THE ROAD TO THE SEA To 15 March.

London

THE ROAD TO THE SEA by Don Taylor
Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond To 15th March 2003
Mon-Sat 7.45pm Mat Thu 2.30pm Sat 4pm
Runs 2hr 45min One interval

Audio-described:1 March 4pm, 4 March
Post-show discussions: Matinees: Thursday 20th, Thursday 27th February, Thursday 6th March
Evening: Friday 7th March

TICKETS: 020 8940 3633
www.orangetree.co.uk
Review: Emma Dunford 19 February

A thought-provoking, evocatively powerful play, especially in its topical speculations about war.The Road to the Sea is an extremely didactic play – politically, emotionally and morally – but it is impossible to say what it's teaching us, as it doesn’t settle on any conclusions.

It's about the annihilation of hope brought about by the ‘progress’ of the Twentieth Century, about the way in which high expectations and lofty ambitions became displaced. Questions are posed: what justice is there in war when it only breeds a further fixation with power and greed? Why does love become such an obsession when the flame soon burns out, only to become a fantasy stored and stagnating in a person’s memory box?

But amidst this bleakness, paradoxically there is a lightness and frivolity that creates an atmosphere of unease. Don Taylor presents issues that are both topical and thought-provoking, portrayed in such a way that, as protagonist Jay announces, would ‘make you weep if it didn’t make you laugh.’

A daughter, Jo, searches for a father, Jay, whom she has never known, only to discover disturbing and unsettling secrets about his past. Ian Cullen is completely engaging in his role as Jo’s father. With a subtle change in his posture, expression and the deliverance and confidence of his own rhetoric, he naturally flows between his roles of game-show host, comedian, savaged political aggravator, confused father, thinker and philosopher, illustrating how every character has its doppelganger and how everyone relates to this doppelganger in a different way.

Jay may be the leading role and the catalyst for everyone else’s behaviour, but he is also quite noticeably the star of the show. All other performances are diligent and well expressed – Jo’s troubled mind comes through convincingly, Harriet the step-daughter’s gnarled stubbornness is persuasive and Adam quite easily falls into his role as Jo’s ambitious yet forceless boyfriend – but they do lack a certain finesse

Helen Grace, for example, could benefit from developing Jo’s character a little more - voice and expressions remain the same, even when her father’s shocking secrets are revealed.

There is much acerbic wit amongst the savage elements, furnishing the evening with energy and depth. As a world premiere it is evocative - if at times incessant. As always the Orange Tree comes up trumps, with Don Taylor’s skilful direction delivering top results.

Jay: Ian Cullen
Jo: Helen Grace
Harriet: Abigail Thaw
Adam: Jonathan Dryden Taylor

Director: Don Taylor
Assistant Director: John Terry
Designer: Sam Dowson

2003-02-21 16:57:10