The Long Road
Soho Theatre, London
Presumption
Southwark Playhouse, London
WHAT is it with British new writing today? At the main powerhouse theatres, such as the National, the Royal Court and the Almedia, the energy seems to be with American playwrights of various different generations, so how come the Brits are so lame? Is this just because the Americans are so culturally confident, or is it because we are so predictable and boring?
Two new plays enable us to give tentative answers. In Shelagh Stephenson’s The Long Road, we encounter theatre as a social service. Born out of research with prisoners by the Synergy Project, and in collaboration with the Forgiveness Project, the play looks at the timely subject of knife crime and its effect on both victims and perpetrators. Now, there’s nothing wrong with theatre as a social tool, especially in such a clearly laudable cause, but it does have an effect on the writing.
In Stephenson’s drama, 18-year-old, middle-class Danny is stabbed in a random attack by chav druggie Emma. His family, led by his mother Mary, have to come to grips with their loss and, which is much harder, try to forgive his killer. With a subject such as this and a writer of Stephenson’s experience, the result is a deeply moving and highly emotional account of oscillating feelings – everything from extreme hate and despair to a hard-fought-for understanding.
Helped by a social worker, Mary tries to persuade her husband and her other son to meet Emma, who – not surprisingly – turns out to be a real handful and then some. But this difficult material is offset by Stephenson’s ability to find grim humour in this darkness and you can sense the emotional struggle in Esther Baker’s excellent production, which uses narration and a simple set to powerful effect.
Occasionally, the research does colour the dialogue and this tends to be an unwelcome reminder of the fact that the piece relies more on reality than on imagination. Still, good performances from a convincing cast, led by Denise Black as Mary and Michelle Tate as Emma, combine to make this a strong evening of great relevance and humanity.
You could say the same about Presumption, a piece devised and written by Alexander Kelly, Chris Thorpe and Rachael Walton of the Sheffield company Third Angel. This time, the subject is love and how our feelings for our nearest and dearest change over time. Beth and Tom have been together for about seven years and, over a couple of days, we watch as both question the state of play in their relationship.
It’s a big subject for an 80-minute play and Presumption offers familiar insights rather than startling new perspectives. As performed by Lucy Ellinson and Chris Thorpe, it all comes across as very natural and engaging. The really exciting thing is the staging, in which the couple literally build their surroundings out of nothing, showing how our possessions are so much part of our relationships.
If neither of these plays challenge the onward march of American drama in London theatres, they do serve as a reminder of British strengths. Both are emotionally sincere and intellectually convincing.
And both provide a humane account of the lives of ordinary people – at their best, they offer excitingly innovative uses of theatre form. But they can’t compete with the Americans in scale and depth and, yes, energy.
Aleks Sierz
