In Review: The Ballad of Halo Jones stage play

(Re-posted here with the kind permission of Matthew Charlton from the Fictionstrker blog)

The Story: Halo Jones lives on the Hoop, a futuristic floating slum tethered to a future Manhattan. Citizens of the Hoop live on State Benefit and a diet of soap operas. Halo wants out, and when her best friend is murdered and another joins a youth cult called the Drummers, she might just get that chance…

First created by Alan Moore and drawn by Ian Gibson as a comic strip for 2000AD, their aim was to break out the mold of one-dimensional comic strip characters and create a ordinary heroine – something unlike what was in the comic at that time. The rest, as they say, is history...

The Review: [Not for the first time, as we noted in our first news item on this new adaptation], Alan Moore’s timeless story of the 51st century girl next door made a surprisingly smooth transition to stage back in January. The critical reception made it a logical choice to remount, and where better than the UK’s premier comic convention – Thought Bubble! But as we see, The Ballad of Halo Jones has undergone a few changes since its original staging..

Halo Jones originally first appeared in weekly anthology comic 2000AD in 1984, written by Alan Moore and drawn by Ian Gibson, it turned ‘typical’ 2000AD on its head. Instead of an action hero, it has as its main character an ordinary woman and an unemployed one at that. And where 2000AD was known for its satire, then and now, Halo Jones’ tale of poverty and unemployment resonates. Here people identified with Halo, rather than the authority figures featured elsewhere in the comic.

Not only that, but where 2000AD normally features slang in place of people or more obvious words, Halo Jones takes this to another level with the slang used by the characters, and specifically, the recurring newscaster Swifty Friscoe. Zoe Iqbal reprises her hilarious role as Swifty in this production. Iqbal captures Swifty’s ridiculous nature down to a tee, accentuating every pout and movement with unique style. Cheekily flirting with the audience, she is a vital window into events.

One of Halo Jones’ biggest successes is the world it builds. Carly Tarrett’s Brinna, and Will Hutchby’s Toby meet Halo’s mother as she arrives on the Hoop in a prologue. Adam Beresford, in the first of four demanding, but comic cameos, introduces Halo’s mother to the concept of Increased Leisure Citizens – or the great unemployed. These unfortunates are kept in line and in check on the Hoop through the use of Mam Cards giving credit every thirty days.

Tarrett’s Brinna is a revelation. She effortlessly conveys the timeless wisdom of someone over a century old in a youthful body. Hutchby’s Toby quizzically cocks his head (but thankfully not his leg!) throughout the play. His silky smooth tones are almost perfectly robotic when dispensing Toby’s one-liners.

Less effective is Toby’s appearance, the stocking over his head and jaw mouthpiece not wholly convincing. Always going to be a contentious issue with such highly regarded source material, top marks must go to Hutchby for managing to convey a canine presence through his body language alone.

In a sensible creative decision from Director Dan Thackeray, a projector screen at the stage rear takes visual cues from the comic strip, treating the audience to flashes of Ian Gibson’s iconic artwork. Even more successful is the incredible soundscape of Halo. Atmospheric effects take you from the Hoop with its writhing crowds to the snowy wilderness of Charlemagne via the ethereal songs of the Clara Pandy.

Morag Peacock’s Halo makes an understated entrance to the stage, but remains at all times at the heart of the story. Her humanity and radiance shines through as her desperate yearn to escape becomes more and more apparent. Yet, her vulnerability and story really come to the fore when her world falls apart, and her escape becomes a deadly dance of cat and mouse.

In comparison to Halo, Rodice Olsun is! on paper, a much more unsympathetic character. The status quo defines Rodice. Instead of working the system, the system works her, making her afraid of the outside and turning her into everything that Halo isn’t. Yet Sinead Parker’s comedic background pays dividends with a very witty and funny portrayal. With the lion’s share of gags, Parker moulds her into a force to be reckoned with.

Rounding off the ladies of the Hoop is newcomer Ellie Beesley as Ludy, the Ice Ten singer broken by the Hoop. Beesley shows promise at such a young age, no mean feat, especially as the part requires her to sing live to the audience.

Ross Kelly and Ian Winterton’s script manages to turn the soapy, episodic nature of the second book into a much more fulfilling experience. Halo’s death-defying experiences on the Clara Pandy culminate in one particularly effective sequence as she meets the Rat King.

Added into this mix is Halo’s new sidekick, Leni Murphy’s Toy. Murphy, again playing a space siren brings a mixture of steel and care to Toy with some amusing moments as she rebuffs Adam Beresford’s advances and shares some touching scenes with Halo.

Sean Mason brings in a particularly memorable performance as the Gl.. Ge.. er.. who? Joking aside, Mason brings a tangible depth to an unforgettable and mysterious character who is easily one of the more interesting things about the second act. Marvellously obvilious to Halo’s attempts at advances, Marlon Solomon flexes his comedic muscles with some impeccable comic timing as cybernetic obsessed Mix Ninegold.

With a reworked, and slightly less optimistic, ending more in tune with the comics, we are promised that Halo Jones will return, possibly hinting at an adaptation of the third book.

A few technical niggles aside, the presentation of Halo Jones was pretty much as good as it could get on stage. With a larger stage and reimagined visuals and sound, it feels more epic than ever and has clearly grown and organically evolved from its previous incarnation only earlier this year! One thing is for sure; The Ballad of Halo Jones has lost none of its relevance or style and continues to be as rich as when it was first published.

