The Winterling
Written by Jez Butterworth
Directed by Sebastien Blanc
West (Andrew Taylor) is an unprepossessing-looking gangster from London who finds himself inhabiting an abandoned farmhouse on the eerie Dartmoor hills. The drone of overflying planes offers a constant backdrop to the burnt out shell of this former country pile, as a temperamental tramp named Draycott (Luke Trebilcock) drops in and out of what is now a home again. A homeless woman named Lue (Isla Ure) is also on this sorrowful scene and sees in West a means to get away from the rural banality. Other players and personalities include Wally (Mario Demetriou), an ex-colleague, who turns up at the house with his step-son Patsy (Tommy Vine) amid an atmosphere of edginess and tension as a fear of a violent past weighs heavy in the farmhouse and we discover Wally's real intentions.
Revolving around this physical and emotional space, we're immediately dragged into the eerie atmosphere of it; a rabbit is hung above the mantelpiece, a simple reminder of the fragility of life here. The audience is initially drawn into and charmed by Draycott's antics, his comic debates, his one man battle with the rest of the world. The mood changes however upon discovering West's real reasons for abandoning the city and Wally’s arrival, coinciding with his heavy drinking.
The play is filled with reminiscences of Pinter's The Birthday Party as Wally and Patsy reminds us of the Goldberg and McCann who turn up at Stanley's door. This detracts from the originality of the play somewhat, which becomes somewhat more of an attempt to describe a man's state rather than showing and luring us into the action.
However impeccable some of the dialogue is, with its sharp-witted one-liners, and, despite the great attention to detail that defines each character, unfortunately, the substance of the whole production isn't really strong enough to allow us to believe fully in the story we're told, making it seem unfinished and, to some extent too ethereal to keep the audience’s focus and attention and allow us to fully engage with West and his situation.
There are nevertheless moments in this production where Butterworth’s strong narrative and storytelling shine through, with much of the acting doing justice to this and maintaining a thread of audience interest. Amongst the cast, Luke Trebilcock becomes a scene unto himself as a character that many can instantly empathise with, Draycott, offering an animated performance, and Tommy Vine as Patsy offers equally stimulating realisations.
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