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 In the reworking by Britain's Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy,
which had its premiere on Wednesday at London's National
Theatre, the 15th-century work whose original creator is
unknown, and has inspired numerous versions over the years,
becomes a tale for our times.
Ejiofor's "Ev" is a successful man-about-town and serial
womanizer celebrating a 40th birthday that is to be his last in
his penthouse flat with friends.
Kate Duchene plays God as a cleaning lady who as the play opens
says she sweeps the floor before the parties and mops up
afterwards.
Dermot Crowley is Death in a white jumpsuit who speaks in an
Irish brogue and spurns Ev's blandishments of cash to change his
fate after delivering the bad news: Ev must die.
"I'm Death, God's heavy, if you like," Death tells a
disbelieving Ev who is only convinced when he touches Death's
icy hand.
Death tells Ev he has only a short time to come up with the
balance sheet of his life, to show God his good deeds to counter
his sins and omissions.
Ev - who has not bothered to visit his aged parents in years,
has cheated on his wives and does not give a toss about the
planet, the poor or anything but his own hedonistic pursuit of
women, wealth and luxury goods - realizes it does not look good.
He tries to persuade his birthday guests to appear with him
before God to plead his case, but they think he has lost it and
leave. His parents are overjoyed when he pays them a rare visit
but are stunned by his revelation of his impending fate.
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"I met Death," he says, to which his lesbian sister, played by
Michelle Butterly, who has been caring for her elderly parents while
Ev ignores them, retorts: "Namedropper."
Ev's only ally appears when he ends up sleeping on the street and
meets Knowledge, played by Penny Layden. Ev begins to see himself
for the selfish, thoughtless, uncaring and unfeeling person he has
become.
There is no need for a "spoiler alert"; it is clear from the outset
that Ev will die. But his road there is entertaining and
thought-provoking, for example when a gold-suited quartet of
purveyors of the luxury goods Ev covets spurns his entreaties to
help him put his case to God.
"We don't do souls, we do sales," they say.
Ejiofor is convincing as the smooth operator who belatedly sees the
light, but the entire cast is terrific and the production a strong
debut for Rufus Norris, who this year replaced Nicholas Hytner as
the National's Artistic Director.
(Michael Roddy is the Entertainment Editor for Reuters in Europe.
The views expressed are his own.)
(Writing by Michael Roddy; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
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