Horla present Sleepless Nights at the Rose and Crown - until 5th October

London

SLEEPLESS NIGHTS
by Guy de Maupassant adapted by Alister Green

Rose and Crown To 5 October 2002
Tue to Sat 8:00
Runs 2hr One interval

Tickets: £8, Concs £6, Wed all tickets £5
TICKETS 020 8296 9100
boxoffice@roseandcrowntheatre.co.uk
Review Emma Dunford 1 October

A promiscuous French trilogy - powerful and professional in delivery although failing to hit the perfect mark: a thrilling climax to the evening though.It is always a problem criticising a play when the acting is provocative but the content listless and uninspiring. Perhaps for fans of the French Fin de Siecle artist Maupassant, ‘Sleepless Nights’ may make some impact on the psyche – it is the psyche, after all, and its profound and often disturbing affects on the action of man, that is the driving force behind much of Maupassant’s work. But unfortunately, without this interest and without this insight, the promiscuous trilogy just leaves you feeling bemused and often lost.

Maupassant was obviously taken with the raison d’être and usually his work was built around simple episodes from everyday life, revealing the hidden sides of people.

The first two sequences in the trilogy certainly bear this out. ‘The Bedroom’ is the more compelling of the two, where an independent, wilful wife strikes up a deal with her estranged husband, which he must abide by if wishing to take her to bed. Nicole Tounge’s performance in this sketch is particularly evocative – an enticing young dominatrix.

The second of the two, however, is not colourful viewing. ‘The Conservatory’ is a farce, but the comedy prevailing is more frustrating than amusing. A loveless and frigid couple regain their sex-drive by stumbling across the butler having sex. But it is superficial and shallow and needs to dive to greater depths if it is to strike a convincing chord.

It isn’t until ‘The Horla’, a longer, more affecting and thrilling sequence, that the evening reaches the climax it has been building towards. There is still some void that needs filling, but this vacant and pressing hole somehow manages to create the atmosphere that makes it so chilling and disturbing to watch. A man, played brilliantly by Dave Roberts, is haunted by a vampire-like incubus that sucks at his senses and leaves him in a demented state of psychosis. The Horla provokes him into losing contact with reality, causing deterioration of his normal social functioning.

The four actors come together for the first time, and each of them crafts their characters intelligently. Lauren Terry’s performance as the Horla is bedevilling, with the glare of her red red eyes and the discomfort of her craning neck sending shivers down your spine.

The cast’s professionalism is impressive, but the trilogy is seemingly haphazard, and I’m not entirely certain even the expertise of the actors convinces that there is a place for such a genre in theatre today. There surely is, but perhaps this particular work just doesn’t do it fair justice.

Cast:
Nichola Tongue
Sean Pritchett
Dave Roberts
Lauren Terry

Adapted and Directed by: Alistair Green
Design by: Tracy Waller and Alex Agg
Lighting by: Ben Pickersgill
Sound Design by: Dominic Currie

2002-10-03 12:27:27