ZADIE'S SHOES. To 1 November.
London
ZADIE'S SHOES
by Adam Pettle
Finborough Theatre To 1 November 2003
Tue-Sat 7.30pm Sun 3.30pm Mat 29 Oct3.30pm
Runs 2hr 10min One interval
TICKETS: 020 7373 3842
www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk
Review: Timothy Ramsden 12 October
Warm-hearted without becoming sentimental, play and production share honesty and human understanding.A popular success in the playwright's home country, Canada, this is another enjoyable play introduced to Britain thanks to the Finborough. Zadie's Shoes may take some time to grip - the frequent problem with short-scene, cutabout scripts - but, in Wise Donkey Theatre Productions' hands, it has enough character truth to dissolve its symbols and encapsulate its themes without seeming manipulative.
Those themes are big enough - faith, luck and guilt; blame and shame centred on a family and a synagogue. Benjamin ('Freud' to his friend for some reason) comes from a gambling family - his grandad escaped the Nazis shoeless, having lost his footwear not to the SS but a bet. And Ben seems bent on following in his grandfather's footsteps.
But this persistent compulsion's only one strand of modern life where individuals' concern for themselves inculcates selfishness. Ben gambles away the money that was to have flown his girlfriend to Mexico for alternative cancer treatment. But Ruth also meets ruthless self-concern from her sisters; Lily who floats through a raft of religions, and curling-champion Beth for whom success on ice is the driving-force of life.
Standing out from these people is the much older Eli, who offers a calmer, sedate approach (Leonard Fenton, occasionally uncertain but with overall wise authority). His regular religious observance (Ben's been nowhere near a synagogue since Bar-Mitzvah till desperation for money draws him ro prayer) turns out to mix with a passion for horses, but he's phlegmatic about not affording to bet on the profitable tip which he gives Ben.
Also contrasting the rest is Bear. An alcoholic, heroin-addicted car-thief, he's given Mamet-like brittleness alongside an ability both to control his obsessions and help others in Danny Babington's alert, precise performance, given sympathy by its comic edge.
Thought about afterwards, the play's scheme may seem slightly contrived. Even so, and certainly during the performance - once the short scenes develop characters enough for them to become interesting - it's well worth seeing as a view of fallible people coping with human weaknesses and the tension this puts on trust.
There's a strong image in Lauren Fedyna's sympathetic production where Beth - mid-championship curling - and Ben - watching the horse he's backed - face each other. The outcomes may differ, but their faces show the same desperation to succeed.
Whatever its limitations (it's certainly not for the irony-wielding theatregoer) surely a dependable play like this would be a better occupant for mid-size West End Theatres than some of the work they're currently housing. Unless theatregoers have given up on people, there must be an audience for a play like this.
Eli/Jacob: Leonard Fenton
Ruth: Jennifer Lee Jellicorse
Benjamin: Dylan Smith
Beth: Tracey Thomson
Lily: Isobel Pravda
Bear: Danny Babington
Sean: Gavin O' Donoghue
Director: Lauren Fedyna
Designer: Raphaela Henry
Lighting: Robin Snowdon
Music: Jack Arnold
2003-10-12 19:12:43