The Stage

Small Change

Published Wednesday 16 April 2008 at 11:50 by Jeremy Austin

Peter Gill’s confusing, over-written story of poverty, religious oppression and homosexuality was first performed at the Royal Court in 1976 and it doesn’t wear its age well.

It’s a post Lord Chamberlain censorship kitchen sink drama - in other words people talk about being poor and their bitterness at Britain’s class system, and say ‘fuck’ (once) while they’re about it.

Directed by Gill, the four cast members perform on a stage bare but for four chairs, the script teasing out their relationships with each other and their stories. But it is a fractured teasing that requires too much from the audience and, while there are moments of delicate, descriptive prose, they are often swamped by the swirling confusion of the stirred up story.

There are high points. Sue Johnston wears her poverty - material and spiritual - like a shroud. Her impoverished surroundings almost materialise around her. Her scenes with Lindsey Coulson as her next door neighbour evoke both time and place and are almost enough to glue the story together.

Matt Ryan and Luke Evans, as their respective sons Gerard and Vincent, are fine, but never really seems to claim their roles as their own. The story progresses at an inconsistent rate and they seem to struggle with their characters’ development.

Somehow Gill manages to convey the hardships faced by his characters, but it is an empty shell around a formless play.