Explosive, unapologetic, the ultimate tribute to this Hollywood icon
Once upon a time in Hammersmith, Riverside Studios presents Tarantino Live: Fox Force Five & The Tyranny of Evil. At first glance, It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what this experience is designed to be. Tarantino the musical? The concert? The cabaret? In truth, probably a combination of all three. In short, It’s a fast-paced theatrical extravaganza, focusing less on a poignant plot and more on a roller coaster recreation of Tarantino’s most famous scenes live on stage. All this is stitched together with infamous characters breaking into classic Hollywood songs, much like you’d expect to find within a West-End musical.
On paper, it sounds like a commercially ambitious recipe for disaster, and trust me, I embraced myself for the evening ahead ready to carve out my criticism. As it turns out, this production exceeded in its theatrical ventre, giving us an explosive, unapologetic tribute to the iconic Director, Quentin Tarantino.
After the seemingly flat opening featuring a monologue from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, the action suddenly erupts on stage with the harrowing sound of a gunshot from above. A suited and booted gangster descends a scaffolded staircase and we’re introduced to the Reservoir Dogs, pouring onto the stage from every angle. Much to the audience’s delight, these gangsters begin spitting recognisable dialogue before, to my surprise, bursting into a cabaret, burlesque-like routine. Initially, it seemed like a mocking insult – a parody rather than a celebration of Tarantino’s work. Then, as the production took flight, the accuracy and commitment of their recreations proved to me otherwise.
A creative choice which well served this production was their suggestion of the notable characters rather than the attempt to impersonate, (again, diminishing any hint of a parody). With Tarantino movies cast with the likes of Uma Thurman, Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio, It would seem an insult for any actor to try and impersonate the original performances. Instead, the audience was offered recreations of similarity; strong suggestions of these recognisable characters that gave weight to an appreciation of the performance rather than encouraging any constructive thoughts of comparison.
Much like a Tarantino movie, the production had little moments of stillness, often allowing no time to digest any of the action. Their recreation of the Pulp Fiction dance scene seemed like a passing flash, a blink-and-you-missed-it moment. The fast-paced nature allowed the night to be crammed with visually pleasing stunts, an impressively elaborate lighting design and a back-to-back mashup of Tarantino’s nostalgics but perhaps it would have been better served with more time to appreciate the production’s cleverness and wit. Much of the night does seem like a blur, many moments mashing into each other like a shaken-up Tarantino cocktail with no chance to enjoy its individual flavours.
The production is due credit for serving a crowd-pleasing spectacle, one that any Tarantino fan is sure to appreciate. It encompasses the style of the iconic director perfectly, provoking a fun feeling of nostalgia that is easy to escape into. If it’s a night of poignant storytelling and sophistication you’re after, perhaps this isn’t the show for you. Chaotic escapism and harmless fun are more the style, though if you do go – take paracetamol beforehand…You’ll thank me afterwards.