A fork-tongued powerhouse of a duologue, delivered and directed with quality and authenticity
The award-winning acting promised in the LAMDA programme set high expectations for Purāna Productions’ interpretation of this intense two hander which were certainly met, coupled with direction that is equal parts dynamic and delicate. Semi-cabaret style seating creates an intimate atmosphere, letting audiences into the world of an ‘ordinary’ young couple on a blind pub date as they unfurl more than just the customary conversation, one round at a time.
The couple play us in at opposite ends of the space, getting date ready to his and hers hype music in front of their respective mirrors, each in their own separate bubbles soon to collide. The action is set about a small table adorned with the customary tired table flower, low-lit lamp and miniature reservation chalkboard. The stage is trimmed with audience tables dressed identically, implying we share the same space and time as the couple. This said, the sound choices questioned this at times, with low level pub chatter or music rising at points and silence at others. The in-the-round layout is deftly navigated with the actors seamlessly adjusting their position from within the story. They organically revolve about the centre point of the action, skilfully providing the audience with all possible perspectives and sightlines to this multifaceted conversation.
The opening nervous sipping of pints punctuates the playful awkwardness of the dialogue in a ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf’-esque dog fight conversation, biting as it is entertaining. Dhruv Ravi’s direction artfully walks the line of laboured exchanges and sharp jabs of insults and comedy drawn by Battye’s edgy writing.
As the conversation lurches from one topic to another, both Amber Grappy and Emmanuel Olusanya guide the audience with uncanny relatability and authenticity. Olusanya is brilliant vocally with beautiful expressions where his face tells the story in moments of silence. Grappy, in her turn as WOMAN, has impressively intense focus and presence which injects the role with the manic and magnetic power it asks for. Both share an emotional range and vulnerability that is magical when they come together. They melt into conversation moving, revolving but somehow maintaining focus; we feel their tension, their giddiness and their despair as together they work to skilfully control the emotional temperature of the room with artistry both in the spoken and unspoken moments.
The actors in turn exit to an offstage bar to buy their round of beers, returning with two new glasses of emotional and intellectual territory. They talk around the future, the past, the present moment and everything in between without wasting an inch of the space. They gravitate around the table, conversing over and under it; battling, retreating and bouncing off each other with a magnetic electricity that draws them ever closer to each other and the unidentified something which calls them stay the duration of the play. Ravi’s dynamic use of proxemics cleverly mirrors the play’s emotional push and pull, though practically where this takes them within the pub setting lost me at times and calls into question whether we are still in the same world as the characters, or if they have lost us and themselves in a world, indeed, of their own.
As tension builds, momentum gathers and snaps just as quickly, spiralling to a conclusion which can only be seen with bated breath. Don’t miss this high-quality execution of a sharply written modern romance.
Well presented, lots of emotions in one show. The actors are amazing, they really deserve applause👏👏