HENNA NIGHT by Amy Rosenthal. Chelsea Theatre to 22 December.

London

HENNA NIGHT
by Amy Rosenthal

Chelsea Theatre To 22 December 2001
Runs 55min No interval

TICKETS 020 7352 1967
Review Timothy Ramsden 29 November

Neat piece that almost makes a night out of watching hair dry.If this were Amy Rosenthal's first play, we could applaud it and look forward to seeing her at full-length in her second. But we've already seen her stretching over two acts, in the excellent Sitting Pretty (also premiered at the Chelsea), so in a sense this comes as a step back. Which isn't to deny the new play's well-designed as a chamber piece, a two-hander that might be over-neat in its Odd Couple contrasting of characters, but shows skill in handling the anecdotal nature of the one-act play.

Immaculate Ros is a teacher with a perfectly ordered life. She's answered a phone message from her partner's ex, the potentially suicidal and possibly pregnant Judith. Ros arrives just as Judith's henna-ing her hair, a process with a time-span that apparently dictated the play's brevity. Judith's in publishing and has a chaotic lifestyle which goes some way to explaining the multiple misprints that seem to afflict most books these days. Her 'egg-box' of a flat is stuffed with cardboard boxes, wood and plastic crates plus endless rubbish on the floor, not to mention a patchwork of self-inflicted paint sploshes on the wall,

Ms Rosenthal writes speakable, elegant and witty dialogue, which is structured to develop character and situation. After Judith's predictable attack, Ros replies that her presence haunts the new relationship, calling her 'the ghost in the corner, the desired shade'. The author knows when to shut up too; after ironic references to female solidarity, the moment closest to friendship comes as Ros silently combs Judith's hair.

These women, one of them settling for an easy life, the other unable to imagine wanting less than everything, won't make it as friends though. There's a sense of great loss in the complaint that Ros made Judith like her. Henna Night is a genuine, complete experience; it's well-played and efficiently directed. But I do wonder if theatres help sustain their future by offering audiences under an hour's playing-time for the price of a ticket.

Judith: Amy Marston
Ros: Rosie Thomson

Director: Carolikne Hadley
Designer: Bob Bailey
Lighting: Aideen Malone
Sound: Gina Hills

2001-11-30 01:07:37