BARNSTORM. To 2 June.

London

BARNSTORM
by Michael Holland

Union Theatre 204 Union Street SE1 To 2 June 2006
Tue-Sat 7.30pm
Runs 2hrs 10mins One interval

TICKETS: 020 7261 9876
www.uniontheatre.org
Review: Harriet Davis 16 May

Good barn but doesn’t raise much of a storm.
Inspired by Britain’s largest cash robbery, Michael Holland’s intermittently entertaining
heist-gone-wrong has a lot of heart. Holland himself spent twenty years in prison for a
similar crime, during which he underwent a transformation of sorts; emerging at the other
end a teacher, playwright and sometime filmmaker.

The story concerns three hapless and largely ineffective criminals, bound by their
collective past, with no future to speak of. Bob (Danny Brown) has a wife, two kids and a
heroin habit; he is also guilty of the crime that put fellow delinquent Charlie (Ian
Groombridge) into a Juvenile Detention Centre. Charlie has been in and out of prison
ever since, and has learnt over time to trust no-one. His suspicions are chiefly directed at
Alan (Steven George); an amiable sort who has nonetheless been having an on-off affair
with Bob’s wife.

The action is set in a barn, and this certainly feels like one; haystacks are strewn across
the stage and there is a reassuringly musty smell about the place. The barn is frequented
by the landowner’s wife Elizabeth (Lucy Russell) who, rather inexplicably, thinks nothing of her husband’s requests to provide the men with food and clean bedding. This
is one of the main sticking points of the play; Elizabeth’s involvement with the crime
seems wholly unlikely, as an already well-off woman she would have little reason to put
herself or her husband at such risk.

Overall, performances are good if slightly uneven; Brown seems the most comfortable in
his skin while George sometimes fumbles his lines. Groombridge is sporadically strong,
but nonetheless fails to instill a necessary sense of menace. Russell does the best she can
with an underwritten part.

With regard to overall effect, Holland’s observations are apt, and there is a warm vein of
humour throughout. The storytelling is engaging and the tension for the most part
handled well; a genuine effort, but unlikely to move mountains.

Charlie: Ian Groombridge
Alan: Steven George
Bob: Danny Brown
Elizabeth: Lucy Russell

Director: Sasha Regan
Designer: Robyn Wilson
Lighting/Sound: Steve Miller
Assistant director: Johnny Harris

2007-05-17 16:13:05