The value of nothing and the price of everything: Wilde thumbs-up for one-man shaggy dog story
The Duke, Shon Dale-Jones. Photo courtesy of the author.
The Duke, Warwick Arts Centre, 19 November 2024.
Review by Annette Kinsella.
Imagine if trees gave off wifi, we would be planting so many we’d probably save the planet too. Too bad they only produce oxygen. So goes the saying by Ralph Smart, encapsulating the rift between what people value and what they need. This of course is nothing new – back in the 19th century Oscar Wilde declared a cynic to be someone who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. It seemed the mismatch between the price tag of what is desired and what is essential is part of the human condition.
This is the subject of an extraordinary little show at Warwick Arts Centre. The object of value in The Duke, performed by writer and director Shon Dale-Jones, is the eponymous Royal Doulton statue of the Duke of Wellington, purchased as an investment by his father back in 1974 at a stratospheric price of £700, which equates to £8,000 in today’s money. At this point younger members of the audience may have to enter the willing suspension of disbelief slightly, as today commemorative plates of Meghan and Harry or the coronation of King Charles may be just as likely to turn up for £5 in a charity shop as on the Antiques Roadshow, but back in the 70s purchasing of collectable porcelain statuettes were seen as a genuine money-spinner, expected to snowball in value as the years progressed.
The Duke, Shon Dale-Jones. Photo courtesy of the author.
From there, Dale-Jones, alone on a stage with just a retro microphone for company, spins a yarn, starting with a failed film script, encompassing a crooked antique-collecting policeman, an Audi TT coupe car chase and a long-suffering wife and mother, and ending with the plight of refugees searching for a safe haven. Dale-Jones makes the point throughout that objects are worth what people will pay for them, be it £15,000 for a twee ornament or all your worldly goods for a life-saving passage to a new home in a shared country. The comedy is sharp and piquant, but at the heart of the story is an unassailable fact that even the most highly-prized object is worthless in the absence of kindness and compassion.
It’s impossible to know how to categorise this strange play – it’s part heist, part shaggy dog story, but wholly powerfully gut-wrenching social commentary. Were he brought back to life for a day, I bet Oscar Wilde would have enjoyed this performance – and left saddened but unsurprised to know almost two hundred years after he defined a cynic, little has changed.
To see more shows at Warwick Arts Centre go to: https://www.warwickartscentre.co.uk/
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