LEAVES OF GLASS at the Park Theatre

★★★★

“Max Harrison’s staging is beautifully faithful and sympathetic to the writing.”

Memories contain errors. Memory is highly malleable; therefore, often unreliable. It can be altered by emotional state from the very second it becomes a memory. Or many years later. Yet most of us like to think our own recollections are infallible, even when we know we might be twisting it. That’s just survival, according to Philip Ridley who explores these themes in his 2007 play “Leaves of Glass”. The middle episode of his ‘Brothers Trilogy’, it was preceded by ‘Mercury Fur’ and followed by ‘Piranha Heights’.

“Leaves of Glass” centres around two brothers, Steven (Ned Costello) and Barry (Joseph Potter). Five years apart in age, but on the surface, they couldn’t be further apart from each other. Steven runs a successful graffiti removal business while Barry, despite being a bit of a dogsbody in the firm, is a struggling artist. Steven appears to have his head screwed on, whereas Barry’s is lost in drink and hallucinations. Their respective memories of their father, whom they lost at a young age, are on different tracks. Yet there are similarities that bond them. But like similar poles of a magnet, they repel each other. Their mother Liz (Kacey Ainsworth) tentatively holds them together, despite her affections wavering between the two as wildly as her own recollections. The only solid presence is Steven’s pregnant wife Debbie (Katie Eldred) who is aware of the fragility of the family, but her tolerance doesn’t stretch to assuring nothing gets broken.

The intensity of the play comes not just from the spoken word, but the silence that surrounds a traumatic incident from the brothers’ childhood that neither seems willing to talk about. When the silence snaps, the effect is shocking. The pieces come together but nothing fits, as the final battle of memories is like a duel to the death.

“Sam Glossop’s underscore splits the play’s segments like splinters of sound that throw us off balance”

The intensity of the play also undoubtedly comes from the performances. Costello and Potter both capture the inherent danger in Ridley’s script and in their characters. Costello in particular, like a brooding prisoner who never leaves the stage. Neither can escape their version of the truth – a truth that we can only keep guessing about. Eldred’s Debbie, the outsider, is more grounded but not quite strong enough to dodge the fallout from the brothers’ mind games. Ainsworth is a mix of concern and complicity as the mother who inflates her own ability to cope. ‘I’ve buried two parents and a husband’ she continually reminds us, ‘I think I’m capable of carrying some tea and biscuits’. The little hints of domesticity are a thin gauze over the deep cracks that run through this family.

Ridley’s signature is splashed all over the piece, although less shocking, and perhaps more thoughtful, than some of his other work. Max Harrison’s staging is beautifully faithful and sympathetic to the writing. Some scenes are short, like pieces of broken glass. Other scenes start when they are already up and running. They end unresolved. It is discomforting and reflects the unravelling of the minds of these four protagonists. The actors come into the scenes from different angles – as jagged as the eponymous leaves of glass. Alex Lewer’s lighting is just as evocative, swinging from harshness to near darkness like a horror film’s bare light bulb; while Sam Glossop’s underscore splits the play’s segments like splinters of sound that throw us off balance.

It is difficult to tell the difference between a lie and a truth misremembered. This family is built on both – a pretty unstable foundation to begin with. It is not always easy viewing to witness, but the craftmanship of the acting and the writing force us not to look away. Memory may be fragile, but “Leaves of Glass” will be difficult to forget.

LEAVES OF GLASS at the Park Theatre

Reviewed on 25th January 2024

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Mark Senior

Previously reviewed at this venue:

KIM’S CONVENIENCE | ★★★★ | January 2024

21 ROUND FOR CHRISTMAS | ★★★★ | December 2023

THE TIME MACHINE – A COMEDY | ★★★★ | December 2023

IKARIA | ★★★★ | November 2023

PASSING | ★★★½ | November 2023

THE INTERVIEW | ★★★ | November 2023

IT’S HEADED STRAIGHT TOWARDS US | ★★★★★ | September 2023

SORRY WE DIDN’T DIE AT SEA | ★★½ | September 2023

THE GARDEN OF WORDS | ★★★ | August 2023

BONES | ★★★★ | July 2023

PAPER CUT | ★★½ | June 2023

LEAVES OF GLASS | ★★★★ | May 2023

LEAVES OF GLASS

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★★★★

“Stylistic scene changes and some beautifully choreographed moments lend a filmic quality”

