The Stage

Old World

Published Monday 29 October 2007 at 16:50 by William McEvoy

Set in a sanatorium in August 1968 on the Riga coast, Aleksei Arbuzov’s two-hander is about middle-aged love, loss and trust. It charts the relationship between a widower doctor, Rodion Nikolayevich and his colourful, young-at-heart new patient, Lidya Vasilyevna.

The production amply captures the autumnal feel of Arbuzov’s gentle love story, with rain falling and leaves shimmering in the garden. Andy Burden creates some beautiful sequences with closely observed direction, allowing the story to develop at its own pace and rhythm and keeping the dialogue alive with controlled and precise work from his actors.

As Rodion, Kevin Colson is gruff and guarded until Lidya helps him discover his youth through dancing the Charleston or eating out in fancy restaurants. Ros Liddiard gives Lidya a skittish coquettishness that shifts into something more melancholy and fragile later.

Arbuzov’s play has no grand finale or tight plot. Instead, we follow the ebbs and flows of growing intimacy and emotional barriers being dismantled as the couple come to rely on one another more and more. The addition of Arvo Part’s exquisite violin music between scenes helps make this a mature, reflective and ultimately moving production.