Life Support at the Richmond Theatre,
(production currently at the Aldwych)
SIMON GRAY IS a playwright I
would travel miles to see. Although he is not properly recognised
by the majority of critics, he is a playwright of the first order
and his mastery of the spoken word, his wit and passionate intensity
come from an incredible integrity. No wonder that directors of
Harold Pinter's brilliance and actors of the status of Alan Bates
are proud to work for him and in Life Support they are
surrounded by a marvellous cast who are delighted to play comparatively
minor roles in his work. The playwright often writes
from personal experience and his story tells us about writer
JG, whose wife, Gwen, is on life support in intensive care and,
having recently spent several days with a dear friend on a life
support, I can vouch for the incredible authenticity of the action.
The only thing I missed was the constant visitations from the
medical staff; but I afterwards discovered that when a patient
has been on life support for some while and the condition is
relatively stable, there is not the necessity for constant monitoring
by the medical staff except on an hourly basis. However, never
for a moment did one lose interest as the story of JG's relationship
with Gwen unravelled, interspersed with visits from a psychiatric
doctor and two visitors -- his sponging actor brother and his
sophisticated agent, who happens to be his mistress. Simon Gray
deals with the whole situation with subtle compassion and JG's
agony and angst of guilt are beautifully etched. Alan Bates,
one of our finest actors, plays the unhappy man with great depth
and understanding. Although Frank McCusker's psychiatrist does
his best to take away any feeling of guilt, one knows that JG
cannot accept McCusker's somewhat glibly unsatisfactory explanations.
Bates somehow manages to convey the torment and remorse of the
wretched JG and never for a moment loses our sympathy. Nickolas Grace as his brother
Jack gives us a virtuoso performance as the sibling determined
to wheedle yet another cheque from his wealthy brother and Carole
Nimmons is very moving as his agent who -- on the pretext of
getting him to sign contracts -- calls to offer sympathy and
support. As the psychiatrist who is employed as a counsellor
to the unhappy relatives, Frank McCusker gives a fine performance
but the play belongs to Bates who is never offstage and whose
presence dominates the whole proceedings, just as surely as his
inanimate wife lies motionless throughout the whole play. I was very surprised to see
an actress of Georgina Hale's calibre playing such a silent part,
but in the middle of the play Gwen is able to talk to her husband
as long as his back is turned away from her -- we realise of
course that the voice is merely in JG's mind. However, Georgina
Hale's disembodied sentences act as JG's conscience and she must
be congratulated on complementing Mr Bates' performance with
exemplary skill. She never misses for one second throughout the
hour and forty-five minutes of the play. Harold Pinter again
proves himself one of our finest and most subtle directors and
Eileen Diss presents him with a set that is all too familiar
to those who have watched a loved one in intensive care. The
lighting is brilliantly accomplished by Mick Hughes, a master
of his craft. It is to be hoped that Duncan Weldon, who presents
the play, will bring the production to the West End for a limited
season. There is not so much as a jarring note in the whole production
and that cannot be said of many offerings presently on Shaftesbury
Avenue.
SIMON GRAY IS a playwright I
would travel miles to see. Although he is not properly recognised
by the majority of critics, he is a playwright of the first order
and his mastery of the spoken word, his wit and passionate intensity
come from an incredible integrity. No wonder that directors of
Harold Pinter's brilliance and actors of the status of Alan Bates
are proud to work for him and in Life Support they are
surrounded by a marvellous cast who are delighted to play comparatively
minor roles in his work.
The playwright often writes
from personal experience and his story tells us about writer
JG, whose wife, Gwen, is on life support in intensive care and,
having recently spent several days with a dear friend on a life
support, I can vouch for the incredible authenticity of the action.
The only thing I missed was the constant visitations from the
medical staff; but I afterwards discovered that when a patient
has been on life support for some while and the condition is
relatively stable, there is not the necessity for constant monitoring
by the medical staff except on an hourly basis. However, never
for a moment did one lose interest as the story of JG's relationship
with Gwen unravelled, interspersed with visits from a psychiatric
doctor and two visitors -- his sponging actor brother and his
sophisticated agent, who happens to be his mistress. Simon Gray
deals with the whole situation with subtle compassion and JG's
agony and angst of guilt are beautifully etched. Alan Bates,
one of our finest actors, plays the unhappy man with great depth
and understanding. Although Frank McCusker's psychiatrist does
his best to take away any feeling of guilt, one knows that JG
cannot accept McCusker's somewhat glibly unsatisfactory explanations.
Bates somehow manages to convey the torment and remorse of the
wretched JG and never for a moment loses our sympathy.