DramaLondonReview

The Trick – Bush Theatre, London

Writer: Eve Leigh

Director: Roy Alexander Weise

Reviewer: Scott Matthewman

As we get older, the loss of loved ones becomes a tragic inevitability. And yet at the same time, we’re never quite as prepared as we could be.

There are points in Eve Leigh’s new play The Trick where it looks as if such events might take a well-Unnamed 2worn theatrical path. Lachele Carl’s Mira, recently widowed, still has conversations with her departed husband Jonah (David Verrey). Indeed, his presence gives her the strength to stand up to a pair of exploitative builders who try and use her failing memory against her.

The idea of a dead partner continuing to haunt their living spouse, for good or ill, is not exactly a fresh one. And if that were the only strand of Leigh’s work, The Trick would not have the opportunity to speak much about anything.

But there is much more going on here. Starting with a magic trick in which a goldfish seems to die, and then revive, in front of our eyes, Leigh uses the language of the carnival sideshow to explore our attitudes to aging, death and the grief that follows.

Ani Nelson and Sharlene Whyte, who take all the play’s other roles, both have a knowing self-awareness to them which provides much of the play’s occasional laughter. From the builders to a spiritual medium, all their roles walk a line between exploiting Mira’s weakness and revealing truth she dare not.

But it is the segments which do not follow a strict narrative that have the potential to have the most impact. Chief among these is a closing segment where all four actors talk about the scattering of ashes. The sequence mixes pathos and humour in a blend that one feels Leigh and her director, Roy Alexander Weise, had been aiming less successfully for throughout.

But for anyone who has lost someone close, whose final disappearing act will never see them reappear, The Trick will offer a thread of recognition, and maybe a little comfort.

Runs until March 23 2019 | Image: Helen Murray

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magical exploration of grief

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The Reviews Hub London is under the editorship of Richard Maguire. The Reviews Hub was set up in 2007. Our mission is to provide the most in-depth, nationwide arts coverage online.

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