Review: City of Champions at The London Theatre Workshop

I remember the feeling I had when I stumbled across a somewhat under-reported story about eighties film stars Corey Haim and Corey Feldman (The Two Corey’s), the latter had claimed that as child stars they had been abused by powerful paedophiles in Hollywood.  It was a feeling of shock, but not one of surprise.  Though Feldman never named his accuser, a few google searches led to a name, but it seems unlikely that anything will ever be proven.  Writer, Steve Brown clearly had a similar reaction and it’s led to a fascinating play, City of Champions, now at The London Theatre Workshop.

Brown’s play, which he has also directed, is a work of fiction but the central characters, Laurie and Lonnie, follow a very similar path to that of Feldman and Haim.  They were huge movie stars in their early teens but had failed to sustain meaningful careers in adulthood, they have drug and alcohol addictions, and when one is down on his luck the other takes him in.  The list goes on and it’s difficult not to keep relating back to the Corey’s, assuming you know that story.  The setting though is not Hollywood, it’s Inglewood, a short drive from the showbiz mecca, and known as the City of Champions.

The writing is strong, it’s a powerful story that is well told, but it does need a little work.  The characters say “dude” and “boo” a lot, and there’s even more back slapping, arm punching and chest pumping.  It’s the way people like The Two Corey’s behaved, but with them it felt natural, here it began to feel contrived.

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There were definitely weaker performances amongst the cast, which is a shame given the strong writing.  Luckily, most of the play focuses on Laurie Munro, played by Joel Arnold, who gives one of the stronger performances, along with Amy Burke as Mary-Celeste.

The saying less is more couldn’t be more applicable here; at just shy of three hours it’s at least four scenes too long.  There are moments throughout which don’t add any substance, and just as you think the play has reached a poignant conclusion, another long scene begins with a phone call to a never before heard of character, it’s unnecessary and detracts from the very compelling story told so far.

City of Champions does have a number of redeeming features; It’s well staged, with all of the action taking place in Lonnie’s guest lodge, where Laurie is staying to “sort himself out”.  The stage is decked out like a bedsit, with a couch that converts to a bed, there are unopened packing cases and bags of clothes strewn messily around.  The play is punctuated with tunes from the eighties which gives the whole thing an upbeat feel, despite the subject matter.

There may be some issues, but this is a really insightful play which opens up a whole new side to a world that should feel familiar and safe.  It elicits the same response I had when I first read Feldman’s claims; shock, but not surprise, and it’s absolutely worth seeing for its revelatory nature.

The current production is draft number twenty-one of the script, and I sincerely hope there’s a draft number twenty-two, with some scenes, left on the cutting room floor.