Time jumping relationship drama permeates quiet sadness.
Time can destroy a relationship. It can also be the tool to heal one.
“One Day When We Were Young” is a simple tale of a couple whose time never came to be. Strung across three time periods, this two hander, originally debuting in 2011, hits the Park Theatre’s Park90 space for an intimate and heartfelt run.
Written by Nick Payne, famous for his classic play “Constellations” and more recently his screen work on the Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield starring film “We Live in Time”, the piece explores his usual penchant for non-linearity.
We follow one couple, Violet played by Cassie Bradley and Leonard played by Barney White, from the midst of the Second World War, to 1960s Bath and ending in early 2000s Luton. Thematically we are made to confront the notion of “what could’ve been” – as their lives together, broken up by war, take veering paths into their own futures.
James Haddrell as director keeps a tight hold on the script. He succeeds in bringing the best he can out of his actors, with Bradley and White giving impeccable performances as the eponymous couple. White’s performance of Leonard is heart-warming and nuanced, while Bradley performs age, old and young, to a stellar level. Where Haddrell fails is in his control of the pacing, as huge chunks of the play drag unnecessarily, especially in the first scene which lacks the sense of tension it deserves.
Although the script is far from predictable to the uninitiated, it is hard to say that it is a tense watch that makes you wonder what will happen next. The power in the play is the quiet sadness that comes from a relationship that never had its time to bloom and the power that reconciliation can have on those involved. But at times that power can’t sustain the show’s 90 minute runtime.
Pollyanna Elston’s design for the set is simple but effective, inhabiting each time period without much in the way of incongruous juxtapositions. Although, I would love to see a version of this play that does more with less.
All in all, “One Day When We Were Young” is a low-thrills rendition of Nick Payne’s writing style on display, brought to the finish line by two incredible actors.