SONGS OF GRACE AND REDEMPTION. To 24 November.
London
SONGS OF GRACE AND REDEMPTION
by John Donnelly.
Theatre 503 Latchmere Pub 503 Battersea Park Road.
Tue-Sat 8pm Sun 5pm
Post-show discussion 21 Nov.
Runs 2hr 15min One interval.
TICKETS: 020 7978 7040.
www.theatre503.com
Review: Timothy Ramsden 4 November.
Adds up to less than the sum of its parts.
Five youngish urban adults in shifting relationships occupy John Donnelly’s play for Liminal Theatre Company. They share a restlessness that reflects the instability in their dealings with each other, and which is reflected too in Peter’s stated aim of walking to every country on earth.
These are people old enough to have bitten into the rest of their lives, young enough still to feel the possibility of everything changing. Yet their existences are bogged down in problems. Relationships are going wrong, discontents abound, things are close to falling apart.
Sometimes the result’s comic, as when John repeatedly disengages from his unloved partner Nicola’s attempts to re-spark their sex-life with fantasies. Things turn sour though, as the games only emphasise how he’s turned on by his secretary. Later, Nicola’s unseen exit from this world gains strength from its casual mention and the recall of her attempts to revitalise the relationship.
The sinister power of suggestion gives strength to Steve’s apparent occupation as a criminal enforcer, though he seems reluctant to use his strength for violent purposes. And Peter’s walking ambition, powered by an unusual family jealousy, has a negative alternative.
Donnelly’s play came about through extensive workshops with actors (some still in this cast). It has the usual strength of work developed this way, with vivid situations that have been lived through by actor imaginations.
Chances of the exploratory process leave their mark on the play, with an Icelandic character owing, at least in part, to an Icelandic actor having helped in the development. There’s no urgent need for her, but she adds the accidental dimension that’s part of the flavour of life.
What’s missing, as so often in work developed this way, is a clear structure to give a sense of necessity and momentum to the overall experience. The play offers a procession of passing events that never add up to a parade.
Janette Smith’s production serves the scenes well without disguising the structural black hole especially in the overlong first act. The non-Icelandic Hannah Young effervesces as Soley, while James Hurn’s Steve has a finely-contained sense of unexpressed dissatisfaction.
Nicola: Natasha Alderslade.
Steve: James Hurn.
Peter: Robert Reina.
John: Mark Springer.
Soley: Hannah Young.
Director: Janette Smith.
Designer/Costume: Naomi Dawson.
Lighting: Anna Watson.
Sound/Music: Neil Codling.
Assistant designer: Emma Pile.
2007-11-08 23:54:19