Rarely does the phrase ‘the tea has gone cold’ carry such metaphorical and emotional clout. Spoken silently, almost subliminally, it is a pivotal moment. One of many that distance S. Asher Gelman’s “Afterglow” from the expectations created by the packaging and promo shots. There is a lot of baring of bodies, but the baring of souls waits until the clothes are back on.

Alex (Victor Hugo) and Josh (Peter McPherson) are a thirty-something married couple, about to have a baby via a surrogate mother. Comfortably off, they can afford the hedonism that fills the hours away from their respective jobs. Their epicurean sensibilities allow them to conduct an open relationship, albeit with rules and boundaries. When a younger Darius (James Nicholson) crosses the threshold, those boundaries are broken. The inner consequences are what this play is all about rather than the highly toned, lust-inducing flesh that triggers the landslide.

Gelman, who also directs and choreographs the piece, sets the mood from the outset. Three figures writhe; mere silhouettes behind a curtain of white gauze like some kind of human lava lamp. Evocative and mysterious until the curtain drops, and the mystique vanishes, giving way to post coital banter that introduces the three characters. They use the words well to establish themselves, creating an easy rapport and a sizzling chemistry that burns the sweat off their torsos. But once the hierarchy is laid down, it does drift for a while into familiar armchair philosophy and tried-and-tested discussions of love, loyalty, trust and commitment.

But once the exposition is out of the way, the performances cut into the raw emotion of their characters. The three actors are equally impressive in their portrayal of the complexities of this love triangle. The tugs of war between conflicting needs are evoked through tone and mannerism as well as language. Stylistic scene changes and some beautifully choreographed moments lend a filmic quality – a gloss that is chipped away the more the harmony of the relationships crumble. Loyalties are tested to the extreme, and secrets uncovered as we go along. The freedom these characters seemingly possess is perversely more of a shackle than monogamous commitment.

Ann Beyersdorfer’s cleverly changeable set, and Jamie Roderick’s dynamic lighting together create a slick, gay world. Although this is not necessarily gay theatre because the writing would work equally well with any combination of gender or disposition. The explicitness is somehow less shocking, however, in the setting of a young, male, gay threesome than it perhaps would have been in other configurations. One wonders: would this show court more controversy if the protagonists were mixed genders, or women? It is a moot point though. What matters is the honesty of the story being told, and Hugo, McPherson and Nicholson have the strength and talent to bring it to life. Beneath the promiscuity is a dignity and vulnerability. A deep-seated need just to ‘belong’.

An afterglow is what remains when the light has disappeared. The word is often misappropriated to be used as something that is desirable. To be basked in. “Afterglow” questions this concept with a finely tuned look at human relationships and the consequences of our actions. What remains when trust has disappeared? When the damage is done, and everything has changed? There are many lines crossed before the question is raised, and even then, the play can’t answer it. But it is definitely worth going to see it try.

LEAVES OF GLASS at the Park Theatre

★★★★

“Max Harrison’s staging is beautifully faithful and sympathetic to the writing.”

“Sam Glossop’s underscore splits the play’s segments like splinters of sound that throw us off balance”

LEAVES OF GLASS at the Park Theatre

Reviewed on 25th January 2024

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Mark Senior

Previously reviewed at this venue:

LEAVES OF GLASS

LEAVES OF GLASS

AFTERGLOW at Southwark Playhouse Borough

★★★★

“Stylistic scene changes and some beautifully choreographed moments lend a filmic quality”

AFTERGLOW at Southwark Playhouse Borough

Reviewed on 22nd January 2024

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by The Other Richard

Previously reviewed at Southwark Playhouse venues

AFTERGLOW

AFTERGLOW