The magnificent Tara FItzgerald and Maureen Beattie shine in an emotionally charged tackle Duet For One on the Orange Tree Theatre
“Anyone of us is more qualified to speak than you because we have been there. We’re still there”
Tom Kempinski’s two-hander might be one among my favorite performs – from the Almeida’s superb manufacturing to a 2012 tour to a revival at Bolton’s Octagon, it has attracted some severe expertise in its pairings of Juliet Stevenson and Henry Goodman, Haydn Gwynne and William Gaunt, Clare Foster and Rob Edwards. The Orange Tree’s interpretation of Duet For One stands out although as the primary ever to forged two girls in its manufacturing – Tara Fitzgerald and Maureen Beattie.
Dating from 1980, the play stays sparklingly recent in its exploration of the world of psychiatry. Stephanie’s universe is completely rocked with a prognosis of a number of sclerosis, her profession as a world-renowned live performance violinist taken from her. To assist her work by way of this, she’s booked in with therapist Dr Feldmann towards her will and we go to six of her classes to see whether or not she will obtain the required breakthrough, to just accept this variation, to just accept the very notion of psychiatry.
Richard Beecham’s manufacturing revolves slowly on Simon Kenny’s round set, an equitable area unafraid of stillness and silence as these two girls face off. Fitzgerald fantastically inhabits all of Stephanie’s spiky truculence, unwilling to just accept the method till she lastly strikes to a spot of acknowledgement. And taking her on that journey, Beattie’s Feldmann is stuffed with delicate power, astute sufficient to know the trail wanted to encourage Stephanie’s sharing, human sufficient to indicate how onerous it may be.
The shift in gender is an enchanting one which shifts the emotional terrain for Stephanie, significantly the place her dad and mom are involved. Beecham’s most telling intervention proves to be the introduction of a violinist to play Oliver Vibrans’ compositions within the scene modifications, a devastating embodiment of simply what Stephanie is shedding by way of her sickness. Even with out my predisposition to the play and these actors, that is nonetheless a stirring, soul-searching theatrical surprise.