Review: We’re Few and Far Between, Drayton Arms Theatre

Review: We’re Few and Far Between, Drayton Arms Theatre

Cross any pub threshold for the time being and also you’ll probably be met with eyes tensely glued to the soccer: the Drayton Arms is not any exception. On this chilly winter night, spectators watch for France to steamroll Australia in sweltering summer time warmth, as I watch for the theatre to open upstairs. Suddenly the entire pub (properly, one notably antipodean nook of it) erupts in cheers – Australia 1, France 0. The storyline everybody anticipated has been upended: I can’t say I noticed that coming. Then the bell rings, and I’m getting into the world of We’re Few and Far Between, a play that twists and contorts actuality and its narrative.

As the piece opens, music thumps by the air and the geometric-patterned stage is washed in pink. A brief, choreographed opening portrays rigidity and need between the pair of actors. It’s instantly gripping. And then we’re in some sort of psychiatric facility? It’s onerous to inform for some time. Tobias (Luke Cynque-White) casually interviews an intense, unnerving Penelope (a powerful efficiency from the author, Claudia Vyvyan). Penelope is fascinating to observe, as she intelligently dances round Tobias’ questioning of her previous, and there’s one thing very redolent of Ruth Wilson in Vyvyan’s efficiency. But the portrayal of the connection between physician and affected person feels extremely misjudged. The psychiatrist presents so informally, seemingly irritated by his affected person slightly than making an attempt to grasp or deal with her, so it’s off-putting. At instances I questioned whether or not I had correctly understood the setting of the opening scenes, nevertheless there are sufficient clunky expositions dropped all through the textual content to clear up any doubts.

From this relationship we’re transported again into Penelope’s previous. But which components of this story are true? Much of her recollection is directed by her abusive accomplice, Luke. Cynque-White is far more convincing in his portrayal of a troubled teenager, determined to venture management. The manufacturing hits its straps on this central story, and it’s frequently engrossing and tragically plausible. Watching Penelope be brainwashed by Luke, as he tries desperately to expunge her reminiscences and fill the remaining vacuum together with his authority, is at instances genuinely chilling. A scene through which Luke makes an attempt to exert his energy by FaceTime, Penelope unusually freed from his bodily presence, is actually efficient and testomony to robust character work.

Eventually we return to the physician’s workplace in time to see Penelope come to phrases with the reality of her previous. I used to be intrigued about the place the script would take us now. Already there had been some blurring of the strains between skilled and private within the patient-doctor relationship and I hoped that parallels could be drawn between the management Penelope’s boyfriend had over her, and the facility held in a medical context. Either for social commentary, or simply the arc of the piece, the ultimate third of the play was ripe with potential. Sadly although, the vitality of the piece drops proper again down. The off-beat interactions of Tobias don’t become a premise – only a badly judged characterisation. Approaching the finale, the writing falls clumsily again on attempting to didactically justify the play’s existence by the physician’s strains, slightly than by their very own advantage and curiosity. As I headed again down into the pub, I couldn’t assist however really feel a possibility had been considerably wasted. Looking up, I noticed France had rallied to shut out the match 4-1. Sometimes, the narrative simply doesn’t reside as much as your expectation.

Written by Claudia Vyvyan
Directed by Alexzandra Sarmiento

We’re Few and Far Between has accomplished its present run at Drayton Arms Theatre.