ESKIMO SISTERS. To 11 May

London

ESKIMO SISTERS
by Laline Paull
Southwark Playhouse To 11 May
Mon-Sat 7.30pm
Runs: 1hr 30min No interval
Tickets 020 7620 3494
Review: Vera Lustig, 27 April 2002

Sex rears its ugly head, turning a fresh, vivid study of friendship under pressure into a tired eternal-triangle drama. Ace production of a play nominated for the Verity Bargate Award in 2000.
Shades of A Streetcar Named Desire, but in a contemporary British setting: Val, a freelance photographer on the skids, returns suddenly from Thailand, seeking refuge with old school-friend Mo. Val locks antlers with Mo's rough-diamond lover, mutual antagonism segues predictably into attraction . . . The term Eskimo Sisters denotes a pair of women who have shared a lover.

Unlike Tennessee Williams' Blanche, Val is not the play's focus. Her increasingly aberrant behaviour prods at the fissures in Mo's new-found security and happiness. Sketchy information gleaned from the opening scene suggests that Mo, too, has had a shaky start in adulthood.

The first few scenes crackle; there's something horribly recognisable about the delicate power-balance between needy, destructive, emotionally blackmailing Val and warily nurturing Mo. Nina Raine's production is commendably even-handed: when Val has a panic attack and trashes the flat, the juddering sound score takes us inside her head.

The casting is spot-on. As Val, Amelia Curtis has exactly the right kind of desperate narcissism. Katherine Tozer, with her unflinching concentration, her capacity for highly expressive stillness, is an actor to watch, in both senses.

The first half of the evening, then, gives us the buzz of being engrossed yet alert and questioning: Is Mo too compliant? Should she offer 'tough love'? How much control does Val have over her own actions?

Paull is perceptive about the dynamics of co-dependence, but sacrifices character development to plot, and is too sparing with background detail, making for an undernourished play, one that ultimately disappoints. Mo is proud to 'make a difference' in her new job in a hostel; but, as Val destabilises her life, her idealism wanes. The opening promises an exploration of compassion-fatigue and of friendship tested to destruction. But then Paull chucks in a lethal cocktail of champagne, ecstasy and woozy libido, and the steam rises, blurring everything.

Val: Amelia Curtis
Mo: Katherine Tozer
Conor: Mel Raido

Director: Nina Raine
Design: Miriam Buether
Lighting: David Plater
Sound: Fergus O'Hare

2002-05-02 08:08:44