THEY HAVE OAK TREES IN NORTH CAROLINA. To 1 December.
London
THEY HAVE OAK TREES IN NORTH CAROLINA
by Sarah Wooley.
Tristan Bates Theatre 1a Tower Street WC2H 9NP To 1 December 2007.
Tue-Sat 7.30pm.
Run s 1hr 20min No interval.
TICKETS: 020 7240 6283.
www.tristanbatestheatre.co.uk
Review: Timothy Ramsden 20 November.
Fiery drama lit by a slow-burn opening fuse.
This new play illustrates an old dictum, that there are very few different storylines in world literature (the number given varies, but is usually around five). Over two decades ago Ray and Eileen’s son Patrick was abducted while she visited the shop on their holiday site. Now an American called Clay arrives at their remote home, claiming to be their son and bringing his own story of what happened. Eileen fondly welcomes her lost child; Ray is outraged at an impostor.
Fortunately Sarah Wooley also shows how familiar narratives can be invigorated with new purpose. The is he/isn’t he question has an unsurprising outcome, but it gives rise to renewed self-examination by Patrick’s parents. Out of this comes a new cause for their having shut themselves off from social relationships. Guilt, perhaps half-feared but never spoken, is dragged violently into the light.
This co-production between the West End-located Tristan Bates and Battersea-based Theatre 503, has performances as fine, if not as starry, as any to be seen along Shaftesbury Avenue. Simon Harrison characterises the strongly-built young man as someone whose life has left him with no sense of belonging.
But the play focuses increasingly on the relationship of the older couple. Both these performances have a dream-cast quality. Janet Amsden’s Eileen sustains a fond, quiet confidence in Clay, paralleled by an intense, contained concern when picking up on a comment her husband makes unawares (Clay’s explicit backstory is neatly contrasted by Wooley’s carefully casual exposition). Hilton McRae begins with a reserve that, it’s increasingly apparent, is rooted in fear, rising to fury before the final revelations of what happened years before.
What makes the performances so strong is not just the line each one charts, but the depth and conviction each actor brings, the sense these people really have lived the lives that have brought each one to this point. Paul Robinson’s production acutely charts the play’s emotional parabola while being alive to detail, and Libby Watson’s set, with its surrounds of autumnal leaves, provides a perfect setting, atmospherically lit by Chris Davey. A gem of a play and production.
Ray: Hilton McRae.
Eileen: Janet Amsden.
Clay: Simon Harrison.
Director: Paul Robinson.
Designer: Libby Watson.
Lighting: Chris Davey.
Sound: Richard Hammarton.
2007-11-21 10:08:20