Author: Michael Frayn
Director: Robert Wolstenholme
Producer: Signal Theatre Company
Cast: Kellie Batchelor, Paul Callahan & Rosalie Jorda
Running Time: 2 hours
Michael Frayn’s philosophical comedy deals with a young couple, moving into a flat together for the first time. Judging by the opening scene, this play appears to have been structured entirely to show-house a peculiar style of writing. Pages of monosyllabic questions and half answers may appear very clever on the page but they certainly don’t ignite emotion in the audience. Thankfully there is a master at work and Frayn cushions this thoroughly modish style with a soft heart.
From the moment Kellie B
atchelor as Cath and Paul Callahan as Phil walk on stage they establish the characters they play. Cath and Phil are not dynamic go-getters or twenty-four hour party people but mildly intelligent, working class, twenty-something’s. The leaps and twists of Frayn’s clever dialogue establish that the two are very much in love, not by any protestations of romance but simply by understanding each other’s verbal shorthand. To highlight this linguistic intimacy a third party is added in the shape of Pat played with poignancy by Rosalie Jorda. She seems incomprehensible to the young couple but gradually they accept her to a degree and come to realise there is more to sharing your life than simply dividing the living space.Batchelor and Callahan have taken the bull by the horns with this play and dragged it kicking and screaming into a naturalistic piece of intimate theatre. Batchelor demonstrates an innate calm that suits Cath perfectly and such assurance on stage requires the perfect foil. In Phil, Callahan has craftily created an affectionate monster, forever questioning, rarely at rest. Director Robert Wolstenholme might have instilled a little more action to counterpoint the meandering dialogue but has generally put together a thoughtful and entertaining production greatly aided by Christopher Hone’s realistic set.
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