• The Fiction Stroker is actually Matt, a Environmental Consultant from just outside Manchester. By day, he’s recycling various floorcoverings into new exciting products. By night, he's either out at local events, watching some (variable) telly, or reading on his Kindle. He has a lot to talk about. Check out his blog at: http://thefictionstroker.wordpress.com



 

Turtle frenzy in Hamleys!

Devoted Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fans turned up at Hamleys toyshop on London’s Regent Street this morning for the exclusive early launch of the new toy range. For one day only early birds had the chance of snapping-up a limited edition Night Shadow Leonardo figure.

 The brand new Turtles toy collection will launch nationwide on 1st December just in time for Christmas.

Dandy countdown to electronic makeover continues...

The latest Dandy comic - counting down to the final print edition, on sale at the beginning of December - features a cover from what we're told is the 1967 Dandy annual featuring Korky the Cat. (Thanks to George Shiers for the info)

The issue has some great strips including Terry Bave's Winker Watson, a remake of the classic Corporal Clott by Nigel Auchterlounie and a reprint of the Charlie Grigg Korky strip from the '67 annual.

Over on the official Dandy website the clock continues to count down to the relaunch of the title as a digital edition... Just nine days to go!

Photo Review: Thought Bubble 2012 Part 1

Last weekend the two day Thought Bubble comic convention took place in Leeds as part of the week long comic art festival. The event has grown in leaps and bounds since its inception in 2007 and this year demand from sellers for its 300 odd tables meant that they sold out months in advance. Indeed the keenness of some attendees was shown on the wet Saturday morning when sellers entering the halls over 1.5 hours before the official doors open time were walking past people already queueing for the 10am start.

Thought Bubble is a true celebration of the diversity of the modern British comics scene, from veteran professionals, via all the various levels of what gets grouped as 'small press', to the lovingly crafted pieces that would seem as much at home in a craft fair. There was something for everyone, from the hardened con-goer wanting sketches or original art boards from a specific artist to the children who walked around collecting "Phoenix feathers" from the various contributors to the weekly Phoenix comic to take back to the title's own table.

Other events seem to get dominated by themes, such as MCM Expo with manga/anime and its cosplayers, or Kapow and the London Super Convention with the US superhero clique, but Thought Bubble, while having manga, anime and superheroes as part of it, gives the impression of a much greater diversity in its make-up. Of course attendees could buy manga books and Marvel and DC superheroes, but they could also buy Victor, Warlord, Blast, Deadline, 2000AD and the Judge Dredd Megazine.

Thanks to Lisa Wood and her organising team, their red shirted volunteers, and the girls (and some boys) of the Roller Derby squads, Thought Bubble 2012 was a great success and a very positive re-enforcement for both attendees and creators that, despite dwindling sales in the weekly and biweekly publishing sector, there remains a great passion in Britain for comics in all their various forms.

Rather than review such a large and diverse event instead we present a photo round up (in no particular order) of a selection of the creators and sellers that exhibited at Thought Bubble, plus a few others that caught our attention along the way. With the event split over two halls, part one will roughly cover the Royal Armouries Hall (above) while part two tomorrow will cover the larger New Dock Hall.

Bandes dessinees publisher Cinebook were the first dealer that many people would have visited as they were just at the door to the Royal Armouries Hall. Here Cinebook's Aldous Russell shows off the excellent and brand new Berlin - The Seven Dwarves which was reviewed on downthetubes the week before Thought Bubble.

There are more details of all Cinebook's titles on their website.

Another Thought Bubble attendee featured on downthetubes in the week before the convention was Star Wars artist Tanya Roberts. Tanya gave us an interview about her work in which she told us about her first self published title Forgotten Muse which she released at Thought Bubble, and which she described on the Saturday night as "selling like hot-cakes".

There are more details of Tanya's work and Forgotten Muse on her website.

Writer and editor Paul Von Scott is well known in the British comics scene for the titles Solar Wind and OmniVistaScope. His latest title is The Last Days Of Man, a compilation of all the various work that he has done with artist Paul McCaffrey, and which is subtitled A Study Of Human History By Professor Brabblepap. Paul also creates role playing games as well as the range of Midlam Miniatures RPG figures and he had a selection of these for sale as well.

There are more details of Paul's comics, games and miniatures on his OmniVistaScope website

Glasgow collective Team Girl Comic were at Thought Bubble in force with a wide selection of merchandise from all six issues of TGC to branded bags, postcards and badges. Kat Sicard, Claire Yvette and Coleen Campbell (left to right above) were also joined by Iona Mowat, Mhairi Hislop and TGC editor Gillian Hatcher. 

There are more details of Team Girl Comic on their website.

With the Judge Dredd based fan made film Judge Minty being screened several times over the weekend to very positive reviews from those who were lucky enough to see it, it was unsurprising to see the Planet Replicas version of the judge uniform on display around the event with model Lauren Integra as their petite Psi-Judge.

However, as if just to prove that cosplayers do not need a huge budget, Martin and Frankie Currie were also attracting a lot of attention due to their remarkable ingenuity with cardboard and paint.

Saturday ended with a evening social event in the beautifully restored Leeds Corn Exchange, complete with enormous Christmas tree, which either went well if you gave in to the call of the dance floor or not so well if you wanted to talk over the increasingly deafening music and see people through the decreasing light levels. The walk back to the Royal Armouries area afterwards showed that the New Dock itself is perhaps even more striking at night than it is in the daylight.

There will be more Thought Bubble photos in Part 2 tomorrow.