SCENES FROM A SEPARATION. To 25 June.
London
SCENES FROM A SEPARATION
by Andrew Bovell and Hannie Rayson
Orange Tree Theatre To 25 June 2005
Mon-Sat 7.45pm Mat 21 June 2.30pm (+ discussion) 25 June 4pm
Audio-described 21 June 7.45pm
Runs 2hr 35min One interval
TICKETS: 020 8940 3633
www.orangetreetheatre.org.uk
Review: Timothy Ramsden 20 June
Separate lives, separate writers, separate directors no wonder it doesn't quite all come together.It takes 2 to stop tangoing, like Australian publisher Mathew and his wife Nina. The trick here is seeing their fraught relationship through a male and female author's eyes something extended in the Orange Tree's end-of-season showcase for young directors by having Phoebe Barren and James Kyle Wilson work together on this tussle-of-departed-love drama. If only it were that simple.
It may in part be that seeing the situation from different angles allows more insight second time round, but Hannie Rayson's act two bite of the poisoned apple marriage seems the more sophisticated and incisive. It puts Nina in the driving-seat (main scenes in both halves are interrupted by one side of brief conversations in a car, spoken by Mathew in act one, his wife after the interval).
These are an unnecessary device, with the characters in opposite corners to show their emotional distance, but are otherwise staged with bland literalness. The steering-wheel is the top of a secretarial chair as every passing beam inadvertently reminds us, while spotlighting the speaker.
People don't take to Mathew; unsurprisingly, as he's callous in strong moments, weakly pleading otherwise. The outspoken young editor he's taken on is right to punch him with the line about giving his wife the job of writing a biography of an alpha-cad, self-made millionaire politician, whose ego eats hers alive. Unfortunately, by the time Mathew tells the professional truth to Nina neither she nor we want to hear anything he has to say.
Potentially interesting characters stand around these two; his brother Darcy, her sister Sarah incisively performed, suggesting the actors could work well with more developed characters. Siobhan, sharp-tongued but blessed with being right is given a brisk intensity by Stephanie Richards, making a mark on every appearance.
And Julia Webber shows a character 4 years younger than 42-year old Mathew yet more mature than her husband. Head on one side, listening perceptively, she's as sagacious in the art of life as she is naïve in biographical art. The two directors present a competent production, if one short on the surprise perceptions that make characters truly vivid.
Mathew: Martin Richie
Nina: Julia Webber
Darcy: Rob Carroll
Siobhan: Stephanie Richards
Sarah: Beatrice Curnew
Margaret: Katharine Bridekirk
Laurie: Andrew McDonald
Directors: Phoebe Barran, James Kyle Wilson
Designer: Sam Dowson
Lighting: Stuart Burgess
Sound: Sarah Gooda
2005-06-21 23:34:13