some light engagement with gender politics
An immersive event, hosted in the Theatre Royal Drury Lane’s Grand Saloon, director Tam Williams has revived Noel Coward’s classic One-Act play, Still Life for one week only. This is, indeed, the play which spawned the movie Brief Encounter – one need not use the word iconic (but iconic it certainly is).
The event begins with a relaxed afternoon tea, before the Grand Saloon transforms into Milford Junction Railway Station. It’s a lovely concept, a strong contender amongst the burgeoning demand for immersive theatrical events. And it is a charming one. I think it fair to say that, as a piece of theatre, it is middling. As an experience, however, it is as sweet as the preceding lemon meringue pie.
Still Life is the story of Alec Harvey (Alasdair Craig) and Laura Jesson (Rachel Pickup), who, after a chance meeting at the train station, begin a year-long, tumultuous love affair (once a week, every Thursday). Interspersed are the parochial lives of station employees (Elizabeth Elvin, Antony Jardine, and Emily Panes) all of whom display wonderful facility for multi-rolling and musicianship.
We are situated clearly in the world of 1930s England, with all its tea-loving traditions and less adorable conservatism. Though not always the case with Coward, this particular text does show its age somewhat: Harvey routinely insists upon his and Jesson’s love and the imperative to act upon it (consummate it) whilst Jesson’s insists the braver thing to do is resist their passion. Though he does persuade her otherwise, such exchanges feel somewhat forceful; a little untoward. Ditto for the auxiliary romances amongst the train station staff. That said, both Craig and Pickup do a fabulous job, and are very engaging as the ill-fated couple.
Still Life is perhaps an apt name, as the narrative and show itself is a little static. It is not one of Coward’s finest pieces (honestly, it’s reassuring to see that even the greats don’t always deliver bangers). Harvey and Jesson talk obsessively of their love, but we don’t actually see evidence of it, nor their compatibility. It makes the whole affair seem a tiny bit, dare I say, pointless. Though there is some light engagement with gender politics, the dialogue never probes deep enough to be really compelling.
That said, I applaud any theatre staging the likes of Coward: a bastion of British theatre and manners. The afternoon tea was both quaint and delightful, and the show slick and well-crafted. (It is worth mentioning, that whilst the use of the space was inventive and fun, it was acoustically sometimes challenging, a struggle to hear dialogue clearly).
Still Life only runs for a week, and it’s a wonderful ode to Cowardian theatre and the tradition of afternoon tea. Not the most genius of his work, but truly, a lovely afternoon.