STRAWBERRIES IN JANUARY. To 27 August.

Edinburgh

STRAWBERRIES IN JANUARY
by Evelyne de la Cheneliere in a version by Rona Munro

Traverse 1 To 27 August 2006
Tue-Sun various times
Runs 1hr 20min No interval

TICKETS: 0131 228 1404
www.traverse.co.uk
Review: Timothy Ramsden 16 August

A strawberries-and-cream theatre treat.
It’s French-Canadian, but there were times listening to Evelyne de la Cheneliere’s play it seemed it could belong to the languorous, melancholy-tinged comedy of mid-20th century French boulevard theatre. But it’s never remotely like that, certainly in Rona Munro’s version, sizzlingly directed by Roxana Silbert with her usual eye for detail.

Despite, on the surface, the light, evanescent texture of some French comedy, as it veers between urban Montreal and the country, between present and past (at the flick of Chahine Yavroyan’s lighting states), between people’s aspirations and their present realities, the play acquires a sense of substance.

Francois, an aspirant script-writer who keeps a café, or Robert who keeps silent about losing his lecturer’s job (universities are about freedom of thought, but never criticise the institution where you work), find their lives intertwining with country-girl Lea, who sells her guest-house to move to the city and find her old friend Sophie. Who, naturally, has become an aspiration in Francois’s life.

Life’s shaped by chance: Robert happens to call in at Francois’s café. Yet also by what people make of situations. Robert finds Lea reading one of his books, a chance leading humorously into their relationship, while Sophie’s inability to open a door the right way becomes printed on Francois’s mind.

There’s a perfect balance in the production. Having devised so many potential movie scripts, Francois easily seeks to mould relationships artistically, especially at a dinner-party he concocts. No-one manages manipulation better than Paul Thomas Hickey, though Francois finds people in life less easily pleased than characters in a script. Gabriel Quigley’s Sophie is superbly impulsive, turning her problems with the door into a major struggle without ever overplaying.

This leaves Lesley Hart and Phil McKee as contrastingly less extrovert characters. Both play with a concentration and individuality ensuring this remains an equal 4-hander. There are strawberries, and presumably it’s January, so the play lives up to its title. More, it derives comedy from believable, individual characters. Between them, the author, adapter and production have created something so delightful it’s hard to think it will end with this year’s Festival.

Lea: Lesley Hart
Robert: Phil McKee
Sophie: Gabriel Quigley
Francois: Paul Thomas Hickey

Director: Roxana Silbert
Designer: Emma Williams
Lighting: Chahine Yavroyan

2006-08-23 11:56:37