MOJO

For our first official play we are performing Mojo by Jez Butterworth, a dark comedy based in Ezra’s Atlantic Club, Soho, London, 1958. It’s a male based cast with only 6 main characters, no smaller characters are included and it consists of two acts only.

The plot is centered all around the club, where two rival gangs fight over this young 17 year old boy called Silver Johnny who is rising to fame thanks to his voice as well as looks. Ezra the owner of the bar is killed off in the first act off screen and the rest of his club freak out once hearing of his death by Mickey his second in command. It is important to remember Micky, being he was involved with Ezra’s murder which we find out about later on near the end of the play.

Sam Ross a gangster/entrepreneur saws Ezra in half and chucks him in the bins out back of Ezra’s club for the rest of his gang to find, meanwhile also kidnapping Silver Johnny. This all happens after a meeting between the two men about Silver Johnny’s fate, it is made clear from the start that Ezra wasn’t going to give Johnny up being he was the money maker and Ross knew that the only way he was going to get the boy was by eliminating the composition.

The first act is all about Ezra’s group of drugged up men (except Mickey) coming to turns with Ezra’s death and freaking out about their own safety. Locking themselves in the club with limited supplies, no weapons for defence apart from an old cutlass and an unstable Baby who could blow at any moment.

Act two is where the group get answers after Mickey kicks Baby out the club and he goes in search for Silver Johnny, who he then finds with Mr Ross and kills the old man before taking Johnny back to the club. The group find out Mickey was involved in murdering Ezra in order to take over as the club owner; Skinny doesn’t believe a word Baby says, defending Mickey all the way and in turn gets shot by Baby, bleeding out in Mickey’s arms, dying a slow and painful death he did not deserve. Potts kicks Mickey in the stomach before he and sweets leave the club, Baby and Silver Johnny soon following, leaving Mickey on the floor by Skinny. Mickey is in fact a coward, he acts as the one in charge all throughout the play, the group looking to him for guidance but in the end the truth was to be revealed and his plans at being boss destroyed.

Characters

Baby the son of Ezra is the craziest, the nutter if you will, of the bunch, always threatening to harm Skinny, the weakest of the group. He’s always drunk or high or both throughout the play until the end. He has a no care attitude, always doing as he pleases, irritating Mickey when they find out Ezra’s dead, picking on Skinny to the point of hurting him and being the most damaged character of them all. It’s like a competition between him and Silver Johnny in the beginning because Baby’s dad is only obsessed with the young star while being ashamed of his own son, that’s why Baby does what he does.

Silver Johnny is a kid good at what he does, singing, dancing, bringing the money in and good at getting caught in between fights that are all about him.

Mickey, one of my favourite characters, he keeps the others in line and takes no rubbish from nobody. He was Ezra’s second in command and proceeds to be so until everything is revealed in the end. Wanting the club meant having to deal with Baby, he doesn’t kill him because he needs him as the face of the business, so if anyone were to come after the club they’d go after Baby not him, it’s almost like Baby is his shield which is ironic being he is his downfall.

Mickey had a peculiar relationship with Skinny, a very interesting one that leads the audience to believe they were secretly in a sexual relationship or it could be the other way completely and he saw the man like a son, a father figure if you will. He is distraught when Skinny dies and that is the final nail in the coffin, while everyone else was in shock and hurt at the fact that their friend was dying before their very eyes he actually holds the other man crying heavily, whispering into his ear remaining beside him.

Sweets is the man with the pills and sadly for himself isn’t the smartest tool in the shed, he tells on Potts his best mate without knowing, thinking he’s doing the right thing by mentioning to Mickey that Ross was indeed there having a meeting with Ezra about Silver Johnny the night before. Mickey was, “suffering with a head cold,” so he never knew about the situation. Sweets is the one everyone turns to for the drugs, he and Potts. The two men are never apart, like tweedle dee and tweedle dum. One can’t be without the other.

Potts isn’t afraid to stand up to Mickey because he knows he doesn’t work for him, he works for Ezra, the two clash a few times just like Mickey and Baby but they normally make amends quickly unlike Baby and Mickey. I believe Baby knew straight away that something was up with how Mickey was reacting to the situation around him.

Skinny Luke the man who stands out among the rest, he doesn’t belong in this mess and that is clear from the start. He can’t stand up for himself, always turning to Mickey for support. He dresses like Baby in order to feel like he belongs while also looking up to the man which is very interesting being he always scares him into submission making him want to leave and never come back.

I hate how it’s Skinny Luke who dies in the end, his protectiveness over Mickey and anger towards Baby gets him caught in the cross fire, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It makes me wonder if Baby did intend to kill Mickey but instead shot Luke in order to make Mickey suffer more or if his anger just got the better of him and shot Skinny because of it. Did Baby know something was going on between the two or was it just coincidence?