Writer: Chris Salt
Director: Janys Chambers
Have a quick look at some images of Scafell Pike. Those pictures taken with clear skies and sharp, bright light make a hero of the rugged beauty and awesome scale of this landscape. Those, however, showing the weight of cloud and rain, the wind, the cold, the danger, are perfect illustrations of how inhospitable and bleak the hills, fells, valleys and crags here can be.
Chris Salt’s short, dense and gripping play reflects this double-sided aspect of its setting; indeed he calls it out explicitly through the voice of one of the characters. There’s a hardness to the story about these two lonely boys, their guardedness and miserable situations. There’s also a vibrant warmth and humour within the characters that gets turned up and up as they get to know each other through their 24-hour friendship.
Lyle is a village runaway. An irritating, somewhat selfish, 14-year-old clueless as to the reality of what he has run towards while escaping from a hazily defined but clearly unhappy home life. He stumbles onto the remote hillside camp of Jake, an old-before-his-time, world-weary 17-year-old poacher who is struggling with every aspect of his hard, almost ascetic life. Coming to terms with the fact he’s not cut out to be the type to live off the land, shunning company, means coming to terms with who he is as a person – a far greater challenge than even the steepest of the bleak fells and ridges he calls home.
The two form a bond over a shared meal of brown trout, before things turn darker and more desperate when it’s clear Lyle is not just out for a little adventure, but has real reasons to avoid populations in general, and police in particular. Their wretched journey through rain and rock, seeking respite in all senses, is an absorbing, enthralling examination of layers of privacy and reserve being stripped back until these two stand before each other with a completely honest but completely doomed friendship.
Salt’s writing is purposeful and efficient. It’s evocative without being florid and is finely tuned to deliver the thoughts of these two troubled and isolated young men. As Lyle, Ned Cooper perfectly portrays an annoying, unsure teenager with far more of a backstory than we could have imagined, while the kind-hearted but defensive Jake is carried off ideally by Tom Claxton. Their journey through rainy hillsides would be a challenge on any stage, so much credit to the actors, director Janys Chambers and designer Jane Linz Roberts for creating such a compelling and expressive presentation in Barons Court’s restricted space.
Some of Jake and Lyle’s bickering and conversation drags on a little, and within the 90 minutes we spend with them we’re left still with some important questions about their motivations as characters – especially Jake. But really, these are minor quibbles that should by no means interrupt enjoyment of a well-written, well-performed, impactful, original piece of work.
Runs until 7 October 2023 then tours
