SIT AND SHIVER. To 2 July.
London
SIT & SHIVER
by Steven Berkoff
New End Theatre 27 New End NW3 1JD To 2 July 2006
Tue-Sat 7.30pm Sat & Sun 3.30pm
Runs 2hr One interval
TICKETS: 0870 033 2733
www.newendtheatre.co.uk
Review: Timothy Ramsden 10 June
Several strengths but strangely proportioned.
From the maestro of grand choreographed stage statement comes a domestic comedy, a surprising divertissement from Steven Berkoff, who previously handled Jewish themes in his early account of the Norfolk blood-libel before dealing with such bloody sagas as Agamemnon and an East-End Beowulf.
Among this generally realistic comedy are moments of Berkoff, master of movement, as an entire family swing in to hear a revelation, then spiral their bodies outwards at the shock. There are also fine details, including the way the title’s first explained in detail then overall and the way the 7-day lamentation for the dead is misunderstood by both non-Jewish characters.
And there’s strength in the language, particularly in old, blind Sam with his socialist memories of the Jewish rag-trade and anti-fascist struggles. Barry Davis’s senior citizen, still able to command a family at verbal loggerheads with his strong voice and to rival Lear in the storm when he quotes Shakespeare, is a fine creation.
As is Sue Kelvin’s Debby. It’s her revered father whose death the family’s mourning and Kelvin, with her worries over how her fishcakes will go down, whether there are enough cakes all-round, and contrasting assertiveness over family rites and her late father’s memory, creates a comic yet convincing character.
It’s a strong cast all-round, even when this means the restraint of Iddo Golsberg’s Mike, the actor whose unsuccessful career and mild manner prevent any hint of autobiographical assumption. Linal Haft is wonderful as the strong-built husband whose role in life is to comfort and moderate Debby’s emotional flights.
But what’s it all for? An hour of family comedy, sometimes richly funny, at others more attenuated, leads to a pride-before-a-fall declaration of the deceased’s fidelity and the arrival of the mysterious Mrs Green.
Her revelation might lead to a whole act’s complexity and a final act’s resolution. Instead, the character’s muted (Louise Jamieson still giving her a warm, wondering tenderness, beautifully voiced) and the confusion rising from her story gathers like storm-clouds that suddenly dissipate mid-thunderclap. It’s a play with as many good ingredients as Debby’s fishcakes but structurally it’s come out lopsided.
Lionel: Linal Haft
Debby: Sue Kelvin
Morris: Saul Reichlin
Sam: Barry Davis
Betty: Bernice Stegers
Mike: Iddo Goldberg
Sylv: Leila Crerar
Shirly: Catherine Bailey
Mrs Green: Louise Jamieson
Director: Steven Berkoff
Designer: Lotte Collett
Lighting: Mike Robertson
Assistant director: Susie McKenna
2006-06-11 12:11:46