Review: Here Comes Your Ghost Again, Bread & Roses Theatre

The raw tones of Joan Baez’s Farewell, Angelina greet the audience as they settle. Baez’s guitar-driven folk tunes are deeply romantic and emotional. Not only does this choice of song set the tone for the play, her song Diamonds and Rust contain the lyrics of the title of the piece and the nostalgic longing therein frames this narrative.

The opening scene finds Dan in a wheelchair, mentally confused and physically constrained. It’s likely he has had a stroke given the loss of functionality in one of his arms, but that is never explicit. Phil Nair-Brown plays this role well. Heavy of limb and heart his frustrations are apparent. Esther (Sam Nixon) fusses around him, awkward, unsure of how to help properly, conflicted emotionally: keen to help whilst self-protective.

Another Joan Baez song begins in order to signal a scene change. Sam leaps up from his wheelchair and both change clothes from a box of props at the back of the stage. This time we are in a bar at the beginning of their romantic relationship and certain markers are placed that become key parts of the developing story.

The structure of the drama continues in the same fashion: short vignettes are played which follow the trajectory of the relationship between the two from the beginning, interrupted by later episodes where Dan is wheelchair-bound, historically moving in reverse. Baez’s tunes prompt the pause each time to allow the pair to redress and reframe the narrative. Whilst moving and plot relevant, several fewer changes would benefit the flow of the performance. Superfluous costume alterations are overused: both actors are strong enough to carry the illusion without additional apparel. 

Several references are made to “her”: an unknown character, but one that clearly holds Dan’s fascination and as a result Esther’s concern. The deliberate anonymity reinforced by use of a pronoun only is clever and there is a real sense of danger experienced by the audience when we wonder if Dan’s altered mental state will reveal an infidelity with “her” which would potentially cause hurt to Esther. 

The design of this creation, I assume, is to highlight the presence of a former lover, never quite expelled from the memory of one, and too damaging to be fully explored by the other. The unexpected infirmity of one of the parties changes the balance of power between the two and a recollection becomes potentially explosive. 

Moving though this is, it felt like a ‘safe’ performance. Nixon in particular plays every part cautiously and more energy would liven the production without undermining her nervousness of Dan’s former lover. Nair-Brown by contrast is excellent in moving between puppy-like energy in his former life, to confused and frustrated later. 

The sequence of events also feels a little awkward. Near the middle of the drama, Esther forces Dan to listen to Baez’s Diamonds and Rust in full. It is achingly moving as the lyrics recall a memory of a lover never to be quite forgotten. Dan then, in a rare moment of clarity, half whispers a truth to Esther. The lights could well go out there to signal the end of the piece but instead the to and fro between years continues. 

The audience sits on three sides of the thrust staging, which serves to emphasise the intimate nature of the plot whilst the beauty of Baez’s lyrics and sonorous delivery reinforces the immersion into the pair’s ongoing exchanges. A thought provoking performance, we are reminded of the fragility of the human experience and the connections that remain with us forever.

You can read more about this show in our recent interview here.

Written by Callum Murray
Produced by: We To Play

Here Comes Your Ghost Again plays at Bread and Roses Theatre until Saturday 5 April.