CHRISTMAS IS FAR AWAY. To 25 March.

Manchester/London

CHRISTMAS IS MILES AWAY
by Chloe Moss

Royal Exchange Studio To 19 November 2005
Mon-Fri 7.30pm Sat 8pm
Post-show discussion 17 Nov 7.30pm
Runs 2hr 10min One interval

TICKETS: 0161 833 9833
www.royalexchangettheatre.co.uk
Review: Timothy Ramsden 5 November

Revived at Bush Theatre London 22 February-25 March 2006
TICKETS: 020 7610 4224
www.bushtheatre.co.uk (Bush)

Splendid new play with finely-drawn characters given full value in a fine Royal Exchange production.
Writer Chloe Moss has a devastating eye for the significant and truthful in the three relationships she portrays here. In Sarah Frankcom she has a rising star of the Royal Exchange’s directorial firmament. They make a devastating team.

Moss’s 2 males are set on the edge of adult responsibility. An early scene shows David Judge’s Christie in a final throw of childhood grief at his father’s funeral. Yet, already, in one of his camping visits to North Manchester’s Boggart Hole Clough with school-friend Luke, Christie has talked of his yearning for Julie, a girl at school. This desire looks forward to a new, more demanding, relationship. Life will offer no more escapist outings under canvas as Christie moves towards becoming an art student, while Paul Stocker’s unscholastic Luke, beer-can forever in hand, joins the army.

Moss tracks the next phase of these lives in ways that are credible without becoming predictable, from Luke, boyishly confident, urging the shy Christie to ask Julie out. As their relationship journeys from tentatively sharing a bed to sharing each other in bed, from feelings of lifelong devotion to irritation, it imposes on Christie an emotional gravity never felt in the lads’ shared tent. Luke, meanwhile, travels as many miles mentally from his friend as physically, in army tours of duty and experiences captured in the grim humour of his photos home.

Despite a set that frequently requires bedclothes to be packed away or brought out between scenes, Frankcom’s production flows splendidly with 3 finely individual performances. Georgie Taylor brings a childlike innocence and trust to her ‘interruption’ of the male friendship – beautifully shown in her confusion when Luke bursts in on her in bed with Christie. Judge minutely charts his character losing the sense of purpose earlier life’s provided, while Stocker implies from the start there’s something more than a loser in Luke.

Christmas and Santa Claus are indeed a long way from these people’s lives as they emerge into adult responsibility. But, though their lives are no sleigh-ride, this fine production of a splendid new play makes their story an exhilarating journey.

Luke Michaels: Paul Stocker
Christie Benson: David Judge
Julie Bridges: Georgie Taylor

Director: Sarah Frankcom
Designer: Jaimie Todd
Lighting: Richard Owen
Sound: Peter Rice
Dialect coach: Mark Langley

2005-11-07 16:37:16