DESCENT, till 8th March
DESCENT: Carl Miller
Birmingham Rep, The Door Tkts 0121 236 4455, www.birmingham-rep.co.uk
Runs: 4 – 8 March, 2h 20m, one interval
Review: Rod Dungate, 5 March 2003-03-06
An intriguing but undisciplined debate
Carl Miller has chosen to dramatise an extraordinarily interesting and important debate: namely, we investigate deeper and deeper into the building blocks of life and we attempt to manipulate them – how do we reconcile the opposites of public good and our own good? A complex and intriguing discussion. Unfortunately his play is so full of other ideas and cut-and-pasted styles that the debate never really has time to take wing and engage us.
Andy, a rambling professor of genetics is summoned to his sister, Dina, an exiled geneticist, in Eastern Europe. She has been following up their dead father's research and has discovered the existence of an 'intelligence gene'. Brother is persuaded to publish the research under his name since hers has no scientific currency. But Dina has found, and has working for her, Andy's long lost daughter Nadia (or is she his daughter?)
There is much that is good in the play – most importantly the plot surrounding the morality of publishing or not publishing the research. Dina supports publishing for all its potential for good, Andy is less enthusiastic – eugenics hangs implicitly in the air (at one point Andy quotes a Nazi manifesto). The decision is made by thinking of the £20 million deal with a pharmaceutical company and Nobel prize implications.
Some fine acting from Hannah Watkins and Michael Gould as they carry this forwards. Gould is bumbling, forgetful and, well, woolly. Watkins is hard, cold, materialistic – very much a product of her environment. Both rise marvellously to sudden flashes of passion as their genetic swords cross.
Miller, though, is undisciplined in his material. He allows his creativity to get the better of him and his play is at times self consciously clever. Frequent references to The Tempest (ah, nature v nurture) don't deepen the debate they envelope it in a kind of mysticism. A heralded masque in the middle (The Dance of the Chromosomes, would you believe) is at best a poor echo of The Tempest and at worst faintly ludicrous – though some vigorous performances from a group of young performers. Characters often, awkwardly, seem to be saying things to each other that they both know in order to impart information to the audience.
Janet Bird's composite setting is wonderful. Director Pip Minnithorpe has not been able to engender order nor enable us to be fully engaged emotionally or intellectually.
Dina: Hannah Watkins
andy: Michael Gould
Nadia: Katharine Rogers
Flesh: Dean Finlan
Human Nature: Jayne Edwards
Science: Jennifer Pick
Chromosomes: Vanessa Barrett, Clair Cawthray, Kerry Langan, Matthew Lloyd, Emma McLaughlin, Eleanor Morgan, John, Partridge, Chris Pilkington, Laura Pugh
Vocals: Hilary Summers
Director: Pip Minnithorpe
Designer: Janet Bird
Composer: Andrew Green
Lighting: Emma Chapman
Sound: Mike Winship
Choreographer: Yael Loewenstein
Assistant Director: Yael Shavit
Assistant Director, Young Rep Company: Derek Bond
2003-03-06 14:21:04