Amidst the summer holiday jobs to do list, Gabi and I went into London last night to see brother in law, Julian in a play at the Drayton Theatre called Treatment. A six hander, written and directed by one of the lead actors.
It was a play that created many different emotions, not all of them comfortable. Whether dealing with the topics of homosexuality, homophobia, drug addiction, wife beating, cancer, unfaithfulness, illness and death.
The play was much the better for having Julian onstage, not just because he is my brother in law but he was the character who most of the emotions bounced off.
Whether it was his intense amputative homophobia, his non verbal communication after he had his stroke, or the acceptance of his gay son towards the end, his performance was central to the plot and the second act was a much better for his presence.
He proved that acting is not just about the delivery of lines. He communicated more with a flick of the wrist, a stare or an infantile smile post stroke than a soliloquy ever could.
I also found it difficult having watched him on stage following his own stroke a few years ago, going through the same frustration at his inability in having an active mind but being frustrated when unable to communicate verbally, more so here because much of what he needed to say involved hatred or disgust.
In the pub afterward, he said that 10 pages of dialogue had been taken out just to get it down to two hours. I wondered if that was towards the end when as the play heads towards its conclusion, three of the six cast die in different ways (plus the funeral of the mother) it did feel that there was a little something missing as the play turned full circle.
There were many small things that I could relate to. The thermal drinks mug that was given to him by his son which is rejected, thrown back at the start.....becomes a much appreciated item as the father eventually uses it to be able to drink from.
Watching my own father, post hip replacement and his reliance on a thermal mug (the handle of the mug would be hooked into the trouser pocket as he used both hands to manoeuvre upstairs to bed, meant that he could still enjoy a coffee in bed) was a joy to behold.
The performance of the mistress was just right and showed the warmth and love that the couple had together.
The characters that you don't see, Katherine the wife and mother who slips into a coma and dies at the start to set the world of the characters spiralling into chaos and Chris the wife beating husband manage to make the stage seem more full.
Gabi thought that the first act had too much unnecessary swearing. There are ways to show emotion without overuse of the F bomb. Sometimes you can have too much grit.
I thought that a couple of facts that didn't come out till the second act could have been put into the first. The fact that the characters were all in a family time share in Spain....might have helped as to why the drug addicted sister managed to just turn up from rehab.
Also the fact that Owen and Megs were step siblings didn't come out till the second act. Yes it adds to the family disfunctionality theme but I had this nagging in my head as to why the brother and sister were Australian and Welsh.
All in all, a play that started slowly, built up and showed that some old dogs can do new tricks.
I must speak to Julian's agent. He needs a good romantic comedy as that's the second play in a row where he has not made it to the final curtain.......mind you who am I to speak...... 30 minutes into calendar girls and I was relaxing in the Green room.
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