SEED. To 20 November.
London
SEED
by Souad Faress
Finborough Theatre To 20 November 2004
Tue-Sat 7.30pm
Runs 1hr 45min One interval
TICKETS: 020 7373 3842
www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk
Review: Timothy Ramsden 14 November
Dark drama moodily produced and strongly acted.A long table, its rich dark cloth surprisingly spattered with muted spangles, fills the Finborough stage. At the ends a man and woman sit, saying little: a common image of cold domestic relations. Crossing this table is a series of steps, their white covering flowing like a wedding-train, opening into compartments yielding secrets from the past.
The man is terse, his voice deeply commanding. The woman, several decades younger, her voice higher and quieter, is nervous and apologetic. Even by the end, the action, shifting between present and past, leaves questions. Its mystery and ghost format resembles compressed Victorian genre fiction filtered through a modern sensibility, used to explore race relations; atmosphere and characters fare better than theme.
At heart is anger driven by mixed-race relations between a British woman and an Anglo-Indian in the 19th century Raj, a speck of Asian ancestry irritating the English male, seed implanted and unmoveable. On the way are a family secret, heirlooms passed through the female line (as if English women couldn't be snootily unfamilial as men).
The play's problem lies in never questioning received opinion. In a piece attacking the received notions of a former period, that's a dangerously complacent line to take. The outburst of racial hatred and contempt, when it comes, takes the form of name-calling obscenities. It's brutal, confirming its cold male speaker as a strongly unsympathetic figure. More interesting would be racism built into someone we have warmed to.
In other respects, Faress supplies strong dramatic qualities, including well-honed dialogue. Even the voice-over starting each act justifies itself, showing ancestral legacies relating to the action. Contrasts of male and, particular, female characters and the ghostly presence in the attic, bringing revelations from the past, are all well-handled.
Charlotte Pyke's contrasting submission and taunting, the anger and intelligence in her various generations of characters are beautifully delineated, as is William Maxwell's sternness and its eventual explanation.
Nicolette Kay's production for Muzikansky productions captures the atmosphere in which secrets and withheld emotions stifle life. Whatever its limitations, this intriguing piece deserves its place in the Finborough's strong autumn season.
Man/Edmond: William Maxwell
Woman/Andrea/Frances: Charlotte Pyke
Voice of Edward: Tim Woodward
Voice of Margaret: Ann Firbank
Voice of Lawyer: Dominic Geraghty
Director: Nicolette Kay
Designer/Costume: Jane Linz Roberts
Lighting: Chris Martin
Sound: Scott Myers
2004-11-15 07:55:48