Review: TWO, Park Theatre  

Stepping into the auditorium feels like stepping into a real pub. Jana Lakatos’ set is instantly immersive and utterly compelling as Kellie Shirley and Peter Caulfield, in character as the landlady and lord, seat audience members around wooden pub tables that comprise a significant portion of the stage.  

The characters sit at these tables with audience members throughout the show and walk among them, serving real drinks, collecting glasses and engaging in light-hearted banter with their faux patrons. This feature is brilliant for world building, but at some points can create a slight instability in the actors’ address. The audience are so present in the action that, albeit infrequently, in the precise and poetic sections where viewer alienation is almost necessary, monologues feel jarringly overconstructed in the face of an over present room of people forcibly inducted into the fiction of the piece. However this limitation of audience participation is slight here, and the effect is generally conducive to the realism of the production.  

The sketch-like format of the play keeps the audience on its toes and demands much from the actors, showcasing their adaptability with the kaleidoscope of characters that proceed one after another across the stage. Some sketches are stronger than others, with some accent slips and some scenes, especially those towards the beginning of the play, taking a while to find their stride. The dynamic between Shirley and Caulfield is always compelling however; they are both stronger in scenes together than alone. And, there are many scenarios that are utterly gripping – the slow building tension and quietly ominous delivery of the domestic abuse scene is sickeningly flawless from both actors.  

The most compelling of the characters, however, are the landlady and landlord, who anchor the miscellaneous action with their story in the centre. They disappear for long periods of time and leave the audience adrift for slightly too long at points; the play would have benefitted from more scenes with those characters to bring the plot back to a centre point. The final scene gives real insight into their background – insight that the audience wait for from the beginning. Here, there is some slightly jarring leg work needed for plot exposition where more stage time and further hints at their past woven throughout could have provided a more seamless transition into an otherwise devastating and beautifully acted climax. 

James Haddrell’s direction is skilled and most focused on movement and clean physical beats in the face of a logistically demanding play. This production is adventurous, energetic and, at points, beautifully sad. It is certainly an evening very well spent for theatre and pub-goers alike.  

Writer: Jim Cartwright  
Director: James Haddrell  
Set and Costume Designer: Jana Lakatos 
Lighting Designer: Henry Slater 
Production Manager: James Turner 

TWO plays at Park90 until Saturday 25 April.