Writer: David Eldridge
Director: Bryony Shanahan
The two person play since the easing of pandemic restrictions has seen a major resurgence in the West End and in producing houses up and down the country. Key to the success of these is the thrill an audience experiences watching two actors go head-to-head under the gaze of a large theatrical microscope. This stunning production sees the popular two hander form elevated to heights that this reviewer has rarely seen.
Beginning, started its life at the National Theatre and is the first play in a trilogy by esteemed playwright David Eldridge that examines love and the fragility of human relationships. With a running time of ninety minutes and no interval the action is performed in real time. The play takes place in thirty eight year old Laura’s flat in West Didsbury, represented in this production by TK Hay’s simple but stylised set, complete with Terence Conran like retro furniture and a kitchen the envy of most millennials. Laura has held a housewarming party and at the end of the night there are just two people left standing, Laura and forty two year old divorcee Danny. What ensues is an intense, beautiful, and surprisingly comic portrait of a relationship in its earliest vulnerable beginnings. Awkward to start with the two singletons circle each other, gradually letting their guards down and revealing their true feelings. Whilst sharing their thoughts on loneliness, eating fish fingers butties and dancing to Bros there is a real sense that Laura and Danny may be on the verge of discovering new life changing possibilities.
Royal Exchange Theatre, Joint Artistic Director, Bryony Shanahan has brought together an outstanding cast. Erin Shanager as Laura and Gerard Kearns as Danny, make ninety minutes pass in a heartbeat. They are pitch perfect throughout conveying their characters deep insecurities, hopes and dreams; every movement, look, and gesture communicates more powerfully than reams of text ever could. These excellent performances will live long in the memory and deserve to be applauded for the bravo turns they are. At one point Laura tells Danny that everyone has a story to tell, by the end of the play having heard these and befriended the characters the audience are desperate to know what will happen to this brave and extremely likeable couple.
Eldridge’s writing hits the mark from the start and does not relent to the final kiss and embrace. This production is a rare treat of superlative writing, extraordinarily high-powered acting, and masterful direction, it is the Royal Exchange Theatre at its very best.
Runs until Saturday 11 March 2023
