GIVING UP THE GHOST by Steve McAuliffe. White Bear to 16 December.

London

GIVING UP THE GHOST
by Steve McAuliffe

White Bear Theatre To 16 December 2001
Runs 1hr 45min One interval

TICKETS 020 7793 9193
Review Timothy Ramsden 2 December

Neither play nor production has the spark of life in a disappointing evening.Writer Steve McAuliffe was intrigued by the figure of a young man, 'scurrying home loaded with bags, always looking over his shoulder, seemingly scared of the world'. The trouble with the play that's resulted is that it takes such an obvious path. Set on a Deptford housing estate in 1996 (a year lovingly recalled in the programme, but hardly at all apparent in the action), it opens as Daniel scurries with the shopping into his grandmother Doreen's quadruple-locked council flat.

There he likes a cosy existence, with old records (no CDs, neat touch). But what makes him tick, or fail to tick, is unclear. Yes, his mother disappeared years ago, but is there any reason to think he wouldn't have been just as attached to her apron strings had she stayed around?

It's clear gran won't go on forever. She dies midway through the second of the two short acts. The other woman in Daniel's life is young Clarissa, a streetwise clubber whose interest in Daniel is hard to fathom. For besides being appallingly shy, Daniel is also extremely dull. If he were photographed in colour he'd come out in black and white. Or grey. Perhaps it's just that the settled domesticity of Doreen's flat is what Clarissa needs after her own unsettled background. But there are limits and it's a wonder Clarissa hadn't reached hers long ago with this vapid young man.

The show might still have been kickstarted by a production less tentative than Andrew Cooper's. None of the performers seems to have been encouraged to think beyond the obvious, with the result the characters stay resolutely two-dimensional. And the low-key naturalism means some sections of the action seem under-projected even in this miniscule space.

Doreen: Sheila Collings
Daniel: Chris Vincent
Clarissa: Grace Kingslene
Ginny: Jackie McAuliffe

Director: Andrew Cooper
Designer: Cleo Petitt
Costume: Mia Flodquist
Lighting: Suzy Hallam
Sound: Peter Jackson
Composer: Nikos Pandis

2001-12-06 00:44:09