Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Cast: Michael Sheen, David Tennant, Simon Evans, Georgia Tennant, Anna Lundberg, Lucy Eaton, Whoopi Goldberg, Ben Schwartz, Michael Palin, Romesh Ranganathan, Nick Frost, Simon Pegg, Christoph Waltz, Ewan McGregor, Hugh Bonneville, Ken Jeong, Josh Gad, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Cate Blanchett.
The problem with originality is that it is difficult to improve upon, people have either sussed you out and expect the format or idea to fail, or they expect bigger and better, the joke to take on a deeper, perhaps even more demanding Kafkaesque appeal; they then insist that the first foray into a new realm was always going to be the best and that it was folly, even reckless to attempt the stunt once more.
Herman Melville once wrote that “It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation“, and whilst the imitators may find themselves blessed in monetary reward or enduring false praise for being able to perform the same old same old, even a second glance at an original concept will, in the eyes of the ones who understand the joke or the artifice and resound in joy at being given another chance to witness the mischief being created.
Shakespeare must have been wrong, or at least slightly off the path of righteous observation when he insisted that all the world’s a stage, for if that were the case then it suggests that Michael Sheen and David Tennant are merely players in Staged, for they have not just found a way to be kings and beggars in the second series of the dynamic show, but to be the source of inspiration in which others can also enjoy the art of deception, but also knowingly mocking themselves for their part in it.
It is a reflection of our lock down lives that the sight of two people on a screen connecting via a screen has become so recognisable, even during a period of self-damnation where the wall cracks and the emotions are almost too hard to handle, there is not just a metaphor for living, but a giant slap of comparison, the acknowledgement that it really is okay to feel the frustration and the pain, for anything other than that is almost, well to deny our own humanity.
What brings out the magic in the second series is the way that the show progresses, the focus is not just on Mr. Sheen and Mr. Tennant but the actors that slip into their lives as the premise is revealed to be a show, staged in everyway possible, but with the reality hitting home of the fear of being replaced.
By bringing into the conversation such illuminating names as Cate Blanchett, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Christoph Waltz and Phoebe Waller-Bridge as substitutes readers for the pair, it provokes the issue with our age, that no matter how good a job we may believe we have done, there is always going to be someone out there who will make another person richer with their input.
With a terrific performance by Georgia Tennant, Michael Palin and Whoopi Goldberg, as well as Messers Sheen and Tennant, the second series of Staged proves that originality is not a sin, even when it comes in another form.
Ian D. Hall