendetta to the stage: an interview with Dean Thackeray

Daniel Thackeray as V. Photo: Laura Evans

V for Vendetta is writer Alan Moore and artist David Lloyd's seminal comic series from the 1980s. The story depicts a near-future police state in which a Fascist party called Norsefire hold power. It is against this backdrop that V, an anarchist revolutionary, undertakes a campaign to bring down the government.

Next week, a new stage adaptation of V for Vendetta is being performed at the Lass O'Gowrie pub in Manchester as part of Lassfest (an arts festival featuring comedy, drama and music, as well as various other cultural events). Adapted by Sean Mason (who also adapted Ballad of Halo Jones), we're delighted Matt Badham decided to find out more about this premiere of this new adaptation of this prescient tale of a struggle against oppression in the surveillance society.

In this interview, Matt talks to Daniel Thackeray, who will be portraying V in the new production.

 

Matt Badham: You've said to me that staging V for Vendetta was your idea, although it's Sean Mason who's actually written the script.

Daniel Thackeray: I decided pretty early on that I wanted to act in it, so I stepped back from the production side of things.

Sinead Parker as Evey Hammond and
Daniel Thackeray as V. Photo: Laura Evans

MB: Why do you think the comic is a good choice for a stage adaptation?

DT: We wanted a good quality follow-up to [our adaptation of] The Ballad of Halo Jones, which is also an Alan Moore property. We're on quite good terms with Alan Moore and some of the rights-holders for his various works. 

Both Halo and V have similar points to make and they were both written at roughly the same time, in the 1980s. There's criticism of consumerism, capitalism, the herd mentality of people and the way that governments can be somewhat uncaring when it comes to the needs of their citizens. It seemed logical that if people enjoyed Halo and engaged with it as a stage adaptation -- and we did get some good reviews for it and positive feedback from audiences -- they would like V for Vendetta as well. Possibly more, because I think it's arguably more relevant to our current times.

MB: What specific challenges have there been in putting V for Vendetta, a comic, on stage?

DT: V is an unusual comic in that it's actually very verbose. This is one of the reasons I thought it would be good as a stage play. It's dialogue-heavy and the art style is quite deliberately grim and gritty. That's a good stylistic choice when it comes to representing this slightly drab life that everybody is living in the comic. It's a world that can be presented quite easily on stage.

MB: I suppose the term that could be used is kitchen sink…

DT: Yes. However, one challenge was that V for Vendetta does have quite a few action sequences in it that we've had to change or remove. We've either placed those off-stage or simplified them. There's a big scene where V takes down five cops and we couldn't do it. You could do it on-stage - but you can't do it on-stage in a small space, which is what we've got to work with.

We're taking the opposite approach to the film adaptation, which I think emphasised and even extended the action sequences and turned V into an action hero. We imply that he is a capable fighter but we don't see most of the fights themselves. Instead, it's mainly his theatricality and his politics that are emphasised in our version.

V Police: Creedy (Brian Gorman), Finch (Marlon Solomon) and Stone (Michael Whittaker) Photo: Laura Evans

MB: Can you give me a specific example of your approach to the action sequences?

DT: There's a scene in the comic on a train where V appears and kills two cops and kidnaps [Norsefire propagandist] Lewis Prothero. That's totally gone. Prothero just wakes up in V's lair.

Larkhill's Dr. Surridge (Carly Tarret), Lewis Prothero (Jeremy Smith) and Bishop Lilliman (Stuart Hudson)

MB: And that works?

DT: In the comic, you have a later scene where police officers talk about what has happened and the fact that Prothero has been kidnapped. And that is actually a bit pointless because you've already seen it all. But in the play, it works well for us as a device to explain the detail of the kidnapping.

MB: Are we still going to get that sense of V as a deadly figure? As someone to be feared?

Photo: Laura Evans

DT: Yes. In the dialogue we emphasise points that are mentioned in the comic, like the fact that he kills with his bare hands. He does have a thing of using knives but there is also this detail that he will sometimes 'stab' people with his fingers, which indicates both his physical power and his terrifying determination.

MB: I suppose the police procedural elements that exist in parts of the comic are a bit of a gift in that they offer valuable opportunities for exposition.

DT: Yes. Like I said before, it is all very 'talky'. But there are some striking visuals there too, of course. Theatre needs strong imagery and V, if you get him right, provides that with his mask and the way he talks and the way he moves.

MB: Just before we finish, it's probably worth mentioning that Halo Jones is coming back to the Lass and that there will be a V for Vendetta and Ballad of Halo Jones double-bill.

DT: Yes. It will be both plays on the same day with a two-hour break so people can grab a bite to eat and mingle.

Photo: Laura Evans

MB: That seems as good a place as any to end this short chat. Thanks for your time, Dan, during what I know is a fairly frantic rehearsal period as you gear up for your first show.

