Review: The Investment of a Lifetime, Drayton Arms Theatre

The cost of living is a huge political topic at the moment – just look at the blue tsunami in the mid-terms where affordability swept Democrats to office and routed Republicans, even in solid red districts and states. But paying the bills is not just a political tug of war; it is a day to day reality for real people, struggling to make ends meet and with what to prioritise in making those agonising decisions. And impossible, extreme solutions are sometimes found.

This is the background of the protagonists in Investment of a Lifetime, who are a young couple with an eighteen-year-old daughter, plus girlfriend. It’s a revival of a debut work for new company Noted Productions, set up by Taylor Roark and Anna Jane Reynolds, who met at their East 15 acting course. Their aim is to produce “female-led hard-hitting emotionally charged stories”. That remains to be seen, but this piece, written by Roark with Reynolds directing efficiently, certainly packs a punch right from the get-go.

The beating, quasi-news headlines intro – used later to cover scene changes – announces that the law to legalise euthanasia for those suffering from mental health issues has just passed. Okay!!! One step up then from our current debate and we are on the edge of our seats as to where they are going to go with this one!

Father, Jude (Thomas Drake), and mother, Elizabeth (Emma Hickman), are looking at the accounts and getting really stressed out, especially as their daughter, Celeste (Roark), is about to take her A-levels but is also in love with her girlfriend Lydia (India Giles) and dealing with mental issues of her own. Celeste is a typically bolshy teenager but clear in her head about her sexuality and what she wants to do in life; study hard to get into the university of her choice. Unbeknownst to her, Jude and Elizabeth are at the end of their tether and…. Well, I think you should see the play to find out the rather shocking strategy they come up with. Let’s just say gaslighting comes in to it, heavy gaslighting, and then remorse on Elizabeth’s side confuses the picture. But does Jude play ball? To complicate matters further, there are emotional pressures as Lydia has come to stay because her parents are getting divorced. This while Celeste is trying to revise for her exams, but also dealing with reality and conflicting memories of experience.

The structure of several scenes centred around one kitchen table/study block makes for a slick evening. I wanted more weight and physical authority from the parents and more oomph from Lydia. It is also not clear what the passage of time is from one scene to the next, which is a shame, but the dialogue is wonderfully fresh and authentic. Structurally, the final scene is rather abrupt. I would have loved a little more exploration of the disturbing state of affairs that the characters find themselves in at that point, which needs to find a better ending, lighting-wise or perhaps in the staging. But I have to say, Roark is outstanding in the part of Celeste. She establishes the character with vocal and physical presence, which then modulates with emotional richness as her mental state is gradually eroded through the evolving play. Her mental frailties undermine her self-belief – or rather what she is subjected to leads to the shocking climax. Roark is the stand-out star of this disturbing piece, which makes for a thought-provoking and memorable evening.

Writer: Taylor Roark

Director: Anna Jane Reynolds

Producer: Noted Productions

The Investment of a Lifetime plays at The Drayton Arms until Saturday 14 November.