RATTLE OF A SIMPLE MAN. To 28 August.
London
RATTLE OF A SIMPLE MAN
by Charles Dyer
Comedy Theatre To 5 June 2004
Mon-Sat 7.45pm Mat Thu & Sat 3pm
Runs 2hr 25min One interval
TICKETS: 020 7369 1731
Review: Timothy Ramsden 12 May 2004
Credibility depends on ability to believe in, and appreciate, a gentler past.And they say Godot's the play where nothing happens, twice. They should try Charles Dyer's meandering encounter between a Manchester football fan razzling miserably in London and the prostitute who brings him home.
It's one of three plays Dyer wrote on two-person relationships revealing loneliness. Perhaps the sole of the theme's in the other two. One of these, Staircase, did revive well. Quite a few years ago. In the studio at Liverpool Playhouse.
Which could be the sort of venue to try Rattle on the present day. Then its characters' quiet desperation might have a gentle appeal. Given major West End treatment it needs all the actors' work to give these people any conviction at all. And Dyer's hand is too apparent as he tries to stir a contrived mixture of telling moments into a smooth action.
1962 here isn't just the past - it's historic. When Lancashire cotton mills produced cotton (as opposed to being derelict listed buildings or arty shopping-malls). When a Manchester football fan downed pints and still apologised for saying bottom' in front of a lady of the night.
When a London prostitute gave up Saturday night to listen to a middle-aged man's tedious droolings and refused money for doing so. When the greased-hair bloke who rushes in midway is intent on her reclamation, not a violent pimp.
Only a couple of moments breathe harsher air; Cyrenne's repeated recollection it was sexual abuse when young that led her to the streets. And her description (mild enough) of some regular customers.
Stephen Tompkinson lumbers around awkwardly, trying to turn incredible naivety into touching simplicity of thought. Michelle Collins' watchful Cyrenne is fascinating, eyes waiting to be caught out while looking back behind her fantasies.
Robert Jones fills out the stage by an exterior emphasising the basement level of these people's lives, while giving Cyrenne's flat feminine colours and textures round the bed, fading into kitchenette functionality across the stage.
Nick Fletcher handles his brief role capably and John Caird ensures proceedings are efficiently handled. But the play comes across as a situation with nowhere much to go.
Cyrenne: Michelle Collins
Percy: Stephen Tompkinson
Ricard: Nick Fletcher
Director: John Caird
Designer: Robert Jones
Lighting: Chris Davey
Sound: John Leonard for Aura Sound
Vocal coach: Kate Godfrey
Fight director: Malcolm Ransom
2004-05-14 01:01:22