Writer: Christopher Reid
Director: Jason Morrell
Cartoon work: Charles Peattie
The bare set of two chairs, a few cardboard boxes, two actors (Robert Bathurst and Rebecca Johnson) and a large screen behind, belies the complexity of this piece. It is essentially a dramatisation of two of the British poet, Christopher Reid’s most celebrated poems, The Scattering and Song of Lunch. Good the verse is well written as it takes more concentration than prose to follow.
The lyrical poetical beginning introduces the ‘love’ theme very well. The first poem was written shortly after Lucinda’s death, Reid’s wife, having a strong personal touch and ‘rawness’. This love aspect moves into ’loss’ gaining a foothold, where the wife is ”resolved to meet death”. It may not be obvious to all that the final story is about another couple all together, not evident in production. After the marathon task of nearly a one-man 95 minute show a drink of Chianti seems inevitable.
Very much a platform for Bathurst who carries the show 75% of the time alone on stage and off it, even running around an unlit auditorium. The backdrop is filled with single colour moving cartoons setting each location, created by Charles Peattie, half of the duo who created the comic strip Alex. The cartoons serve less purpose in the first piece, being somewhat distracting, but complement the second piece, being more integral to the story.
Some dialogue is lost when delivered upstage with actor’s backs to the audience. There are some light moments, as when the new restaurant is described as ‘under new mismanagement and the white tablecloths signalling surrender! The personal intimate content mainly delivered by one actor on a sparse set would fit very well in a more intimate studio space, being somewhat lost in the large auditorium.
Bathurst, known for Cold Feet and Johnson of The Trip and The Flood play all the characters. It is certainly a feast of language with Christopher Reid’s 2009 poems, ‘A Scattering’ about grief and ‘The Song of Lunch’ with echoes of Reid’s cartoonist career and his disastrous lunch with an ex is more theatrical. You may love it, get a little lost in it or need a drink after it, only going will tell.
Runs till 28 August 2022
The Reviews Hub Score
Dramatised poetry
