GOING DUTCH. To 25 June.
Tour
GOING DUTCH
by John Godber
Hull Truck Theatre Company Tour to 25 June 2005
Runs 1hr 55min One interval
Review: Timothy Ramsden 18 March at Chelmsford Civic Theatre
Second class voyage in first-rate company.A delayed plane bearing an actor back from a funeral postponed this performance over half an hour, a situation inspiring the Civic's management to broadcasts of the performer's progress, ending with an account of a taxi driver hitting the gas as increasing mounds of cash were dangled in front of his eyes. Such stuff from a public address system normally so solemnly seriously (Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats ) was the most comically original moment in the evening.
The mid-scale, 500+ seat Civic isn't unusually large, either as stage or auditorium, compared with other theatres on this show's tour. But it dwarfed a play and production that seemed made for smaller spaces. Though designer Pip Leckenby provides a full-width, starry-sky backdrop that fits the open-air associations of many scenes on a Hull-Amsterdam crossing and in Holland, the action struggles to occupy more than a quarter of the stage at once.
Then again, youth can get away with many things ridiculous in maturity. John Godber's early plays brought a fresh voice in comic writing and inventive direction, with the ability to find first-rate young casts. Going Dutch is well acted. But the action's slowed to a middle-aged Where did our youth go?' melancholy that's easily answered (You spent it').
Mark's 50th birthday trip to a Bruce Springsteen gig has the hallmarks of such material successful musician with composer's block, tired marital relationship spiced up with an old flame along as guest. She's brought her new object of burning desire, tough ex-con Karl. It's loathing at first-sight between the men, though Godber doesn't give any insight into the attraction between Karl and Gill.
It's gently amusing and played by both men and Jackie Lye as Truckers to the manner born. They point up the lines, supplying energy for the script within Godner's surprisingly flaccid direction. Gemma Craven's Sally, the quietest character, is in a different class. Besides the fine-detailed movement suggesting a rolling-sea deck and pasty-faced withdrawal of the post-vomit seasick, there's the quietly vivid sense of the years behind slowly turning stale. It's an outstanding performance, worth the trip alone.
Sally: Gemma Craven
Mark: James Hornsby
Karl: Rob Hudson
Gill: Jackie Lye
Director: John Godber
Designer: Pip Leckenby
Lighting: Graham Kirk
Costume: John Boddy
2005-03-19 12:25:52