Robert Icke’s Manhunt offers a nuanced take on the U.K.’s endemic battle with toxic masculinity
In 2010 the U.K. experienced the biggest manhunt the country has ever seen. After Raoul Moat was released from prison on the 1st of July 2010, the days that followed wrought murder, aggression and the frenzied flight of a man the world would undoubtedly forever perceive as a monster. Manhunt retells the events of the days surrounding this tumultuous event, offering an incredibly complex portrait of a man besieged by the horrors the patriarchy subjects all to.
At the play’s commencement, we are confronted with the image of Raoul himself. Performed with astounding shading by Samuel Edward-Cook, his physical image is immediately highlighted by the crimes he is accused of. Who he appears to be and who he actually is seem to be in conflict, and questions of perception versus truth rear their heads. Is Raoul who we think he is? Is he, in fact, who believes himself to be?
A cacophony of his fictionalised trial, childhood, his own children and the supposed love of his life, Sam, we are submerged into the chaos of Raoul’s mind. What is real and what is imagined blend, rendering objectivity hard to reach, echoing the apparent state of Raoul’s mind itself. As the story evolves, the various factors at play come to light. Raoul’s actions in 2010 soon don’t seem to be simply the behavior of some insane monster, but rather the result of a myriad of factors that stoke toxic masculinity at large. While Raoul is most certainly not presented as innocent, his behavior is drawn out as a result of the conditions of patriarchy that we live in. It feels almost revelatory, to experience this while watching these events unfold primarily through Raoul’s point of view.
The cast, made up of Samuel Edward-Cook, Trevor Fox, Leo James, Patricia Jones, Danny Kirrane, Angela Lonsdale, Sally Messham, and Nicolas Tennant, give excellent performances and excelled as an ensemble. Edward-Cook’s marathon of a performance seems to be both an emotional and physical feat.
Manhunt provides unique insight into the insipid mentality of toxic masculinity, and the very harsh threat it poses, while maintaining an investigative mindset that reveals the inherent need not to socially shut out those who cause harm, but work towards creating conditions that prevent said harm from occurring in the first place. An unexpected production to say the least, Manhunt will leave you breathless, mulling over its contents for days to come.