A HISTORY OF FALLING THINGS To 16 May.
Cardiff.
A HISTORY OF FALLING THINGS
by James Graham.
Sherman Theatre (Venue 2) To 16 May 2009.
Tue-Sat 8pm.
Runs 1hr 35min No interval.
TICKETS: 029 2064 6900.
www.shermancymru.co.uk
Review: Timothy Ramsden 6 May at Emlyn Williams Theatre, Clwyd Theatr Cymru.
At last: Keraunothnetophobia successfully dramatised.
Though the Emlyn Williams is the smaller auditorium at Mold’s Clwyd Theatr Cymru, both it and the Sherman are spacious envelopes compared with the postage-stamp stage of London’s Finborough Theatre. Yet playwright James Graham has swapped the broader subjects of his Finborough plays: one prime minister’s career and another’s childhood, plus the ideas of Einstein, for an intimate story of two agoraphobics.
Though young Robin and Jacqui are more specific about the condition keeping them locked in their rooms – his rented, with mum bringing round supplies as he writes stories for children, she upstairs at father’s house. They meet via the internet, their way to eventual freedom, through the longer-named phobia above, the fear of falling satellites. In his case a childhood incident sparked it off, leaving him sheltering under a table.
Their non-virtual relationship slowly develops as they pass e-messages, go on a virtual date, sharing a meal across computers, then try venturing out. Fortuitously (Graham sensibly doesn’t emphasise this) theirs is a world-wide-web meeting of people living only a few streets apart.
This comic-edged love-story takes its characters and their dilemma seriously. Locked by their fears in a single room each, these young adults are bursting with life and expand their horizons through the hope their virtual relationship brings. Nerves initially show in their webcam conversations – his sentences chopped into short word groups, hers nervously rushed. Physically, trembling excitement at their eagerness to meet turns into bodily convulsions after briefly attempted forays outside.
The physical universe hits them gently as they find courage, something beautifully expressed in a scene where they’ve agreed to emerge. Coming from their bedrooms (raised platforms with a sawn-off edge and gap between them – two existences that ought to be one in Mark Bailey’s design) Katie McGuinness’s Jacqui stands, as rain pelts down on her, looking around the street for Sion Pritchard’s Robin, who’s sought refuge in a ‘phone kiosk, to call her at home.
These fine performances are central to a play which gives them, in former Finborough associate Kate Wasserberg’s production, the final blessing of a distant yet beautiful star-scape all around.
Robin: Sion Pritchard.
Jacqui: Katie McGuinness.
Jimmy: Francois Pandolfo.
Reece: Ifan Huw Dafydd.
Lesley: Di Botcher.
John(voice): Philip Bretherton.
Boy: Matthew Cavallini/Adam walker (Mold), Tomaso Dimech/Ioan Lloyd (Cardiff).
Director: Kate Wasserberg.
Designer: Mark Bailey.
Lighting: Tom White.
Sound: Kevin Hynes.
Animator: Paddy Molloy.
Choreographer: Francesca Jaynes.
2009-05-11 02:06:44