HABITATS: Minyana, Waters, Campbell till 21 December

London

HABITATS
by Philippe Minyana translated by Steve Waters from a literal translation by Chris Campbell

Gate Theatre To 21 December 2002
Mon-Sat 7.30pm
Runs 1hr 55min No interval

TICKETS 020 7229 0706
Review Timothy Ramsden 2 December

Homes from homes; in-house alienations: a strangely compelling gathering of scenes.
Home's the place where you can be yourself? Philippe Minyana's cluster of islanded vignettes looks at people presenting themselves in various settings where in some sense they are 'at home' but under pressure to present a certain image.

To begin, 50 statements on the social life, each numbered then stated by three confident figures as they gently scythe back and forth among the audience. The (anglicised) place names present a catalogue of towns through which mentioned people flit in lives of apparent remorseless eventfulness on the minor scale.

If nearly two hours seems a long time, don't worry for the muscles: you're outright encouraged to move about the all-white environment, seeking out new places from the single to 3 seaters spattered throughout the theatre. While the audience take centre stage, the next two scenes occur at the extremities.

In one, an executive delivers a presentation on his company's superior packaging and courier service. There's something slightly shabby, a crumpled naivety instead of sharp-suited confidence. But he's committed: a man all wrapped up in packaging. The trouble is, his slides (no snazzy powerpoint) keep slipping from the product into pictures of home town Plymouth, himself, his brother and colleagues, as the personal seeps helplessly into the businesslike.

With the actress, it's different. In some ways. Our executive kept being questioned by an invisible voice, a Samuel Beckett-type device. And she steps into her performance of Winnie from Beckett's Happy Days, as well as Chekhov; playwrights touching the boredom of existence.

Two male admirers sit intent on every word – though both have their own manuscripts, neither's going to get much of a word in. Last, we are given the rundown on a multiple murder, evidence pointing to an inside-the-family job. Gerrard McArthur's neat-suited, dry-voiced account, prompted by fact-cards, follows Eileen Battye's elegantly confident desolation and Hansell's gleaming hopefulness in a series of fine performances. Fiona Laird's use of inter-scene mass movement reinforces the sense of in-habitat alienation throughout this strangely absorbing conclusion to the Gate's 'politick death' season.

Prelude: Joanna Croll, Jonathan Jones, Christine King
The Executive: Richard Hansell
The Voice: Simon Green
The Actress: Eileen Battye
The younger Man: Simon Muller
The older Man: Andrew MacBean
The Narrator: Gerrard McArthur

Director/Composer: Fiona Laird
Designer: Angela Simpson
Lighting: Tony Simpson
Sound: Carolyn Downing

2002-12-07 16:56:45