Review: Tarantula, Arcola Theatre

I always find Philip Ridley‘s writing difficult to review. It contains so many unexpected layers that I often find myself reassessing my reading of it countless times over the following days. Tarantula is no different, and as Georgie Henley’s Toni utters her pitiful final words, I’m already scrabbling to decide what it means. There’s even one fleeting thought that perhaps what had gone before was the lie, and the end was the truth. I’m sure that were I to write this review in a week’s time it would be a very different take from the one I have right now.

Toni bounds onto the brightly lit and bare stage full of nervous energy and teen excitement, proudly telling us about the events leading up to her first date. She is instantly loveable; full of girlish charm and delightful innocence. The lighting matches her mood, with not a shadow to be seen. Except the date goes very badly wrong, with the most innocuous of incidents changing her life forever.  Suddenly we enter the dark, with shadows everywhere. Because Toni wants that perfect first date; something every teen should be entitled to. She deserves it, she’s a good girl, and she is going to have it, whatever it takes.

Henley’s performance and Ridley’s writing are a perfect combination, melded together expertly by Wiebke Green who knows how to draw out the two sides of Toni; having her constantly on the move as an excited teenage, but static when the darkness descends upon her. Henley begins all smiles, cheeky grins and even cheekier asides, whilst Ridley’s words explode from her thick and fast, as if were she to try to stop them they would escape through other means. We laugh with her naturally, never forced. But it’s how Henley traverses from the light to dark that makes her performance one you cannot tear your eyes from, the innocence slowly fading from her eyes to be replaced with the trauma of its loss. The laughter dries up and now must be pried from us, almost unwillingly. If Henley isn’t in consideration for awards come the end of the year then it will be a surprise!

As fans of Ridley know, he keeps his audience on their toes, never allowing them to relax. Even when it seems blindingly obvious where the story is going, he leads us down an alleyway we hadn’t even spotted previously, taking us somewhere completely unexpected. And not just the once, except the second time he takes us to that alleyway we discover too late it’s not the same one after all. He knows how to lead us and his characters astray in ways that just shouldn’t be allowed in polite company!

Come the end there’s a moment’s silence, as if we are all trying to take in what that ending means to each of us. But the problem is that any first opinion may change by the time you are on your commute home. Does it mean this, does it mean that? Does it mean something else altogether. The one thing for sure is that it’s likely to be one of the most intense 90 minute performances that you will see this year and one that has already set the bar high for anything else I see over the next 12 months. My thoughts on what it means may change come tomorrow but my thoughts on Henley’s performance will remain consistent. A stunning solo turn in a complex but incredible piece of writing.

Written by: Philip Ridley
Directed by: Wiebke Green
Lighting Design by: Ciaran Cunningham
Costume and set design by: Kit Hinchliffe
Produced by: Arcola Theatre

Tarantula plays at Arcola Theatre until 25 January. Further information and tickets available here.