A heart-breaking story about two individuals and accepting the future of their relationship Rating
Ok
Castles is advertised as being “an intense examination of a romantic relationship over time”, and it is just that. It tells the story of Jonny (Dan Blick) and Rain (Antonia Reinisch) who meet one evening and are instantly inseparable from one another at the beginning of their relationship. But soon this begins to crumble as the couple begin to become more comfortable and simultaneously more vulnerable around each other. Instead of bringing out the better version of one another, the couple inevitably bring out their worst, and their own personal insecurities, shadows and peculiar demons make their presence known.
There is a good story premise – a couple who try, against all odds to make their relationship work – and for 75 minutes the audience is witness to their heart-breaking trials and tribulations as we see Rain and Jonny desperately hang on to anything that can keep their relationship going. Outside of one particular plot twist, the premise of Castles is, however, no different to any other relationship drama. Rain and Jonny’s whole world consists of their work and each other, neither of them seem to have any hobbies outside of drug usage, scrolling through TikTok, and yelling at one another. At times watching Castles felt like watching a game to see who could score the highest point for the best insult inflicted.
Throughout the entire production Rain and Jonny have two volume settings: loud and louder. With the exception of a few scenes, there is hardly a moment when the characters speak in a calm manner. The majority of the play is simply Rain and Jonny yelling at one another in a manner which has a numbing effect after a while: it is easy to forget that Rain and Jonny have any other personality outside of being angry. Between the scenes the lights fade, all except for a spotlight on either Rain or Jonny as they speak to the audience. It is during these moments that it is easy to sympathise with either of the two. But feelings of sympathy are quickly forgotten as we see another interaction between the pair, which will inevitably end in a shouting match.
Castles has the potential to be a truly great production, but while there is a good story premise, the characters need more development and personality outside of the binaries of being in a very good mood or being angry. It is very clear that Rain and Jonny are both compatible yet vulnerable with one another, but neither of them seem to find a way out of their vulnerability. We are simply left with an unbalanced plot that contains a short beginning, a long and drawn out middle and a short end.
Written by: Dan Blick
Produced by: Telos Ensemble
Castles plays at Drayton Arms Theatre until Saturday 11 October.
