Leaves of Glass-Hope Mill, Manchester

Writer: Philip Ridley

Director: Max Harrison

The response to shock/ horror revelations about possible racism in the Royal Family was the terse response ‘’ Some recollections may vary’’. In Philip Ridley’s Leaves of Glass all recollections vary, and nothing can be taken for granted.

Steven (Ned Costello) is a successful businessman, happily married to Debbie (Katie Buchholz) and about to become a father. He is able to offer assistance to his widowed mother Liz (Kacey Ainsworth) and help out his brother Barry (Joseph Potter) who struggles to hold down a job. Barry is a recovering alcoholic who attempted suicide and has a morbid obsession with wartime scenes of devastation.

But while Barry’s speeches are not always lucid, on occasion, he makes remarks hinting at a dark secret shared with his brother which clearly upset Steven. The strain begins to have an effect on Steven and he and his wife question each other’s fidelity and he begins to experience hallucinations. Perhaps there is some truth to Barry’s accusations.

Leaves of Glass examines in excruciating detail the extent to which people will go to ignore, or try and forget, the truth. Self-deception is the norm. Liz, despite having complained about noisy neighbours is able to convince herself Steven was the person who pushed for her to move house. More significantly Liz, in a brittle performance from Kacey Ainsworth, is unable to accept her late husband had chronic depression, obscuring the truth behind a cute childish nickname, and that her sons may also have mental health issues.

Director Max Harrison sets an atmosphere of suspicion. The dialogue is spoken in a staccato manner suitable for an interrogation as if the characters are constantly making accusations about each other. The final confrontation between the brothers is staged daringly in twilight with the stage illuminated only by candles as if neither party can endure the sight of the other.

There is the sense the maturation of the brothers has been blocked; their emotional development stuck at a key point in the past. When they come to blows it is in a childish pushing and shoving manner as in a playground and the brothers hastily break apart like guilty children when their mother appears.

In a production full of strong performances Ned Costello and Joseph Potter are outstanding. Initially Potter makes Barry the more sympathetic of the two characters. His desperate rapid monologues suggest a puppy-dog eagerness to please and to communicate. Underneath, however, Potter allows to slip some really nasty sneers at his brother as if baiting Steven, trying to provoke him into an impulsive reaction.

Ned Costello seems to be taking a traditional approach to depicting deteriorating mental health with Steven slipping from an aloof but commanding figure to being isolated and unable to associate with other people. However, the final confrontation with his brother leads to a shocking reversal – a transformation into a terrifying emotionally remote figure who has completely accepted his own self-justifying version of events.

Impressively, even after reaching what seems to be a strong climax, Ridley’s script has a final scene which surprises, horrifies and even offers hope of redemption for Steven.

Despite not being easy to watch Leaves of Glass is a tremendous show.

Runs until 8^th July 2023