Review - You, Nero
We went to see this new play at the rather lovely Berkeley Rep theatre last night, and while I think it’s fair to say all of our party enjoyed it, we did so with reservations. I think on the whole the performers rose above the quality of their material.
The play tells the story of Nero, as seen through the eyes of the dramatist Scribonius, drafted into the court to tell Nero’s story to the people and make the emperor more acceptable. At first horrified by the prospect, the author begins to see some hope that he might actually change Nero for the better through his work. The play shows Scribonius drawn deeper into the court’s intrigues as he attempts to hold on (not always successfully) to both his artistic and personal integrity. The historical backdrop (particularly the complicated family relationships at the Roman court around this time) was solid as far as I can remember, and helped ground the somewhat lightweight production.
The play was written with its lead actor, Danny Scheie (Nero) in mind, and both author and director have noted that knowing his performance style made it easier for them to bring the play together. He certainly makes the most of a complex character, being a combination of camp, uncertain, loving, homicidal, crazed and tragic, often all in the same scene. Which makes it odder that really, this is Scribonius’ play. He’s the first and last person we see on stage, the narrator, and if a story is about how its protagonists are changed, then it’s categorically his tale - Nero is resolutely unchanged either by the circumstances he experiences or Scribonius’ efforts. Jeff McCarthy gives the dramatist a certain conviction even as he occasionally falls to his own less noble instincts.
But the problem here is that the play seems oddly pointless (really in both senses - it feels slight and inconsequential, but also lacks ‘a point’). It comes across as a morality tale wrapped up in a campy comedy, but exactly what the moral might be eluded us. It could be about the danger of absolute power, but equally it might be about giving in to one’s baser side. It’s presumably not about trying to use art to affect the world for good, since Scribonius fails in his every effort to do so. But given the way the the staging outweighs the content, it might equally be a warning not to stage American Idol in the Colosseum.
The reviews are full of comments about it being a two hour laugh riot. We laughed, but not that much.