365. To 27 September.

London.

365
by David Harrower.

Lyric Theatre Hammersmith To 27 September 2008.
Mon-Sat 7.30pm Mat Wed 1.30pm & Sat 2.30pm.
Audio-described 25 Sept.
Captioned 27 Sept 2.30pm.
Post-show Discussion: 17 Sept 7.30pm.
Runs 2hr No interval.

TICKETS: 0871 221 1722.
www.lyric.co.uk
Review: Timothy Ramsden.

Getting inside the lives of social outsiders.
What happens to young people beyond school age who are unfitted to coping with life or forming satisfying relationships? David Harrower’s new play, co-produced by the National Theatre of Scotland and the Lyric (and first seen at this year’s Edinburgh International Festival) sifts research evidence into a play that’s brutally honest yet sophisticatedly stylised.

It’s another sign Vicky Featherstone’s Scottish National Theatre has its pulse on its country, and that by reflecting modern society creatively it can help form the future (dealing with Scotland’s dramatic heritage is another issue). Suitably enough, there’s no central character. The action, like Featherstone’s seamless production, flows between stories that arrive mid-life as the characters are moved into accommodation set up for them.

The sense of discontinuity, of life lived in sharp segments, matters as much as the individual moments. Alison Peebles, heard voicing information from the guide young people are given, provides a smooth confidence distant from the lives we see. But these basic guidelines are clearly necessary, given the young man who lacks the confidence to plug in his toaster or who makes a cup of tea without boiling the water.

These would be cruel jokes if they were jokes, but they’re not. And the tendency for force to rule in a vacuum, for people faced with what they can’t do to turn to what they know well and party loudly, is life as it’s tried to be lived. Even brothers here communicate only through a locked door.

Things go physically askew. Characters emerge from furniture; one sits high in a kitchen cupboard, protected and safe from the ground with its rules. A bed gradually reveals its threesome. A room rises at an angle.

At times there’s a risk theatrical sophistication can become a barrier, a varnish in the way of the raw experiences so carefully assembled. But the final moment in this impeccably-acted production clinches the matter, as a room fills with a seeming unending procession of people. In the cast-list they may be extras, but they’re central to the point that 365's events are a round-the-year life for many young adults.

P: Ryan Fletcher.
N: Scott Fletcher.
V: Simone James.
T: Siu Hun Li.
R: John Paul McCue.
K: Laura McMonagle.
A: Marlene Madenge.
F: Helen Mallon.
C: Ben Presley.
J: Ashley Smith.
L: Rebecca Smith.
W: Gayle Telfer Stevens.
B: Owen Whitelaw.
M: Julie Wilson Nimmo.
Voice Over: Alison Peebles.
Extras: from William Morris 6th Form Performing Arts Dept (to 17 Sept)/fromHammersmith and West London College Performing Arts Dept & Lyric Young Company (18-27 Sept).

Director: Vicky Featherstone.
Designer/Costume: Georgia McGuinness.
Lighting: Colin Grenfell.
Sound: Adrienne Quartly.
Songwriter: Paul Buchanan.
Movement Director: Steven Hoggett.
Assistant director: Joe Douglas.
Assistant movement director: Simon Pittman.

2008-09-20 10:11:07