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Full of gentle laughs, this warm revival with a superb cast can’t help but make you smile.Summary
Rating
Excellent
After a near 80-year absence from London stages, John Van Druten‘s charming wartime romance The Voice of the Turtle resurfaces, brought back to life at the Jermyn Street Theatre thanks to a delightful revival from director Philip Wilson.
Set in 1943, the play centres around young actress Sally (Imogen Elliott), who has recently moved into a new apartment. Between acting jobs and fresh from an affair with an older, married producer, she spends her time practising lines for potential roles. Her friend, the older, glamorous and certainly more worldly actress Olive (Skye Hallam), visits. Olive has arranged for her fling, Sergeant Bill Page (Nathan Ives-Moiba), who is on a weekend’s furlough, to meet her at Sally’s apartment. When Olive suddenly receives a better offer for the weekend, she fabricates a husband as an excuse to leave Bill. Left together, a simple yet charming story unfolds, showing the blossoming relationship between Sally and Bill.
Ruari Murchison’s set fills Jermyn Street Theatre, the apartment making the intimate space seem bigger, filled with period decor and appliances such as an old fridge cabinet, radio, rotary telephone, and a vintage toaster to truly set the scene. The small and cosy apartment fits perfectly with Sally, and a clever use of screens as windows allows for the NYC skyline to be seen in both sunshine and rain. The heavy downpour provides a convenient excuse to keep Sally and Bill inside the apartment.
Warm and gently funny, The Voice of the Turtle is filled with moments that will make you smile rather than provoke big belly laughs. Where the evening truly excels is in the cast: Wilson has assembled an absolutely fantastic trio for this revival. Elliott, making her professional debut, is luminous as Sally, capturing her innocence and naivety and her journey from hesitation to open-heartedness. Lashbrook is similarly lovely as Olive, her greater experience in the theatre and in love allowing for a more realistic, nuanced, and indeed cynical view of relationships. While a highlight, Lashbrook is careful not to overshadow the story. Olive could easily be played for broader comedy, which might detract from the relationship between Bill and Sally, but Lashbrook’s touch of restraint allows her to tread this line carefully, adding to the story rather than overpowering it.
On paper, Ives-Moiba’s role may seem simpler, as he plays the love interest for both Olive and Sally, but he does this well. Where he truly shines is in portraying the underlying hurt, loss, and hints of loneliness, despite his playboy lifestyle, coming from a failed relationship back in Paris. His constant readiness to leave is symbolised by his keeping his coat on throughout. In a beautifully subtle moment, he realises he can shed this unnecessary defence, at one point taking his coat off almost immediately after putting it on and then allowing himself to relax a little.
Despite being simple and perhaps a little slight, Van Druten’s script does not at all seem dated. The emotions and relationships between the three characters feel timeless. Their struggles with vulnerability, trust, and connection are experiences that people relate to now just as they did coming up on 80 years ago. It would take the smallest of re-writes to turn this setting into 2024. The Voice of the Turtle is a heart-warming evening turned into something particularly special by an exceptional cast.
Written by: John Van Druten
Directed by: Philip Wilson
Set Design by: Ruari Murchison
The Voice of the Turtleplays at Jermyn Street Theatre until 20 July. Further information and tickets can be found here.
