Royal Lyceum Theatre,
Edinburgh
4 stars
The recent spate of
main-stage co-productions may have been borne in part from economic
circumstances, but they have been delivering in spades. This timely
revival of J.B. Priestley's time-shifting family saga is a case in
point, especially as Jemima Levick's elegant and haunting production
explicitly points up how human potential can be crushed by economic
decline.
The play opens to the
sound of laughter in an empty room, where the Conway brood are
celebrating the writerly Kay's birthday with a game of charades.
With Kay's brother Robin returning from the trenches, optimism is in
the air, be it from the potential romances of glamorous Hazel, the
political idealism of Madge, or the sheer joie de vivre of Carol.
Only withdrawn Alan appears to have portents of uncertainty. With the
final act set seconds later, sandwiched between the two is a scenario
set in the same room in 1937. By this time, the family is fractured,
with only the shared experiences of debt, death, class-based snobbery
and profound disappointment holding them together.
Levick helms this
beautifully in a production that breathes fresh life into an already
devastating play. A superb ensemble cast mark the changes in their
characters with a subtlety that brings all their failings to life.
Irene MacDougall is fabulously brittle as Mrs Conway, with all the
women in the cast presenting agonising portraits of their loss of
self-hood. All this may initially look Chekhovian, but is much
crueller. Given everything that's happened since, hearing Madge relay
her vision for a Socialist utopia is heartbreaking in a deeply
troubling state of the nation meditation that's far greater than a
mere period piece.
The Herald, January 21st 2013
ends
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