DT: No worries. Thank you.

• V for Vendetta at the LassFest features V, played by Daniel Thackeray; Evey Hammond - Sinead Parker; Creedy - Brian Gorman; Finch - Marlon Solomon; Stone - Michael Whittaker; Dr. Surridge - Carly Tarret; Lewis Prothero - Jeremy Smith; and Bishop Lilliman - Stuart Hudson.

• All photos by Laura Evans

• For more on V for Vendetta and Lassfest, please go to http://lassfest.co.uk/?p=750

Alan Moore releases single in support of Occupy and Anonymous

Art: AD

Anonymous and Occupy supporters around the world are in for a special treat today, Monday 5th November, as Alan Moore, author of Watchmen and V for Vendetta from which those infamous Guy Fawkes masks became popularised, releases his first ever single as a world exclusive through Occupation Records, the record label born out of the Occupy movement.

The song, entitled 'The Decline of English Murder', tells the story of the 'English murder' imposed on the people by the greed of the banks and incompetence of the state, and is written and sung by Moore with music by Joe Brown.

Available to download via the Occupation Records website (www.occupationrecords.com), with the chance of one lucky person to win an Alan Moore signed V for Vendetta mask, this is the first single to be released from Occupation Records' upcoming second album.

A supporter of Occupy from the beginning, Alan Moore visited the Occupy London Stock Exchange camp by St Paul's in London, where he said of the Occupy movement: "A tidal wave cannot be said to have succeeded or failed. All that it can be said to have done is changed things. Often monumental ... I would say to critics - what are you doing about the current situation. If you are happy with it, what the hell is wrong with you?"

The release of Alan's track comes on the day that almost 5,000 people are potentially set to re-enact the final scene of V for Vendetta by descending on the British Parliament as part of Anonymous' Operation Vendetta (#OpVendetta), alongside other actions around the world and online.

"While tomorrow Americans decide if a candidate who ran on "change" four years ago keeps his job, we know that change never comes from leaders but always from the people. Alan's character "V" understood that perhaps better than most and why we are honoured to be able to release it," said Adam Jung, Artist Relations at Occupation Records. "As Anons prepare to march on Parliament in London, and Occupy Wall Street coordinates post-Sandy relief efforts in New York, Alan's song is an appropriate gift to the people."

Occupation Records - set up to spread the word and benefit the Occupy movement through music - on 17th September, in collaboration with Occupy Guitarmy, released a version of 'Which Side Are You On?' with Jello Biafra, Tom Morello, Occupy Guitarmy & more, recorded live at Foley Square with proceeds going to the Occupy Wall St. #S17 Bail Fund. Its debut album - Folk the Banks - was released in June 2012 on a pay what you can afford basis featuring 17 tracks from artists including Billy Bragg, Tom Morello, Ani DiFranco, Get Cape. Wear Cape and more.

The collective behind Occupation Records, who are currently involved as activists with Occupy Wall St and Occupy London, came together at the Occupy London Stock Exchange camp, putting on events with Thom Yorke (Radiohead), 3D from Massive Attack, Ani Di Franco, Billy Bragg, Enter Shikari, Alabama 3 and more.

• Occupation Records: www.occupationrecords.com

99 Per Cent launch record label - backed by Alan Moore

Occupation Records: The 99 per cent to launch a record label from You and I Films on Vimeo.

Occupation Records is a benefit record label set up to fund Occupy London and the global occupy movement. The label is run under the ethos of Occupy and has recently been backed by V for Vendetta creator Alan Moore.

In the drive to gain funds for the project, Occupation Records are offering signed "V" masks by Alan, as well as signed copies of V for Vendetta, limited and signed prints by Jamie Reid (who designed all the Sex Pistols album art) as well as vinyls, CD's and T's in exchange for donations to support the label and the work of Occupy.

"Music has the power to inspire and reach people who haven't heard about Occupy yet - and that's what Occupation Records intends to do," said a team spokesperson. "Also lots of artists want to find a way to help and thank those already involved and we can help them with that.

"We are creating a new record label that plans to help musicians and artists around the world to get involved, build, support and fund the Occupy movement in London, around the UK and Ireland, and globally.

"All profits from Occupation Records releases will go to Occupy London, occupations across the UK and Ireland, and the global movement."

Financial support will help fund start up costs for Occupation Records as they prepare for the release of the Folk the Banks album - and the other four albums currently being lined up! The initial funding asked for includes office set up costs, marketing, licensing, manufacturing and worldwide distribution costs.

• To fund the project and be in with the opportunity to grab some of those goodies, visit: www.sponsume.com/project/occupation-records-99-cent-launch-record-label

V for Vendetta Original Art on eBay

The artwork for V for Vendetta
offered on eBay

I'm selling an original piece of art from Alan Moore and David Lloyd's classic story V for Vendetta on eBay.

