A Clockwork Orange

Review By: Chris Boccard
ChrisBoccard@TheCinemaSource.com

As we walked up to the theatre at 59 East 59th Street I asked myself, “Is this going to be like the movie, because the movie was awesome!” My expectations were high for this show and I don’t like being disappointed. I walked into the theatre and noticed that it was a black box theatre with the audience sitting 360 degrees around it.

There, lying on the floor, listening to one of Beethoven’s many symphonies, was the lead character of the show Alex; played by the ridiculously ripped, Randy Falcon. I sat there thinking, “I hope this isn’t going to be an art piece.” Then when the lights dimmed and Alex started talking to the audience I was captured. From Alex’s first speech I was sucked right into his world and I felt like I was in the show with him. The action is played out inches from your feet, which serves to draw you in even further to all of the violence and the intense emotions of the piece. In particular, the scenes depicting gang rapes and brutal beatings are so realistically executed, I was literally emotionally drained and feeling quite helpless by the end. Being an actor myself, this was very exciting.

When the script was originally penned in 1971, the story was set in the “near-future.” However, from a modern perspective we are actually looking at the early 1980’s. A Clockwork Orange follows Alex, the leader of the “droogs,” BillyBoy, Dim and Pete, (played by Gregory Konow, Dave Macniven and Mike Roche) on a wild ride full of violence and classical music. The language these men use is called NADSAT, a combination of the English and Russian language. (Hence the term “droogs,” which in Russian actually means, friends.) One night after drinking at a milk bar, where the milk is freshened up with some drugs, the droogs head out to do their nasty deeds for the night. They break into a woman’s house and Alex beats her to death. Once the droogs realize that Alex has done wrong they beat him up and leave him for the cops to find. Alex is convicted of murder and placed in jail, and at this time he’s only 14 years old.

Two years later, Alex, now 16, is entered into an experimental rehabilitation program that will supposedly “change his evil ways” and allow him to be free again. Dr. Brodsky, played by Julie E. Fitzpatrick, is the mastermind behind the experiment. Alex is made to watch gruesome movies of violence while listening to Beethoven. Doctors carefully monitor his responses as Alex begins to feel sick, eventually throwing up, from the pain of watching the films. In the long run, Beethoven’s music ends up being what makes him sick. The only real thing that made Alex happy was his music, which ironically becomes the catalyst for a true living nightmare.

I’m going to ...