★★★

“There are many complicated strands to the play – probably too many – which dampens the suspense.”

Edward and Henrietta Dunbar are all surface. In public – especially down at the golf club – their silky, satin finish hides a variety of cracks like the finest emulsion. But behind the smooth talk and polished speech, and behind closed doors, we see a very different story. Brad Sutherland’s new play, “Until She Sleeps”, centres on this oddly caustic couple as they navigate the minefield of mistrust and cruelty. The misgivings extend out into the audience; we are never sure whether they are playing a cruel game for others’ benefit or for their own perverse amusement. They are bound to attract comparisons to Edward Albee’s Martha and George, particularly when the less colourful pair – Peter and Nicola – are reluctantly sucked into their orbit.

Henrietta, it turns out, is battling motor neurone disease. At first, she is in the early stages and Edward has his suspicions that she might be faking it. We never really get to grips with his qualms which are swiftly brushed aside and subsequently ignored. Similarly, the subtext of euthanasia is explored briefly, touching on the legal and moral complexities, but not followed through until a passing mention later on. Blackmail and fidelity are subjects more successfully handled, which are expressed through Sutherland’s often sharp dialogue rather than exposition, yet just as we are enjoying the more emotive moments, we are led back into pragmatic issues such as tax evasion and probate.

At its heart, though, is paranoia. A sickness more destructive and toxic to the marriage than Henrietta’s progressing disability. Jonathan Hansler manifests the frustrations with an incisive portrayal of a husband who never knows if he is the culprit or the victim. It is a strong performance, levitated with shades of John Cleese on a bad day. Tonya Cornelisse, as Henrietta, vacillates between a provocative closed coolness, and her exposed anger. Her rich, sultry voice dominates the stage, making it all the more tragic when her illness robs her of the power of speech.

Rowland D. Hill and Robin Miller, as Peter and Nicola respectively, are simultaneously the foils and conscience. Less complex, their characters are more weakly written. Miller struggles sometimes with the character of a woman denied the pleasures of an affair, while her lines veer towards simplicity rather than the complexity they require. Hill has more success as he rebuffs Edward’s attempts to lure Peter into his web of subterfuge. These scenes, away from the probing ears of Henrietta (or so we think), enhance the smokescreen effect of deceit and secrecy.

Despite the odd instance of clumsy blocking, David Furlong’s direction keeps the narrative fast paced and succinct (every now and then we fast forward a year or so) yet manages to take a breath for the humour to relieve the darkness. The isolation often found in a relationship is occasionally played for laughs before being plunged back into pathos. There are many complicated strands to the play – probably too many – which dampens the suspense. And sometimes the actors appear to be struggling to keep up. Yet despite the complexities we eventually find ourselves on the straight and narrow. The brief appearance of Nurse Millie (Orsolya Nagy) is an odd and superfluous decision. The intention is maybe that she steers us towards the play’s conclusion, but it is only when Edmund and Henrietta are left alone again that we can actually reach it. Saying very little, Hansler powerfully turns his character around with a quiet, emotionally charged performance that answers more of our questions than the rest of the evening managed to.

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON at the Ambassadors Theatre

★★★★★

“every member of the ensemble cast is a vital cog in the intricate mechanism of this fine piece of theatre”

Five years ago, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” unveiled itself to little fanfare at Southwark Playhouse. Jethro Compton’s and Darren Clarke’s adaptation of F Scott Fitzgerald’s fantastical short story used just five actor-musicians to tell the tale in a chamber music fashion. I described it at the time as ‘a sensational piece of musical theatre’. I was not alone. Acoustic and intimate, the only way for it to go was to grow, until last year it replayed at the larger ‘Elephant’ at Southwark, with more cast, more instruments and much more of a marketing push behind it. I felt it had lost something of the original. Nevertheless, it’s course was pre-determined. As per one of its narrative leitmotifs: ‘Time and tide waits for no man’. It’s West End premiere, bigger and better still, has remarkably, and unquestionably, recaptured the sheer magic and emotional charm of its humble beginnings.

Fitzgerald was inspired to write the story, in 1922, by Mark Twain who lamented the fact that the best part of life came at the beginning and the worst part at the end. Fitzgerald, in an attempt to turn this idea on its head, discovered that youth and old age are mirrors of each other. A witty and insightful satire it tells the story of Benjamin Button who is born an old man and mysteriously begins ageing backwards. At the beginning of his life, he is withered and worn, but as he continues to grow younger, he embraces life, falls in love, goes to war, has children, and eventually, as his mind begins to devolve again, returns to the care of his nurses, and eventual oblivion. It is a fantasy. A dark fairy tale but one that is slightly clinical and lacking in pathos. The genius of this musical adaptation partly lies in how much it is transformed into a heart-wrenching love story. Liberties are taken with the original text, but entirely necessary ones.

