Welsh Fargo Stage Company |
| House of Broken Love- On The Edge , Chapter Arts Centre Cardiff , November 19, 2005 |
| This review first appeared in the Western Mail... The enthusiastic band of curious theatregoers who support the adventurous On The Edge seasons of rehearsed readings in Chapter’s Media Centre never quite know what to expect: a cult classic, a new play from an established writer, a new play from an unknown writer, another chance for an underrated script… There was even more of a surprise at the latest show because we had hoped to see Landmarks, the latest play – albeit one that was only around 20 minutes long – from Gary Owen and directed by Adele Thomas, of Ruth is Stranger Than Richard fame, featuring among others the talented Lucy Rivers, which had to be cancelled because of a sudden bereavement. The surprise, though, was turned from disappointment to delight to find that Stephen Marzella’s House of Broken Love was in itself a piece that more than deserved its own spot in the season as the hitherto “support act” became the main attraction. The play is adapted from part of Dostoevsky’s Notes from Underground – a source that was exploited some while back by another Cardiff writer/performer, Boyd Clack, in a memorable one-man show in this very building, as I recall. Marzella’s play got an outing in Swansea a couple of years ago, when the author directed and starred in the Lycanthrope Theatre production, so it’s good to see it revived here in a cracking version with Peter Knight and Rebecca Knowles. Both actors are unfamiliar to me, but we really need to see more of them, especially Mr Knight who as simply The Man gave a finely nuanced performance as the edgy, enigmatic client of a St Petersburg prostitute. Considering such productions as these have minimal rehearsal time and are script-in-hand, I thought Marzella’s work was done proud, thanks also to a sensitive direction from David Prince, who seemed uncommonly to grasp the balance required in this type of presentation. Too much production and hardly a glance at the script can make the audience forget that this is about giving a neglected work the chance to prove itself, too little action and assiduous reading of the lines can make it seem like a run-through. And too often two-handers with no real action can be little more than radio plays on stage – but here, while it is just a series of meetings between a man and a woman, there is precisely enough to make it real stage theatre: nervous mannerisms and an expressive face from Knight, good body language from Knowles and moments, as when her slap across his face sends his specs flying, that are intensely and shockingly dramatic. The play, frankly, is unlikely to set the world alight, but it is the sort of thing ideally suited to On The Edge, RAW and the Sherman’s Scriptslam and Unzipped, all exciting projects aimed at allowing new work to breathe on stage rather than remain uselessly locked on the page. That’s not to say it isn’t a good piece of writing: it is, and effectively dramatises Dostoevsky’s psychological exploration of interpersonal power and sexuality as the conventional relationship between punter and client is gradually questioned and subverted – he slowly exposing himself as dishonest, unstable, pathetic, lonely and a fantasist while she is revealed as a young woman who has integrity, realises the truth and ends escaping from her potential prison with dignity. The production team here bring out the best in the play and there’s a rare tension as they, with only a chair as prop, act out the two personal trajectories as The Man falls and The Woman rises – an admirable evening and one where this particular play, I suspect, might not have received the respect it did if it had been presented in tandem with another work by a playwright who is one of the hottest theatrical properties in the UK. |
Reviewed by: David Adams |
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