WORLD'S END. To 8 March.

London.

WORLD’S END
by Paul Sellar.

Trafalgar Studios (Studio 2) To 8 March 2008.
Mon-Sat 7.45pm Mat Thu & Sat 3pm.
Run 1hr 10min No interval.

TICKETS: 0870 060 6632.
www.theambassadors.com/trafalgarstudios
Review: Timothy Ramsden 23 February.

Loud protests evoke little sympathy.
This show was highly praised at the 2007 Edinburgh Fringe, information that can constitute a warning. On the crowded, all-comers Fringe professional competence can have a rosy glow cruelly exposure in a wider theatre-world that’s less, yet more competitive. And where there’s time to stop and consider what’s been seen without the Edinburgh hurtle to five more things before teatime.

Things start promisingly in Paul Sellar’s play, as Ben lounges in a darkened living-room. Enlightenment, of plot and wattage, arrives with ex-partner Kat, here to move her stuff to a new home. Ben had promised not to be there, but no-one should trust Ben. Not Kat, nor her friend Thea, hostile to Ben (who’s not above trying to seduce her), nor Kat’s new man, suave Josh, who can pack a punch when pushed.

Nor the audience.

Ben is a descendant of someone old enough now to be grandfather, rather than just father-figure, of such characters, John Osborne’s Jimmy Porter. As if proving Porter’s assertion there are no good, brave causes left (and that was in 1956) Ben is only out for himself, wheedling Kat to stay with him, as Jimmy sought his wife Alison’s sympathy. Fortunately, it’s no longer the fifties; Kat can distinguish feeling from action. As she should; Ben is a manipulator.

Starting with self-pity and disclaimers of any claim on her he develops an emotional net to bring her back. Then has a go at her friend, as did Jimmy with his wife’s friend, and his enemy, Helena.

Merryn Owen’s Ben is a picture of the character’s discontent, ever-busy in move and speech. But his desperation points to a bullying nature never entirely clarified. Nor does the desperation demand any sympathy; it’s too self-absorbed. Monica Bertei and Jamie Belman adequately show the two dimensions their characters are given.

It’s Charlotte Lucas as Kat who provides a sense of inner life. Her controlled anger, the near melting and exercise of will for self-preservation seamlessly evoke a past, troubled relationship in Guy Retallack’s production, which also smoothly integrates the stage business of removing furnishings with the tidal-flow of dialogue.

Ben: Merryn Owen.
Kat: Charlotte Lucas.
Thea: Monica Bertei.
Josh: Jamie Belman.

Director: Guy Retallack.
Designer: Rachael Canning.
Lighting: Mark Dymock.
Sound/Composer: Richard Hammarton.
Assistant director: Anna Ostergren.

2008-02-26 09:05:03