We are no longer in the US seaport of Baltimore, but on the Cornish coast. Compton – not content with writing, directing and co-writing the lyrics, is also the creative force behind the set. Evocatively shambolic, it recreates the small fishing village. You can almost smell the salty sea air. With the crash of a wave, we are introduced to the characters that inhabit this backwater with a poetic lyricism that echoes Dylan Thomas; and a musical accompaniment that pulls us right into the heart of the story, stronger than the moon at the highest tide. The folksy, Celtic tunes have a musical theatre veneer but are delivered with sublime energy and virtuosity by the twelve strong cast, layered with Chi-San Howard’s expert and clockwork choreography. Swapping instruments like relay batons, they keep the score alive, guiding it through the haunting ballads right up to the soaring anthems. The thirteenth cast member, who never picks up an instrument (until the encore) stands apart. The oddball. The title character – Benjamin Button. John Dagleish gives us a hangdog and tender portrayal that is also defiant and powerful. We are not long into the show when our hearts are already breaking. Rejected by his mother (beautifully and tragically portrayed by Philippa Hogg) there are shades of Kafka’s ‘Metamorphosis’ as Button is kept in the attic – a shameful secret. Hogg’s rendition of ‘The Kraken’s Lullaby’ leaves a lasting, tearful impression as she echoes the line ‘I pray you won’t wake from your sleep’.

Yet he continues to do so, for the next sixty-nine years. It is a miraculous backwards journey that extends beyond the curiosity of a life running in reverse. Time is a constant refrain, and woven into the fabric of time are the inextricable links, and twists of fate, that snowball into life-changing moments. He meets the important characters in his life twice. Notably ‘Little Jack’ (brilliantly played by Jack Quarton), a young fisherman whom Button befriends but later horrifies when he is young, and Jack is older. But it is Clare Foster’s Elowen who lights up the stage. The love of his life. Sassy and flirtatious in youth, heartbroken yet forgiving in love and vulnerably stoic in her tragic later years, her journey as she and Button travel in opposite directions is a masterstroke. When she sings ‘We have Time’, we can hear the crack of a thousand hearts throughout the auditorium.

Mark Aspinall’s musical direction and orchestration accentuate the dynamics, each crescendo and diminuendo highlighted by Luke Swaffield’s crisp sound design. While Zoe Spurr’s lighting guides us from night, back into day; from the moon to the sun and even into the depths of the sea. Each shade pinpointing each pivotal moment.

Just as every moment counts, every member of the ensemble cast is a vital cog in the intricate mechanism of this fine piece of theatre. The harmonies sweep us away leaving us slightly breathless. Yet the emotional punch doesn’t completely conceal the cleverness of Compton and Clarke’s interpretation. Relocating it to Cornwall is an inspired choice, as is shifting the narrative forward to take in most of the twentieth century. The shifting tides and man’s fascination with the moon play an important role, taking on a metaphorical and literal reality with the 1969 Moon landing. An event that confirms the protagonists’ belief that anything is possible. We get the sense that they don’t quite fully accept that optimism. And most of the time, neither do we. But the battered belief abides. And this show affirms it. From start to finish, it is a triumph. Or is that from finish to start?

Tag Archives: Jonathan Evans

UNTIL SHE SLEEPS

★★★

White Bear Theatre

UNTIL SHE SLEEPS at the White Bear Theatre

★★★

“There are many complicated strands to the play – probably too many – which dampens the suspense.”

UNTIL SHE SLEEPS at the White Bear Theatre

Reviewed on 7th November 2024

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Paddy Gormley

Previously reviewed at this venue:

SEVEN DAYS IN THE LIFE OF SIMON LABROSSE | ★★★½ | October 2024

THE BOX | ★★★ | July 2024

JUST STOP EXTINCTION REBELLION | ★★★ | February 2024

I FOUND MY HORN | ★★★★ | February 2023

THE MIDNIGHT SNACK | ★★★ | December 2022

THE SILENT WOMAN | ★★★★ | April 2022

US | ★★★★ | February 2022

MARLOWE’S FATE | ★★★ | November 2021

Until She Sleeps

Until She Sleeps

Click here to see our Recommended Shows page

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON

★★★★★

Ambassadors Theatre

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON at the Ambassadors Theatre

★★★★★

“every member of the ensemble cast is a vital cog in the intricate mechanism of this fine piece of theatre”