As it’s become part of our culture, everyone knows about the core idea of Catch-22 which is along the lines of: “If you are crazy, you can be discharged from army combat. But you have to apply to be discharged, and that demonstrates that you are not crazy so you will not be discharged”.
But the play – swinging between the horror of facing death with every bombing mission and losing so many colleagues and the warped morals of the Government, officers and men is studded with similar conundrums but also catches the lighter moments of life at war whether singing, dancing or romancing.
The book jumps back and forth in time and weaves in and out of the characters’ psyches and this is portrayed effectively in the production – so if you haven’t read the book, you’ll struggle.
The set design was fantastic – with a large stylised twin prop silver bomber slanted dramatically across the stage which was cleverly used for hospital, office and other backdrops. I also loved the loud recordings of planes taking off and flying overhead.
There were some stand-out performances. Philip Arditti as Yossarian was thoroughly believable. David Webber as Doc Daneeka and Major Major was incredible. And the short burst from whoever played the psychiatrist was pure theatre magic. And the final “I want to be a general” tantrum and group dance routine were laugh out loud funny.
As an aside, a little old lady had perked up at the advance board warning that the production contained male nudity – and it was prolonged exposure but such an integral part of the story and so naturally done it didn’t shock.
To be honest, I struggled during the first half (particularly with the American accents) and the chap to my left dozed off and didn’t return for the second half which I thought had more pace and more humour. However, my (male) companion for the evening had read the book several times – he claimed it was a right of passage thing - and thoroughly enjoyed the play (although he preferred the first half).
It’s a three hour production.
http://www.atgtickets.com/shows/catch-22/richmond-theatre/ It’s playing at Richmond Theatre until Saturday 28th June.
http://www.northernstage.co.uk/whats-on/catch-22
