“Although not flawless, it is fresh, intense and overall quite brilliant”
Through the intricately balanced language of finely crafted letters and no less exquisitely crafted Whatsapp messages, Sprezzatura Productions brings to the VAULT Festival a wonderful new queer play, “V&V”.
One storyline, told purely via the art of epistolography, revolves around the famous affair between Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West – two exquisite women, confined by the social bonds of their times. The other one is a contemporary romance involving Mia and Lottie, two young ladies who strive to communicate via complicated language of messages, emoji and xxx’s.
Heather Wilkins (Virginia Woolf and Lottie) and EM Williams (Vita Sackville-West and Mia) have unparalleled chemistry. As Lottie and Mia, they are easily excitable, spontaneous and extremely relatable in their struggle to read between the lines and understand why the other one only responded with two x’s instead of three. As Virginia and Vita, they are much more solemn and the intent behind their discourse – more evanescent, as not directly explained to the audience. Bottom line is, both couples try to grasp feelings of the partner concealed behind the performativity of their respective writing forms. This balance (written and directed by Misha Pinnington) works out very well, especially given that the audience never actually gets to see them interacting in “real life”.
Two storylines intertwine, with only a slight change in music as an indication. With an extremely simple set – nothing but a chair and a screen (that is used to project Mia and Lottie’s messages), the play relies heavily on the interaction between two actresses. They both manage to make their characters quite different and, even though they spend lion’s share of their stage time on talking to the audience, rather than talking to one another, their relationships are genuinely believable and engaging. The ending of the contemporary storyline could have been perhaps tad more defined for the sake of pacing the story, but it is a minuscule drawback.
It is a brilliant show, very well acted and genuinely moving. Although not flawless, it is fresh, intense and overall quite brilliant.
VAULT Festival is over half way through now, and there’s been quite the running theme of social issue-based performances, from topics of the environment, race, disability. Now, it’s time for working-class heritage to have its voice. However, Father’s Son proves to be more than just that. It displays the delicate nature of the dynamic between man and his boy, and is done so with upmost sensitivity and truthfulness.
Three fathers, three sons, over three generations, where the toxicity of each relationship trickles down and is inherited by the next. Thrown back to the years of 1974, 2001, and 2018, each is a snapshot of when the Father/Son bond is hanging by a thread. Their specific complications may alter but the intensity of their struggles never wanes.
James Morton offers a precise social commentary on masculinity within working class families of the North, particularly highlighting the lack of support, or stigma around getting help for mental health, and that things are only just changing. Although nothing new or radical is being said about working-class or family life, Morton injects it with compassionate, yet brutal truth. He also has an earthy, natural sense of humour, the kind that seems to be ingrained within a lot of Northerners, and here, Morton is able to slot it in when needed to counterbalance the tough conversations at the heart of the scenes.
Mark Newsome, although quite obviously younger than the character he is playing, pulls off being all the different father figure roles with ease, taking on the typical dad mannerisms. Newsome seems most comfortable in the final ‘2018’ father role of Tom, a caring, self-deprecating, and desperate soul. It comes across the most genuine but that’s likely to be the character closest to the actor’s own nature. Kenny Fullwood is excellently subtle in his physical and vocal differentiation between the three sons, however they are all linked by their emotional scars as they are all affected somehow by the behaviour or life decisions of their father. Or fathers’ father. Both actors are able to switch from intimate, soft moments to guttural, sometimes animalistic, cries of torment with ease and dexterity.
The basic set of two blocks used as seats, moved to slightly different positions as time jumps forwards, makes things unfussy and minimalist, allowing the story and the performances to take centre stage and blossom. The two cups of hot drinks is a key prop that is the running link between all of the scenes. The abrupt shift from builder’s tea being the drink of choice to fancy coffees in 2018, is an astute observation of the decline of our national obsession with tea, but nevertheless, hot beverages and deep conversations will forever go hand in hand.
Father’s Son could quite easily have fallen into the ranty realm of being a tale of white male rage yet Morton, and director Carla Kingham, adamantly make this a story of humanity, that most can relate to, whether it’s through the topics of class, of sexuality, or family relations. Having Kingham on board I think is a real draw. As much as she’s very perceptive about male behaviour, it’s her ability to make Father’s Son universal that is truly the winning component. Touching and heartbreaking to watch, it proves that even a brew can’t always solve your problems.
