THE SHAWL/SEXUAL PERVERSITY IN CHICAGO by David Mamet. Crucible Theatre to 24 No

Sheffield

THE SHAWL/SEXUAL PERVERSITY IN CHICAGO
by David Mamet

Crucible Theatre, Sheffield To 24 November 2001 Runs 2hr 10min One interval

TICKETS 0114 249 6000
Review Timothy Ramsden 9 November

Small-scale Mamet takes surprisingly well to the Crucible's epic thrust stage.The Shawl is a minor miracle. Far from the Mamet archetype of splutteringly incandescent obscenities, it's a quiet, sustained legato where voices are rarely raised and which proceeds so smoothly it's easy to underestimate the box of tricks the playwright's employing.

Like the magician who explains one trick only to mystify with a second, Michael Pennington's John, a silver-haired, formal figure exuding Yankee charm and discretion, has no sooner convinced Teresa Banham's Miss A of his clairvoyant powers (even pointing out a scar she never knew she had) and explained to his young companion Charles how a mix of observation and deduction helps him manufacture a web of plausible knowledge, than he's back with more apparent divination.

At first sight Jamie Glover's Charles is a chip off the old Yankee block, but it's soon clear he's a young hustler using his power over John to get the older man to swindle their credulous client. Except she's not so easily fooled. As each scene ties a new knot, the tangle of frauds at last seems set to resolve into unexpected truth.

This three-hander, with little necessary movement, should be studio stuff. Yet it works amazingly well in a big open space, alternatively blown wide-open and tightened into seclusion by Bruno Poet's lighting. The setting is spare, but the emptiness intensifies the ambiguities in the characters' relationships and the eerie way a new reality overtakes them all. The acting is excellent.

The earlier Sexual Perversity is more standard Mamet fare, with friends gleefully predicting the falling-apart of Dan and Deborah's relationship, leaving Dan to be dragged into his fantasising friend's misogynistic view of life and down to a woman-hating voyeurism. Noisier and funnier than The Shawl, it makes less of an impact these days. But it's neatly acted and Angus Jackson's direction, while not quite disguising the time spent on scene-shifting between the many micro-scenes, shifts things along pacily while the dialogue's playing. But it's the first half that makes this a notable evening.

The Shawl
John: Michael Pennington
Miss A: Teresa Banham
Charles: Jamie Glover

Sexual Perversity in Chicago
Dan Shapiro: Alan Westaway
Bernard Litko: Dominic Rowan
Joan Webber: Nicola Walker
Deborah Soloman: Charlotte Randle
The Man on TV: Anthony O' Donnell

Director: Angus Jackson
Designer: David Farley
Lighting: Bruno Poet
Composer: Alex Gallafent

2001-11-14 02:19:18