It’s been 5 years. Vic’s moved on. Charlie’s a medical mystery. And nothing’s making sense. Held together by their past, torn apart by their present and unsure if there even is a future. Their explosive encounter makes them question everything they know and ask why they can’t break free of the threads that bind them together.
David Lane’s thrilling two-hander explores love, loss and what happens when life goes on, but you can’t. David Lane is an award-nominated British playwright and published dramaturg. He has written numerous plays for young companies, adults and professional touring including work for Half Moon, Proteus, Kilter Theatre, Travelling Light, Theatre Royal Plymouth, Chichester Festival Theatre, British School of Beijing, Salisbury Playhouse, Cheltenham Everyman and the egg.
Pamela Schermann has directed numerous shows in London and abroad, most recently the opera Mozart & Salieri (Arcola Theatre), Veils (The Theatre Room), Iphigenia in Tauris (Rose Playhouse) and Othello, which toured to New York City following a successful run at the Rose Playhouse in 2015.
The cast includes Samuel Lawrence, who recently appeared in 55 Days (Hampstead Theatre), Victory (Theatre503) and King John (Theatre Royal Bath).
Time Zone Theatre and Arteria Theatre are proud to present the stunning, surreal and poignant Threads at the Hope Theatre for a 3 week run in April 2017.
“This is one impressive play you will never forget”
We first meet Jane and Arthur, the two characters in this one act debut play from Matthew Seager, upon entering the theatre. They are seemingly a care free couple enjoying some time together in their living room. As the audience settles, there’s a dramatic change, Arthur suddenly slumps into his chair, his body twisted and his speech incoherent …
In Other Words follows the couple’s journey from ‘the incident’ of how they met to the tragic situation they now find themselves in. This is a story about dementia and unconditional love.
The duo playing the couple, Celeste Dodwell and Matthew Seager are both young actors. At times, without tuning in to fleeting references or referring to the programme, it’s not always clear what period of time has elapsed and indeed how old the characters are. This comes across as a deliberate ploy to make you think and to raise awareness that this cruel disease itself, takes little notice of age.
The scenes flit, via white noise, muffled words and flickering lights, between Arthur being his usual cheery self, and each of the progressive stages of his illness.
At times humorous, with Arthur’s early forgetfulness jokingly brushed aside as male stupidity, the laughs slowly become fewer. We are taken on Arthur’s tear jerking one way trip through doctor’s appointments, diagnosis and prognosis, to the hollow shell of a man he becomes.
“It feels like he is leaving me”, Jane says as she struggles to cope with Arthur’s increasingly challenging behaviour. Yet despite the extreme pressure she is under, only once do we see her snap, an action she instantly regrets. This is a man she still dearly loves even though to him, she is a stranger.
By the final scene, the only thing left that invokes any semblance of the old Arthur is the sound of hearing ‘their song’ Fly me to the Moon. That one enduring link to the moment they met, ‘now being all that is left from a lifetime of memories.
For such a moving piece, at times needing total quiet to portray the raw emotion from the actors, The Hope has a few issues. There was a lot of noise from downstairs and being on a main road, the occasional siren or hooting of horns interrupts the moment. Not a lot that can be done about this as it is a pub theatre in a busy location, but this was my one and only issue with the performance.
Both characters are truly believable, a credit to the actors involved, and director Paul Brotherton. Matthew Seager captures every subtle detail of Arthur’s spiralling decline to perfection. You’ll want to rush out and hug Jane, so convincing is Celeste Dodwell’s harrowing performance.
This is an incredibly well structured work. Seager’s research into the condition and his facilitation of sensory workshops in a dementia care home (which showed him how music can build links to reality), have enabled him to make this a terrifyingly accurate picture of an illness affecting so many.
Apple.
Labrador.
Grass.
This is one impressive play you will never forget.
