|
Secret Life Theatre
An Alchemy of Flesh
by David Hauptschein Directed by Julio Maria Martino
Old Red Lion Theatre
6 - 24 May, 2008
A review by Allan Taylor for EXTRA! EXTRA!
Melinda leaves a bizarre suicide message on an answer-phone, and her jealous lover Lewis commits suicide by binging on sleeping pills and whisky. Only sister Susan and her husband Daryl are left to pick up the pieces. Has Melinda really gone missing? And what is the connection between her boyfriend Lewis Capello and Daryl? Julio Maria Martino’s honest directing and Hauptschein’s gritty dialogue work well together in this two handed mystery. Although the events in the play may seem off kilter, they are totally believable and very real. Hauptschein compares his work to that of David Lynch, but Alchemy of Flesh is less representative of that surrealist feel than his other offerings. Nonetheless, it dips its toes into the darker underbelly of human relationships. The integral acting from Dagman Doring (Susan and Melinda) and Jonathan Warde (Daryl and Capello) drives the play, and flitting between two opposite extremes provides a good contrast to the nervous tension between Daryl and Susan. The chemistry between Doring and Warde means that the play’s constant teetering towards the edge is emphasised. The set provides a very intimate, broken, duality of mind that the play needs. Although not a prominent feature, the choice and execution of soundtrack provides a startling and eerie atmosphere as we weave our way through the puzzle. Hauptschein’s concept is good, but there were interesting lines and moments that would have plunged the play into the depths of darkness he desired… For once I’m about to say what most critics wouldn’t dare; he could afford to be a bit more self-indulgent. We are left with a striking image of a female against a window with smoke rising from the floor while an answer-phone message about swans plays in the background, but it’s a tiny and powerful glimpse into Hauptschein’s true artistic self that he should bring to the fore. However, his talent for observing natural human dialogue and the complexities of how relationships function should not go unnoticed. Overall, it is not necessarily the happenings or plot in this play that make it so watchable, but the interplay and engaging relationship between man and woman. Emphasising how different relationships use different techniques to function, Hauptschein can see the power of the perverse, and how the most seemingly ordinary explanations can be so far wrong from the truth.
Times: 7.30pm Tuesday to Saturday, 6pm Sunday. Running Time: 2hrs (including interval) Price: £13, £10 Box Office: 020 7837 7816 Old Red Lion 418 St John Street
Copyright © EXTRA! EXTRA All rights reserved
|
