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Review John Kaponi Onassis - Novello Theatre, Aldwych
Aristotle Onassis for many Greeks is still a figure who represents the "Greek dream", the ability to make lots of money from a dirt poor background, and take the world on, with clever if not questionable business practices, live a lavish lifestyle and give back to the community you came from. Robert Lindsey who plays Aristotle Onassis on the whole does a commendable job, which is not unforetunalty reflected by other cast members.
James Pettifer who has a pedigree in writing about "Greeks" took on a huge responsibity with this theatrical production focusing on Aristotle Onassis and his relationship with Jackie Kennedy. As a Greek watching the production the one thing that really is a major negative to the play is the total lack of any Greeks in the production, and the "heavy" pseudo accents employed by the cast to compensate for this absence. The "real Greeks" would have added a real sense of what Onassis and his circles would actually be doing, all this spontaneous Zorba dancing is just load of bolony. One of the major culprit's who irritated the socks of many of the Greeks in the audience was Sue Kelvin who plays Dimitra, who actually spoke more Greek than the rest of the cast, but just overplayed role. The cast must of spoken to Greeks, visited Greece before the play surely?
Robert Lindsey must be praised for fusing a Colombian, Italian, Greek accent in his role as Aristotle Onassis, in some parts Lindsey comes across as Anthony Quinn, in others he is Tony Montana from Scarface or a character from The Sopranos. Lindsey capture's the "essence" of Onassis, but fails to consistently deliver the demons that drove one of the worlds richest men, to build and nearly lose an entire empire. I would love "Onassis" to play in Athens in front of Greeks. I am not sure if the Greeks would regard the entire play as a comedy, given the hideous accents and the poor acting by the cast, exclusing Lindsay performance. Lindsay is the only saving grace in the entire production, Tom Austen who plays Alexandro, Onassis son, kept bleating out in an accent that is more commonly heard in the north of England than in Skorpios Greece. Lydia Leonard who played Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis just did not communicate the "femme fatale" image effectively enough.
Overall if you have never been to Greece, know nothing about Aristotle Onassis, or have had anything to do with Greeks, then I would say its a good night out. But if you are Greek, know something about the Onassis story, then the production will let you down, with the casting demanding actual Greeks, authentic Greek music, and Greece dancers. Robert Lindsey final zeimbeiko was actually pretty good, and he is well equipped to perform at a Greek wedding one day. Come on guys start sending your invites to Robert Lindsay to perform at the next big fat Greek wedding, its well worth it!
3/5 - Average (For the production)
4/5 - Good (Robert Lindsay performace as Aristotle Onassis) photo credit: Onassis - Novello Theatre
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