TAILOR MADE LOVE. To 23 December.
London
TAILOR MADE LOVE
by Philip Brodie and Andrew Clarkson
Theatre 503 Latchmere Pub 503 Battersea Park Rod SW11 3BW To 23 December 206
Tue-Sat 8pm Sun 5pm
Runs 1hr 10min No interval
TICKETS: 020 7978 70040
www.theatre503.com
Review: Timothy Ramsden 16 December
Strong emotions carefully restrained.
This is a curiosity, a play that might well have emanated from a dream or fantasy. There’s something private about its handling of a theme in a setting that seems close to being familiar, but has a strange atmosphere.
Normally, an extended opening of taped voices heightens my hackles; the stage is there to show events. Often, having them recorded is an evasion of conscientious exposition. But here, the voiceover account of village tailor John Brignoe pleading as his wife leaves him not only alone but childless, seems apt. We are on our way into a world where nothing is quite real, from the dummies that stand around almost as silent characters, to the spirit of Brignoe’s son who starts and ends the play, despite never having been conceived.
Except perhaps immaculately - and he does talk to us in spotless white clothing, contrasting the main central section where Brignoe senior is more subdued in his apparel. Deeply-felt emotions, whether love for his wife or the burning desire to have a son, are kept in the background. If there is emotion, it’s recollected not so much in tranquillity as with resigned, deadened senses: a kind of regret from the after-life (and a stage full of dummies gives a gloomy, dead feel).
But the real feel of the piece is irony. Jumping about from idea to scheme over the problem of his succession, Brignoe loses focus. The intensity of desire which brought the son into being is vitiated by his final lack of self-belief and concentration. Whether taken as a tale of the supernatural, or as a metaphor for creating what’s intensely wished-for, and then never discovering it, the play creates a strange interior world which holds attention throughout.
Much of that’s due to Philip Brodie’s quiet, controlled performance. The energy Brodie gives the (imaginary) son contrasts the would-be father’s recollections of his past strivings, while within each character the performer creates reality while keeping a sense of distance. For this is a curious world we enter, if one that’s forceful enough while we’re in there.
Performer: Philip Brodie
Director: John Hoggarth
2006-12-19 10:47:12