THE GATHERED LEAVES

Park Theatre

★★★★

“a finely flowing production that is consistently identifiable”

The centre piece of Andrew Keatley’s “The Gathered Leaves” is a beautiful birthday cake, lovingly created by the autistic Samuel for his father’s seventy-fifth birthday. A replica of the country manor in which the family have reunited for the celebration (the first time they have all been together for seventeen years), the detailed intricacy of the sugar-coated façade hides all manner of ingredients. Cut open the surface and the flavours are bitter and sweet, and we never know which mouthful we are going to swallow next. The Pennington family is a similar blend of mismatched elements that make up a dysfunctional whole. It’s a tried and tested dramatic formula but Adrian Noble’s revival is a compelling slice of theatre.

It is 1997 and change is afoot in Britain. The extended family appear to be sheltered in their comfortable privilege, but they are not immune to upheaval. The autocratic patriarch (Jonathan Hyde) is desperately trying to cling onto his authority and tradition while battling with a diagnosis of vascular dementia. Times have changed and the nine assembled members of the family are representations of these changes across three generations. Of course, sparks are going to fly, and drama is guaranteed. Keatley’s writing also injects warmth, humour and a precarious harmony that astonishingly never clashes with the suspense. Skeletons fall out of the closet, rattling with regrets, while resentments surface that are cleverly sculpted into some sort of shape of understanding, if not quite reconciliation.

The cast, across the board, brilliantly bring their characters to life. Hyde expertly combines rigidity with vulnerability, constantly surprising us with revelations that show a very human side to an outwardly unsympathetic individual. Joanne Pearce nails the ‘long-suffering wife’ syndrome while refusing to be sidelined or relegated in dominance. The younger generations are equally convincing. Richard Stirling has the almost impossible task of portraying the autistic son Samuel, but he grasps the complexities with acute judgement. Innocent yet volatile, with authentic mannerisms to match, his childish persona puts the other adults to shame by being the only really truthful member of the family. Except for maybe his brother Giles (a superb Chris Larkin) who tries to hold everything together; on the constant lookout for Samuel while trying to appease not just his father, but a dissatisfied wife (Zoë Waites) and his defiant children. George Lorimer and Ella Dale, as Simon and Emily, depict the younger generation with socially conscious humour, throwing in delicious dollops of subterfuge and modern sensibilities into the mix.

Many issues are dwelt upon (perhaps too many). The arrival of estranged daughter Alice (played with cool conviction by Olivia Vinall) reveals the extent of the chasm that exists within this family. She is accompanied by her dual heritage teenage daughter, Aurelia. Taneetrah Porter gives a standout performance as the young Aurelia. Bemused yet diplomatic she is the true peacekeeper, refusing to reject the failings of the family that she is witnessing for the first time.

A few scenes are unnecessary, particularly a couple of drawn-out duologues that act merely as a kind of postmortem to what has just happened. Otherwise, this is a finely flowing production that is consistently identifiable. The topics (particularly autism, racism, conservatism, liberalism… there are many ‘isms’ in this play) never become issues. Rather they are part of the fabric. Each act opens with a flashback to the young Giles and Samuel (Ellis Elijah and Joe Burrell respectively) which gives some background, backstory and build up.

“The Gathered Leaves” is ultimately moving, as well as being thoroughly entertaining. Shades of Ayckbourn mingle with hints of Pinter at times, but Keatley’s drama remains resolutely unique. There is a fair bit to laugh about, but it still remains serious while also gently pulling our heartstrings. A finely balanced evening.

