Post by Romana on Dec 28, 2008 21:29:57 GMT
Half of this article was about another play, so I've just copied and pasted the second half of it, which is their review of In A Dark, Dark House.
In a Dark Dark House at the Almeida is a grimly personal exorcism by another American writer, Neil LaBute, of an unhappy childhood at the hands of a violent father. Two brothers, one a successful lawyer, Terry (Steven Mackintosh), the other a sullen security guard, Drew (David Morrissey), learn the truth about each other by sharing what is secret between them.
LaBute confirms his mastery of form and narrative revelation in a piece that is slyly composed as a taut triptych in thrall to Sam Shepard and Ingmar Bergman but still feels undernourished, despite the careful attention of the director, Michael Attenborough.
Mackintosh gives a wonderful account of an adulterated adulthood that, despite the compensations of family life, has spun out of control into drink and promiscuity. Morrissey reminds us of his power and naturalism on stage and finds new notes of vulnerability.
Lez Brotherston's design is a paradisiacal green enclave serving first as the grounds of an institution, then a novelty putting green, finally Terry's back garden. In the middle scene, Drew encounters the daughter of the brothers' sexual nemesis, a lush little Lolita played by Kira Sternbach as a reminder of the possible joys of sex. But Eden is a tainted place. The apple has been munched. And these boys obviously didn't have a granny in a wig.
In a Dark Dark House at the Almeida is a grimly personal exorcism by another American writer, Neil LaBute, of an unhappy childhood at the hands of a violent father. Two brothers, one a successful lawyer, Terry (Steven Mackintosh), the other a sullen security guard, Drew (David Morrissey), learn the truth about each other by sharing what is secret between them.
LaBute confirms his mastery of form and narrative revelation in a piece that is slyly composed as a taut triptych in thrall to Sam Shepard and Ingmar Bergman but still feels undernourished, despite the careful attention of the director, Michael Attenborough.
Mackintosh gives a wonderful account of an adulterated adulthood that, despite the compensations of family life, has spun out of control into drink and promiscuity. Morrissey reminds us of his power and naturalism on stage and finds new notes of vulnerability.
Lez Brotherston's design is a paradisiacal green enclave serving first as the grounds of an institution, then a novelty putting green, finally Terry's back garden. In the middle scene, Drew encounters the daughter of the brothers' sexual nemesis, a lush little Lolita played by Kira Sternbach as a reminder of the possible joys of sex. But Eden is a tainted place. The apple has been munched. And these boys obviously didn't have a granny in a wig.