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A mixture of rom-com and political drama, this rehearsed reading is slightly lopsided but shows a lot of promise.Summary
Rating
Good
Rehearsed readings are always difficult to review as you’re witnessing something which is quite a distance from being the finished product. When the actor is present in a scene they tend to stand in front of the script, and while some will be off book not everyone is, so bar the odd mild gesture this is voice acting and little else. Additionally, stage directions are narrated, and combined all of the above can lead to a production that feels a little dry, as is the case with Never Lies.
Despite this, it is still an intriguing creation. While there are flaws, it’s already clear that the play deserves to be professionally performed. Alexandra Shaw‘s script carefully tackles a number of complex themes while also attempting to be a thoughtful and gently amusing slice of life affair. It’s an appealing mixture, even if it currently feels a little lopsided, and the second half is much stronger.
Centred on the lives of the twenty-something Russian Vera (Anastasia Martin), and her older Ukrainian friend Liiia (Iirina Selezmoya), it initially feels like a light romantic dramedy. Vera complains about her directionless life while working in her mother’s shop, and Lilia attempts to find slithers of happiness with her job at a nearby cafe and in her long distance relationship with her initially upbeat son Vitalii (Aaron Kodovoz). But video footage of news reports anchor this firmly in 2022 as a clip of Boris Johnson apologising for Covid parties is shown, and given the nationality of the two lead characters it’s doubtful that the direction the play takes will catch anyone off guard.
Before it explores more topical themes, it feels like a slight rom-com, though laughs are a little thin on the ground. Vera meeting and beginning to date the overly confident Toby (Alasdair Linn) has a number of cute moments, and the dialogue feels pleasingly fresh and believable, but it takes up too much of the show’s length. The second half is where the play becomes fascinating though, as further news reports are shown which illustrate how the war in the Ukraine was first covered by the media, and Lilia and Vera’s relationship becomes increasingly frayed.
It’s here that a number of complicated ideas relating to how people have responded to the war are covered in an impressively nuanced manner. Understandably, the play cannot answer all of the questions it poses, but that it asks them at all makes it a compelling insight in to those who suffer when far away from their friends and loved ones. At the same time it also tackles whether minor displays of support in the United Kingdom are of value or not.
As Vera’s relationship with Toby slowly matures we see less of it in the second half, and that feels slightly odd given how it was the focus in the first. Hopefully a revised version will mix the two concepts more evenly, and perhaps develop the more emotional aspects of the discussion of the war, as otherwise this is a superbly acted piece with strong dialogue which shows an awful lot of promise.
Written & Produced by Alexandra Shaw
Directed by Konstantin Kamenski
Art by Millie Shafiee
Graphic Design by Rachel Yen
Never Lies has ended its current run.
