On the Waterfront review

Authors Avatar

On the Waterfront review

On Thursday, the 12th of March, we visited The Theatre Royal Haymarket to watch a performance called On the Waterfront, about corruption and violence.

 On the Waterfront recounts the gritty story of ex-boxer Terry Molloy (Simon Merrells) who works on the New Jersey docks. Taking one too many dives in his career, Molloy is forced out of prize fighting and finds himself involved in the seedy world of organised crime. Because of Mob Boss Johnny Friendly (Steven Berkoff), Terry is suddenly implicated in a grisly murder. Terry has some serious thinking to do when he considers escaping his life on the waterfront.

The set was empty with a silhouette outline of the statue of liberty, but instead of holding the torch, a hook symbolising the workers. They used a raked stage for creating levels, for the only props were 12 chairs and some personal props for each character. The hooks were the only other props which are symbolic for the workers and they used a minimalistic set but used with great affect conveyed by lighting and small props.

Join now!

I found most engaging in the narrative of the relationship between Johnny and Terry. Johnny is patronizing towards Terry, he mocks him, and doesn’t take him seriously. Terry here is the victim. There is this constant idea through the play, of telling the truth and getting hurt. Another relationship I found engaging was the love affair between Terry and Edie. This was a good counterpoint to the crime and violence and gives the piece some dramatic tension. I felt a lot of sympathy for Terry as he is surrounded by all this dishonest and cruelty; he is the victim in ...

This is a preview of the whole essay