A 50-minute version of Ella Hickson’s second play was an Edinburgh hit in 2009, with a lot of critical excitement about the arrival of a new, precocious talent - she wrote the play on the eve of her graduation. Now a full-length version has its London premiere, and metropolitan audiences get the chance to see if the hype is justified.
Well, it is. Within two minutes, it’s obvious that Hickson has a delicious way with words. After 20 minutes, her cool mastery of theatre form is evident as her story, which is set in New York, quickly takes shape. At its centre is 61-year-old George, an English professor of linguistics, who is slowly descending into dementia.
When Joey, his estranged 23-year-old daughter, turns up unexpectedly on Christmas Eve, George asks Sam, his American carer, not to tell her about his condition. But signs of dementia are hard to conceal, and anyway Joey has an agenda of her own - she’s unable to get work in England, and Obama’s America seems to offer a beacon of hope.
With a text that sparkles with ideas like the night-time New York skyline, this slight but metaphor-rich play explores the personal and political aspects of belief, care and cultural misunderstanding. The writing is both deeply felt and gently humorous, and the relationship between Sam and Joey is presented with great tenderness.
Although it dispenses with the text’s final scene, James Dacre’s production is excellent. Ian Gelder’s George convincingly sways between bemused petulance and sudden anger, while Joey, played by Olivia Hallinan (from the BBC’s Lark Rise to Candleford), mixes reckless confidence with acute vulnerability. As Sam, Anthony Welsh glows with idealistic charm.
Lucy Osborne’s set and Emma Laxton’s exciting soundtrack are the final ingredients of a superb slice of new writing.
Production information can change over the run of the show.
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