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Primavera presents ORIGIN OF THE SPECIES
Writer: Bryony Lavery
Director: Tom Littler
Stage Manager: Sarah-Jayne Powell
Arcola Theatre
27 October – 21 November 2009
A review by Jafar Iqbal for EXTRA! EXTRA! There are some questions that we may never find the answers to. How exactly were the pyramids built? Who was Jack The Ripper? Which was the best Beatle? All life-changing questions but, quite frankly, they may not alter our lives too much; in all fairness, there aren’t too many mega questions. There is one that keeps floating around though. Quite an important one, actually. Where did we come from? For as long as science has progressed and religion has prospered, this has been in debate, and probably always will be. It has also resulted in some of the most controversial theories, and it is one of those that I discuss with you now. Or rather, I tell you about how playwright Bryony Lavery discussed it. Origin of the Species by one Charles Darwin is that controversial theory, and Origin of the Species is the production that Lavery has penned. The play centres around Molly (an outstanding Marjorie Yates), a retired archaeologist living in Yorkshire. As the New Year approaches, she recited to the audience the story of her most precious discovery – Victoria (a fantastic Clare-Hope Ashitey in her professional stage debut). Victoria is from the past, part of that first group of homosapiens to roam the earth. Molly brings Victoria back to Yorkshire and, through trial and error, the two teach each other about life and the nature of humanity and evolution. Clearly, some suspension of disbelief is required here. We have two women millions of years apart sharing a house together, learning to communicate and enjoy each other’s company with relative ease. Yet at no point during the play does this ever become an issue. This is thanks to a fantastic script and brilliant performances from its cast. We become so immersed in the two characters and the beautiful chemistry between them that we are ready to believe anything. This is a sign also of brilliant direction, Tom Littler deserving praise for his role. And, obviously, it doesn’t make things any harder when you have two well-established actors to work with. It is necessary to mention, however, that the plot perhaps gets too cryptic towards the end, with the climax inducing more climax than the production intended. While I did indeed get a strong sense of the poignancy evident at the end, I was a bit lost as to why it was poignant. The positive coming out of that though, is that I felt the poignancy nonetheless. As well as the performances and the script, music and lighting play a major role in helping to achieve this. In fact, the play excels technically throughout. We have the elaborately propped living room, complete with fireplace and rug, and a coffee table hiding a trapdoor; all of it surrounded by sand. All of it blends together to enhance the dream-like quality of the production, resting somewhere between the present and the surreal. Origin of The Species isn’t a play trying to argue a profound social or philosophical point. In fact, the subject of science versus religion never comes up. This is a hypothetical examination of how such an objective view on humanity like the one Darwin asserted affects our own personal, subjective view of humanity. Lavery needs to be commended for tackling the subject in such a fresh manner, and tackling it with great success.
Performances: Monday – Saturday 8:15pm Ticket Prices: £14 / £10 concessions / “Pay What You Can” every Tuesday Arcola Theatre, 27 Arcola Street, London, E8 2DJ Box Office: 020 7503 1646
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