Robert Tanitch reviews Wildefire at Hampstead Theatre, London NW3
The relationship between the public and the police force has come a long way since Sir Robert Peel in 1829 and indeed since Jack Warner and Dixon of Dock Green in 1955.
The major difference is that the police (citizens in uniform, as Peel called them) no longer have the approval, respect and affection of the public they once had.
Roy Williams in his new play looks at the moral dilemmas a modern cop faces and observes the demands and pressures he/she has daily, countering gang violence in the streets and domestic violence in the home. The toll, physically and mentally, is heavy and has repercussions on and off-duty as well.
Williams admits that the compassion and empathy he feels today he did not have when he was a young man. He hopes his play will lead to a greater understanding of the difficulties the police have and that it will encourage a debate about the sort of police force we would like to have.
Maria Aberg’s production is fine up to the murder of a cop by a gang of hoodies. Thereafter, minus the cop (and the likeable actor, Ricky Champ, who plays him), the action concentrates on the breakdown and downfall of an idealistic white woman police officer (Lorraine Stanley) who has just joined the Met.
She wants to do the right thing; but quickly discovers that in attempting to enforce the law, it is very easy, and with the best of intentions, to break the law and become criminally compromised. Her story, rushed, incomplete and unsatisfactorily handled, comes to an abrupt halt.
To learn more about Robert Tanitch and his reviews, click here to go to his website
