Snag Mojo (NHB Modern Plays) (Nick Hern Books) Articulated By Jez Butterworth Listed As Softcover

firecracking dialogue, characters bereft of empathy and humour so dark it's frightening, A sizzling play from one of the most distinct voices in theatre today, I remember this being a bit of a big deal when it came out, Not really sure why, having read it now, It's solid in terms of plot and setting but no more than that, Equally the characterisation is decent without being remarkably insightful, The dialogue is strong though and often both funny and/or menacing, Just as bizarre as it was when I saw it on stage a couple years ago, Hilarious amp twisted. My kind of show. : "It's getting hot. Out in the street. There's people. ".stars.

This is a good play, with lots of dark humour and authentic dialogue, However, a lot of the characters do feel a little samey, I love Butterworth's writing, especially Jerusalem, and this is definitely one I'd go and see, but I don't know that it's dated as well as his other stuff.
Feels sos. I don't mean that it seems to be part of the inyerface theatre movement that was so prevelant and brilliant in thes either, it's just like he was inspired bys crime films.
As if Guy Ritchie wrote the play version of Lock, Stock, That's not necessarily a criticism, just an observation,

If you want a diverse range of characters with emotional depth, this is not the play for you, If you wanthours of dark humour and casual violence then this might just be the ticket, Mojo was an experience, to be honest, in many aspects of the word, I read this, unlike most plays, in a very broken way over a number of interrupted reading sessions, And it didn't help to my understanding, I would definitely want to see this live but I'd also want to explore others of Butterworth just reading Mojo wasn't up my street.
The names of the characters and the deliberately vague style towards the beginning didn't really help cement the characters in my mind,

The first Scend was full of one liners that could have been the makeup of one character but were actually two or three only Mickey, the oldest of the bunch struck initially in my head mainly because he was more calculating and was often conspicuous by his absence in conversations whilst very much being in the room.
As the play moved on we saw more highlights from Skinny and Baby past that I didn't really care, The ending was nice and unexpected but I wasn't completely involved, I was recommended this by someone who had seen an allstar cast in the west end and someone else who had actually directed the play himself but I guess that shows you that theatre is accessible but sometimes not always the same ways.
A fun and bloody play, Lots of hidden agendas, secrets, old rock songs, and men acting like shits to each other,

And I want to play Baby, Very mixed feelings about this one, The play won all kinds of awards for the writing, and to be honest I can't really see why, Maybe at the timeit stood out as something fresh and different, . . Personally, I mostly dislike it, though it certainly has its moments, both on the stage and on the page,

This is another play I've seen recently on the London stage, at the Harold Pinter Theatre, It had a truly awesome cast, and I went more than once for the sake of Colin Morgan who played Skinny, Apart from having the privilege of seeing him act his little socks off in a stunning last scene, I mostly wish I hadn't bothered.


The dialogue was, as with the play sitelinkStraight by sitelinkD, C. Moore, staccato and fragmented, which supposedly makes it realistic, . . I enjoyed this effect more in performance with Straight where it made the characters seem rather witty and ontheball, but in Mojo it resulted in a great deal of tiresomeness and shouting over each other for attention.
Not my idea of entertainment, Then again, I'm an introvert who avoids scenarios like that in real life, . . It's easier to read on the page, at least! It doesn't leave one feeling so bruised,

There were bits I liked, I cannot deny that, and much of it on stage was very funny though how much of Daniel Mays' brilliant physical acting and verbal delivery can be credited to Butterworth for creating a character Potts that Mays could go to town with Interesting question to ponder.
But basically none of the characters have any redeeming features, or are particularly likeable, and I'm not at all sure what we were meant to take from it.
This is just my personal response, I know but if there's no entertainment value, and no meaning or astute provoking of thought to be had, then where lies the value

I'm very aware, however, that I'm in a rather small minority! So the three is an attempt to be objective.
My fellow Colin!nuts all seemed to enjoy themselves immensely, This production got rave reviews in the papers, And it did win all those awards when it was first written, . . There must be something in there,

Obviously, though, it's not for me, :
Oddly, Butterworth's debut play, which put him on the theatrical map, was the last of his I read and it definitely seems to promise the fireworks that were to come to fruition in his latest plays.
The debt to Pinter is obvious, and though contemporaries, one can see glimmers of McDonagh also they both have scenes in which a gagged man is left hanging upside down for most of a long scene! My only complaint here is that the argot used gets a mite thick for these Yank ears, and I am not always clear on what is going on, or the character motivations.
Would have loved to have seen the original London castyears ago though, which featured then unknowns Andy Serkis, Ton Hollander and Aiden Gillen.
First ⅔ positively crackleMcDonaghesque. Ending a bit off. I have a feeling that this is a play that needs to be seen to be believed, . . Since I don't like Harold Pinter's plays or Samuel Beckett, it is not surprising I don't like this one, It is unsettling to be negative about a drama that has received an avalanche of praise and awards, Four male twentysomethings and one male thirtysomething talk mumbo jumbo in the backroom of a nightclub while the body parts of the owner, Ezra, lie in two dustbins on stage, the new rave rockstar, Silver Johnny,years old, is tied up and hangs upside down, and Baby, the son of the owner, thrashes around with a cutlass sword.
After a lifetime of buggery abuse from his father, he is unsurprisingly psychotic and has already sliced off the head of the entrepreneur offstage of course so who else will he kill Meantime, I have to get back to my sensible life, my shopping list and visiting my aunt.

sitelinkFreak Out! My Life with Frank Zappa lovely play, Saw it twice in two days,
great cast!! AWESOME!

This is my kind of play, I dig the setup, I dig the characters, It's nailbiting, darkly comic. If I were to compare it to anything, it'd be early Guy Ritchie, but even then, I think I like Mojo just a wee bit better.


No spoilers, no plot details, It's a quick read, a kickass read, and I absolutely recommend it, Check this mother out! Great play, very interesting characters with a lot of room for actor development, The dialog in this play is what makes it most fascinating, I feel as though it really encourages the actors to work as one whole cast instead of individual characters, despite each one having their own agenda and feeling toward what's going on.


Also really lovely monologue in it which I shall be using for my drama school audition, I cant imagine how incredible it would have been to be there in the Royal Court when this premiered, Visceral and as tightly wound as a spring it jumps at you, grabs you and doesnt let go, I really like Jez Butterworths plays and am enjoying starting to read them, I think Jerusalem is my favourite though, Soho, summer. British youth, seduced by the speed and optimism of a glittering American future, have swapped their ration books for rock'n'roll records, Mojo takes us on a brutally funny journey through the violent backrooms of the British rock'n'roll business, Premiered at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in July, Mojo is Jez Butterworth's first play it won him theGeorge Devine Award, .