Reviewed by Paul Treasure
There seems to be a pattern within the theatre where new plays are considered cutting-edge and contemporary, as they get older they become old-fashioned and horribly out of date and are rarely performed. Then, if they are lucky, they turn a corner and start to be considered classics and experience something of a revival. Widely considered one of the last great proponents of the “well-made play”, the works of Sir Terence Rattigan seem to be approaching this point in their life cycle and are starting to experience something of a resurgence. Melville Theatre’s production of The Deep Blue Sea is a strong production that highlights a lot of the strengths of this genre, while also shining a light on why it fell out of favour in the first place.
The set and lighting, by Mark Nicholson, is very intriguing. We are presented with the living room and kitchen area of a flat in London, conventionally decorated in the style of the era in which it is set. One should not underestimate the amount of work this would have taken to achieve properly. The walls of the flat are translucent, allowing us a glimpse into both the bedroom of the flat and the corridor outside. According to the Director’s Notes, this choice is symbolic of the main character’s fragility and that she has no place to hide. This choice works magnificently, especially as we see characters occasionally walking past the flat, and we see the intrusions upon the action coming moments before they enter the scene. The original music by Myles Wright adds to the mood perfectly. Costumes by Merri Ford are impeccable, as we have come to expect from this talented costumier. The highlight of which must be the beautiful cerise nightwear donned by the lead in the first and final acts.
As the main character of the play, Anna Head takes on the challenging role of Hester Collyer and makes it her own. One of the hallmarks of this genre of play is that we see the protagonist experience the worst day of their life, this is certainly the case with Hester Collyer. The play opens the morning after her birthday, with her lying unconscious on the floor after a failed suicide attempt. The rest of the play then deals with her coming to terms with what led to her state, the ramifications to the people around her, and how they deal with it. This gives Anna a lot of room to act, and act she does… ferociously! Rapidly flicking from resignation, hope, despair, shame, and defiance a number of times throughout the play. We really feel the danger emanating from Hester as we are not able to predict which way she is going to turn with each twist of the plot. The success or failure of a play like this rests in the hands of its lead, and with Anna in the role, it is in very firm hands indeed.
One of the downfalls of this genre is that the rest of the characters often exist mainly to serve the plot and are given very little to work with. Neale Paterson shone out from this trend, giving us a beautifully warm and comforting Sir William Collyer. His physical presence at first glance appeared stiff and wooden, but it soon becomes obvious that this was a very appropriate character choice, as the love and vulnerability he chose to imbue this character with played well against the reserved stiff upper lip physicality that Sir William requires. Steven Hounsome was given the challenge to play an extremely charming character that by the end of the play the audience needs to hate. He managed to give his portrayal of Freddie Page as much as the script would allow, to the point where at one point this reviewer actually called him a very nasty word under his breath. Zane Alexander as the reserved and private Mr Miller did an admirable job, especially in the final moments of the play where he managed to explore some of the cracks in his character’s mask and give us some genuine warmth. The rest of the cast acted superbly but were hampered with having to play what are basically two-dimensional plot devices rather than real three-dimensional people.
Barry Park has managed a very tight production, marshalling the elements together well, and has shown remarkable skill in drawing as much from the script as he has been able to. It is a show that is definitely worth seeing for the bravura performances of Anna Head and the rest of the cast and for the discussion of whether or not we as audiences are ready to bring these plays back into the fold.
Reviewer Note: Tickets for this review were provided by the theatre company.
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