Tag Archives: Arcola Theatre

The Daughter-In-Law – 4 Stars

Daughter

The Daughter-In-Law

Arcola Theatre

Reviewed – 29th May 2018

★★★★

“The cast’s command of the dialect, coupled with their grasp of the complexities of the characters, lift it above being a mere period drama, making the ordinary extraordinary”

 


Written in 1913, D. H. Lawrence never saw his play, “The Daughter-In-Law”, produced during his lifetime. It wasn’t until 1967 that his depiction of marital warfare between a pit worker and his wife had its premiere at the Royal Court. Since then it has been hailed as one of the great British dramas of the twentieth century. What is more surprising than the late recognition for the play, however, is the level of praise awarded to it. Lawrence himself described it as “neither a tragedy nor a comedy – just ordinary”.

Whether or not you agree with his self-deprecatory critique, the script does come with a built-in style that may not appeal to many theatre goers today. Jack Gamble makes no concessions to the modern audience in his production at the Arcola, which is to be applauded. He tells it like it is, with straight forward, intelligent and faithful direction.

Set in a Nottinghamshire coal-mining village its central theme is the conflict between a mother and her daughter-in-law. Mrs Gascoyne (Veronica Roberts) rules over her two sons, Joe (Matthew Biddulph) and Luther (Harry Hepple), the latter newly married to Minnie. Despite a fondness for platitudes such as “a son is a son till he takes him a wife”, it is clear that Roberts’ matriarchal figure has no intention of cutting the apron strings. Tensions are raised, then fall again, as the dialogue chips away at the concurrent issues of class, money and the impending national coal strike.

While it seems that the subject is in danger of being overmined, it is the entrance of Minnie that kick starts the play. Ellie Nunn immediately lets us know that Minnie is a ‘shrew’ unwilling to be tamed. Moreover, her hopes for marriage are not being met by Luther. But Nunn’s moving performance, reinforced by Hepple’s multi-layered portrayal of Luther, convinces us that, despite being at each other’s throats, this could be a loving marriage but for the overshadowing figure of the mother.

Initially the performances are a little too mannered, but with the benefit of the knowledge of what is to come it is now clear that this is a deliberate contrast to the explosive final scenes. Dinah Mullen’s sound design mirrors this with the crescendo of the violent confrontations of the coal-strike outside the house, while Geoff Hense’s shadowy lighting design captures the mood of lives losing focus in a haze of coal dust.

Where it sometimes lacks D. H. Lawrence’s sense of sexual passion, this is a show fuelled by finely chiselled performances. It might appear dated at times with dialogue that grates against contemporary sensibilities, but it is a piece firmly of its time and place. And therein lies its beauty: a snapshot of a bygone era – ‘kitchen sink drama’ before the phrase was coined. The cast’s command of the dialect, coupled with their grasp of the complexities of the characters, lift it above being a mere period drama, making the ordinary extraordinary.

 

Reviewed by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Idil Sukan

 

 

Arcola Theatre

The Daughter-In-Law

Arcola Theatre until 21st June

 

Related
Previously reviewed at this venue
Heretic Voices | ★★★★ | January 2018
Fine & Dandy | ★★★★★ | February 2018
The Parade | ★★★ | May 2018

 

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The Parade – 3 Stars

Parade

The Parade

Arcola Theatre

Reviewed – 20th May 2018

★★★

“the ideas of the play are beautifully explored on a visual level, there seems to be a strange imbalance between the two halves of the play”

 

For Aris and Zoi, time has stopped. Confined all day in their little room, the siblings have nobody but themselves, stuck in a tiny space as outside, life is dominated by war. Starting with the limitations of the room, The Parade plays with the idea of boundaries throughout the play. What seems to be a means of keeping the children safe soon becomes a catalyst of anxieties. Whatever hopes the children have of the outside world, they are overwhelmed by the fear of what they might lose when they cross the edges of their known space.

This focus on boundaries is artfully translated onto the set (actually the set of another production taking place – Not Talking), which, despite its minimalistic design, proves to be profoundly enriching to the exploration of the play’s themes. An array of wire intertwined with red string divide the children’s room as the floor is littered with war toys. Just as the room is sectioned in itself, the children’s only access to the outside world is a tiny shattered window, whose magnifying pieces of glass reflect the distorted version of the outside they see.

Even though the ideas of the play are beautifully explored on a visual level, there seems to be a strange imbalance between the two halves of the play. While the first part centres around the brother-sister relationship evoking thoughts on emotional violence, the focus of the second half turns entirely on the outside, while still being narrated by Aris from the little window in the room. The long preamble might be the reason why the nightmarish irony of the second part does not come across as climactic as it could have.

Despite this, Barış Celiloğlu’s directing debut had some powerful moments, especially Aris’ recount of his nightmare, in which breathing, light and silence create an almost rhythmical display of his mounting fears. These moments of a child’s shock and fear, convincingly acted by Emre Gündoğdu and Dilek Yorulmaz, are the strength of the play, making plain the absurdity of war and its power, as it slowly moves into everyone’s, even the most innocent, lives.

Although the performance is in Turkish, surtitles make it very easy to follow, and perhaps even deepen the idea of a divide by creating a language boundary. All in all, The Parade is a play where nothing really is as it seems to be, with the children’s perspective and confusion allowing fresh insight into the experience of war.

 

Reviewed by Laura Thorn

 


The Parade

Arcola Theatre

 

 

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