Returning to his village having failed as a knight, our chivalrous hero George is called upon to save a damsel in distress and free his people from the clutches of a three-headed dragon. Offstage, George dispatches the monster with terrific whiz-bangs and flashing lights. The village is drawn together, and is on the way to creating a bright and brilliant future as a forward-looking community.
Rory Mullarkey’s new take on the legend of Saint George neatly addresses questions of leadership and nation-building to an audience familiar with the frustration and discontent of Brexit Britain. But there’s a strong whiff of the Christmas panto here, subverting any sustained attempt at heftier engagement and analysis of our current predicament.
Designed by Rae Smith, the cartoonish and graphic set plays well to the comic-book style of director Lyndsey Turner, while John Heffernan makes a witty and engaging Saint George. Elsa (Amaka Okafor) is a terrifically mouthy damsel, and throughout the piece jokes, verbal and visual, are often genuinely funny, particularly the creation of the flag of England.
George is summoned away, but returns a year later to find the village transformed into an industrialised city and the dragon returned in a different form. Events repeat again and again, Groundhog Day-style, until Mullarkey brings us up to date with an exaggerated view of current British culture, all concrete towers, football and pub brawls.
The questions are all there: who are we, how can we build a nation, where do our leaders come from; and should we rely on them anyway? But Mullarkey and Turner’s too-simple answers and naive presentation miss the opportunity to explore these questions in more dimensions than one.
• Saint George and the Dragon is at the Olivier London, until 2 December
