The Stage

The Furies/Land of the Dead/Helter Skelter

Published Monday 8 February 2010 at 11:25 by Jeremy Brien

Emotional terrorism can cause as much angst to the New York psyche as physical attacks like 9/11. It is the emotional variety that is at the heart of this hard-hitting triple bill by American playwright Neil LaBute, concentrating in particular on the bitter consequences of betrayal on seemingly normal relationships.

The first play, The Furies, is the only new work and also the funniest, with a final curtain line that is almost worth the price of admission alone. It could easily be seen as a prequel to Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple, with a couple of gays, played by Stuart Laing and Patrick Driver, bitching and bickering in grand Jack Lemmon/Walter Matthau fashion, only to be upstaged by Frances Grey as a truly gothic harpie who swears to exact fearsome revenge on her brother’s unfaithful partner.

Grey changes character with some style for the other two plays, which have both been seen before in London and have altogether darker content. In Land of the Dead, her acting is both moving and understated as the victim of an abortion that could so easily have been avoided. Then, in Helter Skelter, she builds towards a shockingly brutal act as the layers of hurt from her husband’s six-year affair with her sister are remorselessly peeled away.

LaBute’s dialogue is sparse and corrosive, while director Patricia Benecke ensures that her players master the nuances of timing so essential to building a sense of relationships about to tumble over the brink.