Erin Harrington reviews Richard O’Brien’s The Kingdom of Bling, at the Isaac Theatre Royal, Wednesday 16 October 2024.
Richard O’Brien’s new fantasy rock musical The Kingdom of Bling is a little like Badjelly the Witch for grownups: a political, satirical one-act radio play, performed live by an impressive emsemble of theatrical A-listers and a pair of excellent child performers. A three-piece band (led by Zac Johns) slams out an engaging, high energy series of rock numbers across a range of styles. It’s an enormous privilege to be able to see O’Brien narrate this work, which is raising money for Starship Children’s Hospital. In this ‘Celebration of Kindness’ tour, he’s charismatic and utterly compelling; even before everyone walks out on stage, the feeling in the room is electric.
Two young children fall asleep and find themselves on an unexpected journey into dreamland. It’s one inspired by the international impact of American cultural and political imperialism, specifically (as O’Brien has put it) “the dreadfulness of Donald Trump’s presence in the world”.
As the twins wend their way towards the Kingdom of Bling, they meet unusual and sometimes unsettling characters: yawning giants, trolls, boorish patriots puffed up with a militant sense of self-importance, yammering yes-men. They are brought before The ‘He’ – Nic Kyle, in a great cobalt blue suit, offering a pitch-perfect Trump impersonation. The leader slithers his way through various post-truth machinations, while a slippery Aussie Mr Fox – a proxy for Rupert Murdoch – looks to spin the upset of the children’s arrival favourably.
O’Brien’s witty, rhythmic script evokes a fairytale tone, but also satirically probes the feckless, post-truth shiftiness of politicians and their inundation of bullshit. This nightmare world’s key problem is a “poverty of empathy”, in which individualistic self-advancement trumps (so to speak) compassion and kindness. The work targets greed, power for its own sake, rampant materialism, cultural myopia, and bigotry, balancing comedy and horror. It particularly asks how the American religious right can so thoroughly embrace cruelty and inequality in the name of piety. It’s blackly funny. It’s also painfully easy to apply the critiques to some of our own political context.
The Kingdom of Bling is a really engaging work, but I end up wanting more, given the nightmare dissipates with the children hoping that this is something that can be avoided in the future. (Images of queues of early voters and a catastrophically broken political system in the US signals maybe not.) Perhaps it’s a bit much to be asking a dream for a more tangible call to action, but this 40-minute performance seems (hopefully) more like the first act in something longer.
After the show I say to my friend that live radio plays are one of my favourite things, which gets a weird look from someone nearby. It’s true though; as adults it’s rare to sit down and be told a story, to be a part of the dramatic world, especially one conjured by someone as captivating and legendary as O’Brien. It’s a terrific cast –Nic Kyle, Rima Te Wiata, Justin Rodgers, Paul Barrett, Bryony Skillington and Patrick Kelly. There’s real pleasure in watching seasoned professionals enjoy themselves as they play against one another, scripts in hand. They perform on the Isaac Theatre Royal’s large stage without formal costume or set, just a row of seats and a couple of microphones, and some nicely lit gathered gauze curtains behind.
The two young performers Carla Ladstaetter and Barnaby Domigan, who recently performed in The Court Theatre’s production of Fun Home, are great. They hold focus in the centre of the stage, acting in the moment, responding to the fairy-tale stylisation without ever hamming it up.
I just wish there were a programme. Nobody is really introduced, and I’d particularly love to know more about the songs. The show’s smart cascade of alliteration, assonance, wordplay really demands multiple listens. What a pleasure to see this new work, though, in an audience hanging on every word and clever lyric, and to leave wanting more.
The ‘Celebration of Kindness’ tour of The Kingdom of Bling is currently travelling the motu – dates here.
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