TWO To 24 October.

Oldham.

TWO
by Jim Cartwright.

Coliseum Theatre To 24 October 2009.
Tue-Sat 7.30pm Mat 21 Oct & Sat 17, 24 Oct 2.30pm.
Runs 2hrs One interval.
TICKETS: 0161 624 2829.
www.coliseum.org.uk
Review: Stoon 14 October 2009

A flat pint after 20 years.
Joyce Branagh’s 20th anniversary revival of Jim Cartwright’s pub play sticks to 1989 – the year it premiered down the road at Bolton Octagon. The advance in comedy since then means we now expect risqué observations and social commentary on trends, fashions and fads at the very least – likeable dysfunctional characters are a bonus.

Two puts the spotlight firmly on characters – a married landlord/landlady couple (Mathew Rickson and Claire Sweeney) and 12 of their regulars (all played by those two actors as well). The problem lies in the script, which from the outset permits nothing more than constant bickering between the couple on a playground level. By the end, when the cause of the mutual resentment is disclosed, we’re past caring. When not at each others’ throats, they serve a range of imaginary punters and engage in small-talk – whilst not expecting Swiss Toni’s sales patter, “would you like a cherry with that?” borders on the cringe-worthy.

The regulars are potentially an interesting bunch, but are again let down by bland dialogue and in the case of the lothario and hen-pecked husband, an exaggerated comic physicality – they’re broad-brushed stereotypes lacking in quirkiness of mannerism to make them memorable.

There’s a plain bar servery and a stools and tables – but it’s a bare bar without a hand-pull, pint pot or optic in sight. The whole affair resembles an AA meeting with imaginary pints being dispensed into imaginary glasses (and imaginary spillages to boot). Devoid of any visual references to 1989 in terms of products, any nostalgia fix is served solely by references to Barbican, Babycham & Cider with Cherry B. There’s an accompanying soundtrack featuring bar sounds (clinking glasses, etc) but it’s too quiet to be fully effective.

Both Rickson & Sweeney perform well enough, but the restricted subtlety of the production and script issues never give them a chance to inhabit the characters. Having won MEN Best New Play and successfully transferred to The Young Vic in 1990 the piece has undeniable pedigree, but present day reincarnations require radical revision to maintain that bloodline.

Landlord: Mathew Rickson.
Landlady: Claire Sweeney.

Director: Joyce Branagh.
Designer: Keith Orton.
Lighting: Thomas Weir.
Sound: Lorna Munden.
Voice coach: Caroline Hetherington.
Assistant designer: James Hirst.

2009-10-16 10:51:55