HOLES IN THE SKIN. To 20 August
Chichester
HOLES IN THE SKIN
by Robert Holman
Minerva Theatre In rep to
Mon-Sat 7.45pm Mat Wed & Sat 2.15pm
Runs 3hr 5min One interval
TICKETS: 01243
Review: Timothy Ramsden 12 July
Vivid drama drowned in excessive length and laborious set-changes.Holes In The Skin attracted the smallest Minerva audience I've seen. Not that script or, even more, production seem intent on attracting. Yet, initially, Robert Holman's play offers a lot, with sharp-etched performances on an open-floor set emphasising the contrast between chaos and, later, order.
Schoolgirl Kerry clears the mess left by her dysfunctional mother and her latest pick-up to the accompaniment of next door's rowing through the walls; a strong image of the young making order out of elders' chaos. And Kerry's stoic suffering of loutish old Dennis's sexual advances shows a resolute survivor.
It prefigures her relationship bending yet never breaking - with drug-dependent Lee and his aggressive brother Ewan. When Kerry triggers a murder, they become involved with middle-class Quaker-school teacher Freya, her son Dominic who hero-worships the unassertive Lee and husband/father, blind-sculptor Joachim.
Marion Bailey's first entrance as Freya is the point where characters become concepts and life drains from the play; long before the end it turns into a laboured crawl.
Do we need yet another example of Dominic's dependence on Lee? Or of Ewan's sullen force? Of Lee avoiding responsibility? What began vivid becomes repetitively patronising, dragged out by interminable scene-changes.
The older fare worst. Jane Hazelgrove's forced into a coarse acting display as Holman brings Kerry's mum on for a last-minute asthma attack (significant on the drawing-board, ridiculous on stage). Peter Sproule's Nordic Tiresias is all concept, no character the actor's abandoned to generalised orating. These are fine performers; hardly their fault they're attempting the unplayable.
Andrew Sheridan miraculously keeps Lee believable; Daniel Absalom finds individuality beneath brutality in Ewan. And Sarah Cattle's brilliant performance gives Kerry's sharp directness variety of tone and purpose, making the character live vividly. Her no-nonsense outspokenness, imposing herself on others, expresses the need, and will, to survive.
Robert Holman's an interesting writer, no reason he shouldn't be ambitious. But writers need editors, and playwrights need directors who can advise editorially. An initial 41 audience members had dwindled to 34 by the end. Whoever thought this script was in final form surely has a hole in the head.
Kerry: Sarah Cattle
Dennis: David Hounslow
Hazel: Jane Hazelgrove
Lee: Andrew Sheridan
Ewan: Daniel Absalom
Freya: Marion Bailey
Dominic: Jamie Parker
Joachim: Peter Sproule
Director: Simon Usher
Designer: Anthony Lamble
Lighting: Simon Bennison
Sound: Angela McCluney
Compose: Neil McArthur
Season Installation Designer
2003-07-14 13:18:51