An exploration of dysfunctional family dynamics and instability
Blackheath, written by Alex Bower, is currently showing at The White Bear Theatre in Kennington. The story follows Eddie (Barney White) on his return to South London, after time away living isolated in Scotland. He returns to discover his brother Mikey (Andrew Hawley), and his childhood best friend Jo (Charlotte Brimble) are dating. Eddie is deeply affected by this discovery and throughout the play we watch him spiral out of control. Eddie and Mikey are posed as opposites, and their distant, but loving, brotherhood was convincingly performed by both White and Hawley. Mikey works in finance, has a flat, a girlfriend, earns good money, however Eddie is lost, behaves messily, is unemployed and always asking Mikey for money. We see Eddie struggling with his mental health. To begin with, he is upbeat, fun and spontaneous, but we learn of their mother’s recent passing, and this grief, along with the feeling of betrayal from his brother’s relationship with Jo, manifests itself in Eddie’s behaviour. He becomes self-sabotaging, aggressive, mean, and has emotional breakdowns.
Exploring these themes of grief and depression, Blackheath has some touching moments; for me, the best moments were those of emotional extremes, such as the fights between Eddie and Mikey, or the final scene in which they make up and decide to move on. However aside from these moments, the rest of the play felt pretty samey and unvaried. At points, the script felt awkward and slightly tedious as some dialogue between the three characters didn’t do much to contribute to the play’s narrative or character development. In some ways the script and small boxed-in set, held back the actors. Barney White was particularly impressive in his portrayal of Eddie, and I felt like there was a lot of potential there for him to create real chemistry between him and the others, unfortunately it just wasn’t pulled off completely. The staging did restrict the performance I think, when not in the scene, the actors would sit on chairs off the side of the stage, which then made the scene transitions feel a bit feeble.
Despite this, Blackheath does bring up some interesting ideas and asks the right questions concerning the treatment of mental heath, particularly for men, and also the importance of family and how hard it is to get it right. It’s hopeful ending was a nice way to round off the dark subject matters explored.
Blackheath is showing at the White Bear Theatre until the 4th November.