Not Talking, Arcola Theatre, Mike Bartlett
May 7, 2018 10:07:06 GMT
foxa, mallardo, and 4 more like this
Post by Steve on May 7, 2018 10:07:06 GMT
World premiere of Mike Bartlett's first play (originally produced only for radio). Saw it Saturday matinee, and it's absolutely wonderful: a thoroughly affecting drama about relationships, soldiers, the passage of time, the treatment of women (specifically) and strangers (generally) and the value of talking.
Some spoilers follow. . .
Some won't like that this is only an hour and a quarter. Some won't like the fact that this is, for the most part, 4 monologues strung together.
On the other hand, most will like the fact that these monologues interweave ingeniously to form one profoundly affecting story. Most will like the fact that the story is told in such a way that by the end, everyone will understand it. This is not a labyrinthine theatrical puzzle where you have to see it six times to understand it, and even then only three people actually get it, and mostly because they bought a programme for six quid.
But most importantly, I think nearly everybody who sees this will be moved by what they see and hear. And will want to discuss the value of talking.
Bartlett gets deep inside the heads of 4 very different (all likeable) characters.
Performances are superlative: David Horovitch is the soul of compassion as conscientious objector, James, a nonetheless flawed man who cheats on his wife, Lucy; Kika Markham nails Lucy's stiff upper lip reticence to confront him about his affair; Gemma Lawrence is heartbreaking as an abused soldier, ensnared by the military's code of silence, and Lawrence Walker steals the whole show as a happy-go-lucky soldier, facing emotional pressure from every direction, torn six ways from Sunday. It is Walker's uncanny ability to express every slight tear in the fabric of this soldier's essential geniality that makes his performance so memorable.
4 and a half stars.
Some spoilers follow. . .
Some won't like that this is only an hour and a quarter. Some won't like the fact that this is, for the most part, 4 monologues strung together.
On the other hand, most will like the fact that these monologues interweave ingeniously to form one profoundly affecting story. Most will like the fact that the story is told in such a way that by the end, everyone will understand it. This is not a labyrinthine theatrical puzzle where you have to see it six times to understand it, and even then only three people actually get it, and mostly because they bought a programme for six quid.
But most importantly, I think nearly everybody who sees this will be moved by what they see and hear. And will want to discuss the value of talking.
Bartlett gets deep inside the heads of 4 very different (all likeable) characters.
Performances are superlative: David Horovitch is the soul of compassion as conscientious objector, James, a nonetheless flawed man who cheats on his wife, Lucy; Kika Markham nails Lucy's stiff upper lip reticence to confront him about his affair; Gemma Lawrence is heartbreaking as an abused soldier, ensnared by the military's code of silence, and Lawrence Walker steals the whole show as a happy-go-lucky soldier, facing emotional pressure from every direction, torn six ways from Sunday. It is Walker's uncanny ability to express every slight tear in the fabric of this soldier's essential geniality that makes his performance so memorable.
4 and a half stars.
