On the Ceiling

Synopsis

The blockbuster project of the Renaissance world. The Sistine Chapel ceiling - 1508. This time the Pope has surely backed a loser: the man he's put in charge is simply not up to the job - a sculptor with next to no experience of painting. The guy didn't want the job in the first place and has never done anything remotely on this scale. He's all over the place - when he remembers to turn up to work. And who has to cover for him? Who has to put in all the hours, teach him his craft, patch up his mistakes, deal with his tantrums and get the job done? Who? Like any big project it's the little guys, the professionals, the men who've been doing this kind of thing all their lives. They're the ones that are actually going to have to make it happen. As for the gratitude, they'll be lucky if he even remembers to pay them!

Our Review:

13 September 2005

A new play by a debuting playwright is a rare enough event in the West End. But if the appearance of On the Ceiling at the Garrick Theatre (that follows an ever rarer sighting at the same address of the first play ever by a black British-born playwright there) is therefore a surprise, it's even more surprising, unfortunately, that this play has got this far.

Tried out at Birmingham Rep in May, it's difficult to believe that no one spotted that, for all that it offers an interesting twist on artistic authorship and a neat double act at its centre to propel it forward, it is all premise and no plot. Director Jennie Darnell – who did service as staff director to four casts of the long-running Art – has turned from a play about a blank canvas to a blank play that isn't so much about art as about the artisans who assist in its creation. But regrettably, it is neither as fleet of foot or imagination as that earlier play.

The ceiling of the title i...

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Latest User Review

81.129.0.169) - 30 September 2005:

I'm not sure why the producers thought it would succeed in the west end; it seems to me that (notwithstanding the size of the set) it belongs in a small off-west end / fringe space. It's a great idea but it doesn't make a good play, however hard you try - and Ron Cook and Ralph Little try a little too hard. The ending is terrific though ! I've never been in such a small west end audience - despite many bargains on offer, the audience didn't reach three figures on a Thursday night....

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