A small show with a big heart
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What’s it about?
What a treat to discover this wonderful little show on a rainy Sunday afternoon at Jermyn Street Theatre. Australian dancer, mime and comedian Marcel Cole — yes, Marcel really is his name; he was named after legendary mime artist Marcel Marceau — has brought his one-man show about the life of Charlie Chaplin to London for just two performances.
This one-act show falls broadly into two halves. In the first, Cole takes us through Chaplin’s life and career, cleverly running his story in parallel with moments inspired by some of Chaplin’s most iconic films. A projector provides dates, facts and milestones, while Cole uses mime, dance, props and plenty of audience participation to bring the story to life. Audience members are recruited to become Chaplin’s mother, his brother Sydney, his wives and other characters along the way.
The latter part moves into the darker and more political chapters of Chaplin’s life, exploring his political views, the controversy surrounding him, his effective exile from America and his eventual move to Switzerland with his fourth and final wife, Oona O’Neill — daughter of celebrated American playwright Eugene O’Neill.
What I loved
Cole draws on an impressive range of performance styles to tell the story. There is mime, physical comedy, storytelling, audience interaction and even a ballet interlude. Rather than feeling like a conventional biography, Chaplin’s life is continually translated into performance.
Cole is an immensely generous performer, and one of the great pleasures of Smile is his ability to create genuine moments from whatever the audience gives him. There is something wonderfully unpredictable about this kind of theatre. Rather than audience participation simply being a device, Cole allows spontaneous reactions and interactions to become part of the performance. Those little moments that can never be recreated in quite the same way are arguably one of the greatest pleasures of live theatre.
One particularly beautiful example comes towards the end. Chaplin is sitting beside Oona in the garden at their home in Switzerland when Cole begins singing the iconic song Smile, completely unaccompanied. The lovely gentleman who had been brought from the audience to sit beside him, adorned with a hat and shrug to become Oona, unexpectedly begins singing too — harmonising beautifully with Cole. Suddenly, a playful piece of audience participation becomes something remarkably warm and moving.
There are clever touches throughout the show. During a press conference scene in which Chaplin is questioned about his supposed sympathies with communism, Cole asks the audience to take out their phones, switch on their flashes and photograph him. The tiny theatre is suddenly filled with flashes, creating a wonderfully simple but effective impression of a media frenzy. It is these simple but effective touches that demonstrate the detail and cleverness in Cole’s work.
Anything I’d change
No, the one act show is the perfect length for this style of performance.
Verdict
Smile is a thoroughly entertaining, inventive and engaging hour of theatre that also leaves you knowing considerably more about Charlie Chaplin than when you arrived.
After the show, Cole thanked his dad, who had been the show’s operator at the performance, and then stood at the exit and personally greeted audience members as they left. It was a final glimpse of the generosity and inclusivity that characterises Cole’s performance — and perhaps explains why his Chaplin is portrayed with such warmth.
Who created it?
Smile: The Story of Charlie Chaplin is created, written and performed by Australian mime artist, dancer and comedian Marcel Cole.