A young woman and a much older man are alone in a workplace staff room at the end of the day. They are both clearly uncomfortable in each other’s presence, and yet they remain where they are, trapped by an unexplained bond. Without giving too much of the story away, we soon discover that Ray was convicted and jailed after he ran away with Una when she was only 12 years old. Fifteen years later, he is still trying to forget but she feels a desire to reconnect.
David Harrower’s play is a trail of speculation, a ‘what if’ scenario based largely on his own imagination. He blatantly uses every trick in the book to build up to the various denouements and flashpoints in the couple’s story, but ultimately it boils down to an arrogant, academic exercise. After all, there are more appropriate devices than the rape and kidnap of a child to dissect the struggle for domination between the sexes or offer fantasies of sexual submission to a secretly titillated Middle England.
Except perhaps for Una’s short pink skirt, there is no sign whatsoever of director Peter Stein’s hand. That the play is a success is thanks entirely to Jodhi May and Roger Allam’s awesome stamina. Despite a shaky first ten minutes or so, they sustain their roles, holding the audience’s attention throughout. No mean feat when you consider that this is a leaden two-hander of two hours with no interval and set in a single room.
If you find an appeal in Nabokov’s similarly self-justifactory Lolita, then you will just love the sequel served up here. If, however, you’re looking for answers to intelligently posed dilemmas, you will come away cheated by writer, director and producer.
Production information can change over the run of the show.
Content is copyright © 2012 The Stage Media Company Limited unless otherwise stated.
All RSS feeds are published for personal, non-commercial use. (What’s RSS?)