THE GATHERED LEAVES

Park Theatre

Reviewed on 19th August 2025

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Rich Southgate

Previously reviewed at this venue:

LOST WATCHES | ★★★ | August 2025

THAT BASTARD, PUCCINI! | ★★★★★ | July 2025

OUR COSMIC DUST | ★★★ | June 2025

OUTPATIENT | ★★★★ | May 2025

CONVERSATIONS AFTER SEX | ★★★ | May 2025

FAREWELL MR HAFFMANN | ★★★★ | March 2025

ONE DAY WHEN WE WERE YOUNG | ★★★ | March 2025

ANTIGONE | ★★★★★ | February 2025

CYRANO | ★★★ | December 2024

BETTE & JOAN | ★★★★ | December 2024

THE GATHERED LEAVES

LETTERS FROM MAX

Hampstead Theatre

★★★★

“The pair occupy the stage for two hours but there is rarely a moment that does not busy the mind or heart”

The friendship of Sarah Ruhl and her student Max Ritvo was lyrical, beautiful and tragically – horrendously – short.

Ruhl’s epistolary play, based on letters they shared during his studies at Yale and his final illness, is a labour of love, filled with scintillating disquisitions on ideas, poetry, the meaning of life, and soup.

On the return of his cancer at the age of 20, Max wrote to Sarah, “Maybe we’ll squeeze a great play out of what comes out of this.”

And so it has come to pass.

Playwright Sarah and poet Max also agreed to make a book out of their prolific, often witty, correspondence, a collection on which the play is based. She wanted it organised chronologically, he wanted the material sorted by theme, chronology doing him no favours. Chronology, in fact, being the enemy.

But Max rarely concedes to despair. He is presented as garrulous, enthusiastic, voracious, confident and prone to wild, unembarrassed antics.

As his illness takes more of a grip, he states, “I love the world but it won’t love me back.”

In director Blanche McIntyre’s production, we have two performances that are delicate and calibrated. Sirine Saba, as Sarah, has the more subtle terrain to negotiate. Burdened with melancholy and worry, she is required to mark the slow death of Max’s brilliant mind but all the time rallying him to hope.

Eric Sirakian as Max swoops and hollers, he bounces and shouts his poetry, he racks, tortures and examines every facet of his existence … until he does not and cannot any more. (Max was 25 when he died in 2016.)

The pair occupy the stage for two hours but there is rarely a moment that does not busy the mind or heart. They are hypnotic performances of peculiar intimacy and warmth.

The third presence on the stage is Laura Moody, playing the cello. Such a brilliantly simple but evocative dramatic device with such a versatile instrument – rain, seagull screeches, plinky-plonk call-backs and swooping melodic snippets bring a third voice.

But what about the transparent screen that bisects the traverse stage, hanging like a curtain, insistent and intrusive? Sometimes the pair are one side of it, sometimes they are separated. It is initially awkward and needlessly annoying, but later thematically necessary.

It indicates that dialogue, arising from letters, is not the organic to and fro as presented but chunked and illusory, separated by time and considered thought. It offers the necessary signal of separation, both momentary and, alas, permanently.

When the lighting (Guy Hoare) changes, so does the nature of the screen. It can become a mirror, a barrier, no longer transparent, the reflections adding a mirage-like shimmer to flesh and blood. At one point, Max on one side, Sarah on the other, move their arms. On the screen, their reflections are holding hands.

The play is plainly an act of obligation by the author, a promise delivered. The poem selections sometimes verge on abstraction, risking detachment. And the audience requires a certain fortitude as Max’s decline plays out with tortuous precision.

However, this is as much a play about life and living as it is death and grief. You cannot help but leave the theatre with a renewed obligation to feast on the fleeting opportunities of existence. Starting with a course of cello lessons, perhaps.

THE GATHERED LEAVES

Park Theatre

★★★★

“a finely flowing production that is consistently identifiable”

THE GATHERED LEAVES

Park Theatre

Reviewed on 19th August 2025

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Rich Southgate

Previously reviewed at this venue:

THE GATHERED LEAVES

THE GATHERED LEAVES

THE GATHERED LEAVES

LETTERS FROM MAX

Hampstead Theatre

★★★★

“The pair occupy the stage for two hours but there is rarely a moment that does not busy the mind or heart”

LETTERS FROM MAX

Hampstead Theatre

Reviewed on 2nd June 2925

by Giles Broadbent

Photography by Helen Murray

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue:

LETTERS FROM MAX

LETTERS FROM MAX

LETTERS FROM MAX

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