Ordinary Madness – inspired by the works of Charles Bukowski. Riverside Studios,101 Queen Caroline Street, Hammersmith, London W6 until 08 March 2025, 5☆☆☆☆☆. Review: William Russell.

Photo Credit: Marusia Makhmutova.

Ordinary Madness – inspired by the works of Charles Bukowski. Riverside Studios, 101 Queen Caroline Street, Hammersmith, London W6 until 08 March 2025,

5☆☆☆☆☆. Review: William Russell.

“Bukowski's world.”

Familiar to many quite clearly, but not to me, this evening of readings from his writings about the underbelly of the American dream, the people who have failed, the abusers, the drunks, those who dream the impossible, I approached the two hours no interval with some dread. In fact it turned out to be an enthralling evening splendidly performed by a cast of five whose versatility was a delight to watch and the evening, frankly against all the odds, was one of the best I have had in a theatre for quite some time. Bukowski (1920 to 1984) was considered beyond the pale by the authorities – the FBI had its eyes on him - as he wrote about post war America and its darker side, that side of the American dream we are currently discovering in Maga land. The evening also has resonances for life in present day Britain which adds to the interest. Of the poems, the readings, the brief sketches possibly the one that stood out is the story about the man who sees something in a shop window which he really must have and which he persuades the owner, to the consternation of those who know him, to sell. It is a mannequin. Creepy? Indeed.Interestingly nobody is miked for once but they do make use of a single microphone when needing to adress the audience directly, a ploy which opens the evening in a most disturbing fashion. But that surely is the point of the show and of what Bukowski did in his writings. Disturb.

Cast

Amy Leeson, Francesca Wilson Waterforth, Victoria Valcheva, James Viller, Andrew Buzzeo

Creatives

Director – Anya Viller

Lighting Designer – Benjamin Vetluzhskikhis

Costume Designer 0 Joseph Nigoghossian

Set Designer – Alexandra Dashevsky