A ghost story with excellent bones, but also some rough edges.Rating
Good!
A haunting rendition of ‘Drunken Sailor’ plays in darkness, and immediately the tone of the production is set – the sea surrounds us; it is beautiful, it is terrifying. Danny Langdon’s lighting, too, is well designed throughout, situating the audience on the desolate rock, with two slow-spinning beams between scenes that recall a real lighthouse’s warning lights. Quiet Light is capably directed by Rio Rose Joubert, who focuses on tension and inward emotional distress spilling outward, energy built up to be released later.
Elizabeth Anderson, playing Ava, is utterly flawless throughout this production, with an intense believability that completely sells the character’s past and present. Anderson holds attention effortlessly as the audience watches the plot unravel from her perspective. Ava is awkward, troubled, and reaches a perfectly crafted emotional crescendo – Anderson cannot be praised too highly.
Oisin Maguire as Ray is fairly well-executed, but relies far too heavily on being loud as a replacement for emotional nuance. Because Ray’s emotions escalate so often and so early in the play, by the end, any effect that might have come from his big argument with Ava is sadly lost, replaced with an affectual monotony that cheapens what could be a great emotional crescendo to Ray and Ava’s relationship. Ray’s confession to Ava about his wife’s death is well executed, however, with appropriate softness and emotional intensity that demonstrates his capacity for growth in the future.
Both KC Thomas and Anna Sylvester are effectively creepy in their portrayal of the ghosts that stalk the lighthouse. Thomas, as Ava’s Mother, takes a while to warm up into the role, but by the end of the production, she is a strikingly terrifying presence on stage, her haunting vocality her greatest strength. Sylvester also executes Cam with nice emotional control that endears the audience to Ray in her presence. At some points, the positioning of the actors is awkward, but on a stage surrounded by an audience on three sides, the positioning is generally well handled.
The structure of the play at times feels laboured, repeating moments or emotional beats three or even four times, and because of this, there are many sections where the narrative does nothing to drive the plot forward, only going back on itself to restate a relationship dynamic or restage a conflict. By taking this script down to the most essential moments and then building on from there where needed, the play would increase its capacity for sustained tension. However, writer Erin Hutton‘s concept and dialogue are delivered with imagination and skill; the most striking scenes are the ones where Ava must balance communicating with Ray and her mother simultaneously. Here, the dialogue is woven with precision and confidence. This production has a lot of potential, and with some structural refining and a re-angling of Ray’s character, Quiet Light should continue to haunt theatre goers up and down the country.
Director – Rio Rose Joubert
Writer – Erin Hutton
Assistant Director/Assistant Producer – Ophelia Fellhauer
Producer – Ethan H.M.M.
Assistant Producer – Ella Kennedy
Lighting Designer – Danny Langdon
Quiet Light plays at the Baron’s Court Theatre until Saturday 18 April.
