The Stage

Harper Regan

Published Thursday 24 April 2008 at 13:10 by Heather Neill

Simon Stephens is a chronicler of modern life lived on the edge. This subtle, many-layered play, influenced (according to the programme) by Euripides, takes from Greek tragedy the reflection of traumatic public events in the fracturing of familial relationships. But instead of gods presiding over human destiny, there is an absence, a lack of God.

Harper Regan lives in Uxbridge. Refused time off by her employer to visit her sick father in her home town of Stockport, she goes anyway but arrives too late to see him before he dies. During a two-day absence from her husband and daughter she encounters a beautiful black teenage boy, a sleazy, anti-Semitic journalist (whom she attacks with a broken glass), a childlike hospital assistant, a gentle adulterer (with whom she has sex in a hotel) and her mother, who undermines her devotion to her father. In each case, intimacy and alienation are closely intertwined.

Seth, Harper’s husband (Nick Sidi), may or may not be guilty of certain offences, but without trust there can be no hope. In the final confessional scene, Harper plants her garden and Seth dreams of a perfect future. Human compromise must take the place of god-like certainty.

Lesley Sharp inhabits emotionally complex, intelligent Harper with absolute conviction, while Jessica Raine makes a fine debut as her bright, A level student daughter Sarah. Marianne Elliott’s flowing direction is matched by Hildegard Bechtler’s adaptable, split-level set.

A deliberate counterpoint to the “male” Motortown, Harper Regan is beautifully structured, deftly mixing clarification, new information and memory. Stephens here consolidates his growing reputation as a leading voice among younger playwrights.