If you read the title and got a wave of hope that Carl Barat had set things in motion to go back on stage with Pete Doherty and the rest of The Libertines, then we’re sorry, but this news isn’t going to live up to your expectations. Randomly, but maybe quite cooly, Carl had decided to opt instead for the theatre stage in Sam Shepard’s Fool for Love at the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith London.
The production ran between 26th January and the 21st March 2010, providing the briefest of affairs for the front-man with the wonder of theatre. The short run went on to be his only effort in acting, so either he didn’t like it or it didn’t agree with him, but at least he gave it a try.
Sadie Frost starred alongside Barat in the production, which went on to pick up mostly negative reviews with the Guardian giving it just two stars out of five and the Telegraph going a step further with just a single star. Fool for Love is a darkly comic, bitter-bitter-sweet story of a tragic love-hate relationship set against the backdrop of an isolated hotel room on the fringes of the Mojave Desert, but the duo failed to capture the essence of the Sam Shepard play.
Despite the fact that many of us never got to see the Libertines back in the frantic glory days and would gouge out eyes all Shakespearian like to put that right, you may well have managed to put your disappointment behind you. Fool for Love was an opportunity to at least see Karl Barat on stage again, although in all fairness his solo work and side projects have meant that he’s far from an illusive band member.
If nothing else it gave us a chance to say we saw one of the members of one of the best British bands of the decade doing something on stage. However, a part of us were hoping that he’d sacks it all off halfway though in favour of shouting, “Oh, I cherish you my love”, before breaking into “An ending fitting for the start…”
The good news for fellow fans is that The Libertines reformed properly in 2015 and released their 3rd album, Anthems For Doomed Youth, so you don’t really need to worry too much about missing the play or the reviews it got along the way. They’ll also be following it up with a series of tour dates in January 2016, so you’ll be able to see all of the band members together again.