With the byline "We shouldn't have to live like this" - a line from the page - the art was first first published in Warrior Issue 19 (June 1984) and forms part of Book 2, Chapter 6: Variety.

The art came to me via David after I helped him with some pre-production work for another of his wonderful comics, Espers, back in the 1980s.

Initially appearing in Dez Skinn's Warrior, V for Vendetta was ultimately completed as a ten-issue dystopian comic book series published by Vertigo. It's a story set in a dystopian future United Kingdom imagined from the 1980s to about the 1990s in which a mysterious revolutionary calling himself "V" works to destroy the totalitarian government, profoundly affecting the people he encounters.

The page as it appeared
in print in Warrior

The series depicts a near-future Britain after a nuclear war, which has left much of the world destroyed, though most of the damage to Britain is indirect, via floods and crop failures. In this future, a fascist party called "Norsefire" has exterminated its opponents in concentration camps and now rules the country as a police state.

"V", an anarchist revolutionary dressed in a Guy Fawkes mask, begins an elaborate, violent, and intentionally theatrical campaign to murder his former captors, bring down the government, and convince the people to rule themselves.

On the page being auctioned, after watching another gangster get beaten to death for the crime of speaking the truth, Evey asks her companion, Gordon, "We shouldn't have to live like this.  Should we?"

Gordon's answer:  "No, kid, we shouldn't.  What are you going to do about it?"

"In one of the best word-image juxtapositions in a comic that's loaded with them, V watches over this exchange," notes fan Marc Singer on his blog, "departing silently after hearing Gordon's complacent, defeatist answer."

Detail from the page for sale from V for Vendetta

This is original art by David Lloyd in very good condition. Be warned: I set a high reserve on this, which it has already met, given the amounts past pieces have sold for - and I will be making a donation to from the hoped-for sale to "Cartoon Classroom", a project I know is dear to David's heart.

The ambition of the Classroom is to provide a means of centralising all information available on the study of cartooning and sequential art in the UK and Ireland, and to facilitate easy access to tutors in these subjects for all recognised educational institutions.

• View the item here on eBay


• More about V for Vendetta on 'The Shadow Gallery'

Unpublished V for Vendetta offered in charity auction

David Lloyd is offering V for Vendetta fans a once in a lifetime opportunity to own a one off, never published page featurng the character originally created for Warrior by him and Alan Moore.

Offered on eBay, this is a silent "last page" from the series, especially drawn for an auction to benefit the family of a fallen Phoenix police officer and Army National Guardsman.

"I wanted to something special for this cause – so I thought I'd do a whole page," says David. "It's the only sequential action page to be drawn since I completed the last page of the story itself - and I'll never do another." says Lloyd.

Rendered in brush and ink, the silent scene depicts the iconic V giving an untitled book to Evey in the Shadow Gallery. If you've ever been lucky enough to see a page David's physical art, you'll know his work is absolutely stunning and this piece is sure to be much sought after.

On 3rd October 2009, Staff Sergeant Tom Rabjohn was deployed in Afghanistan as an Explosive Ordinance Disposal Team Leader. Tom was killed in action when he shielded two soldiers from the blast of an Improvised Explosive Device.

Tom served the United States of America in the Arizona National Guard and with the Phoenix Police Department. You can learn more of his story below:





100% of the proceeds for the auction - the current bid is $1000 - will go to a college fund established for Tom's three daughters.

International bidders welcome: the art will be shipped directly from David Lloyd.

• The auction ends on 15th December 2010 and can be viewed here on eBay: http://cgi.ebay.com/260703636706

• For more comic art offered in aid of this charity see www.comicartfans.com/GalleryRoom.asp?GSub=97294
 

C For Cartoon Classroom

Cartoon Classroom is a free resource website set up by David Lloyd, Steve Marchant and Paul Gravett which aims to centralise all the information available on the study of cartooning and sequential art in the UK and the Republic Of Ireland.

As we've previously reported, it aims to serve libraries, schools, colleges and museums by directing them to creators who teach in these specialised areas via workshops and talks and to direct those who wish to find training in these areas for the wildest range of educational opportunities that can be found for them on a local and national basis.

Now, to help raise funds for the site, artist David Lloyd has put four V For Vendetta illustrations that he did at the opening night of the Comica Festival at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London on Guy Fawkes night, 5th November 2009, onto eBay. The auctions for the four illustrations end after 11pm GMT on Sunday 29 November 2009.

Of Cartoon Classroom, Lloyd says, "the general public can often flounder trying to find what they need in this area of the arts. As I suffered from this lack of specialised knowledge in my tortured past, I wanted to lend my support to helping fix this situation for others."

• Details of the four sketches can be found on eBay.

• More details about Cartoon Classroom can be found on its website.