Brighton Rock, Birmingham REP - review

The story revolves around' lowlife characters with a questionable moral compass’, as writer Bryony Lavery puts it.

Murder, brutality, protection rackets, mob rivalry and betrayal run through this Graham Greene classic which has been adapted for the stage by Lavery, who is best known for her play Frozen.

But also at the heart of the thriller are the juxtaposition of good and bad, of life and death and also an intrinsic religious theme as the ‘sinners’ wrestle with their Catholic upbringings and beliefs.

Protagonists Pinkie and Rose are just 17 and 16 years old. Yet Pinkie has quickly risen to be the leader of a small-time Brighton mob with blood on his hands and a rival gang on his back.

She is a waitress who finds herself caught up in Pinkie’s world and desperate to hold onto the man she loves.

Jacob James Beswick, in the role of Pinkie, has all the swagger and bluff of a boy trying to prove he is a man but offers glimpses of innocence such as when faced with sexual encounters.

The cruel, ruthless and ambitious streak in the man-child is there in abundance but Beswick manages to evoke some empathy as we see the Catholic boy trying to fulfil the lofty position he has created for himself and spiralling into more misery.

Sarah Middleton is a wonderful Rose oozing blind devotion and rose-tinted romanticism in her relationship with Pinkie but flashes of steel as she is prepared to do almost anything for her man.

Threatening to rip the rug from under their fragile world in her desperate quest to ensure good conquers bad is Ida, played by Gloria Onitiri.

Fun-loving barmaid Ida turns detective to avenge a man she knew for only a few hours, Pinkie’s first victim, and refuses to give up on her relentless pursuit of the young couple.

Ida is described as ‘both heroic and fascinating’ by Lavery and certainly could not have put a better actress in the role. Onitiri is animated and engaging, she steals almost every scene and portrays Ida’s determination, strength, warmth and goodness as well as injecting some light relief from the tension with her infectious laughter.

Onitiri, who was a formidable Cruella de Vil in 101 Dalmations at the Rep at Christmas, is also an accomplished singer although too much dialogue was uttered while she was singing making it difficult to follow.

With so much action in this fast-moving production, slickly carried out with the help of the Dark Angels scene changers, you could not afford to miss a word.

Pilot Theatre are to be congratulated on a clever adaptation of Greene’s intense, suspenseful thriller which is still able to exploit the many thought-provoking themes he invoked to leave the audience pondering the performance for days.

Runs at Birmingham Rep until Saturday.