A clever blend of deep thinking on the meaning of life mixed with plenty of silliness makes this a great transfer from across the Pond. Rating
Good
When artist Rory McGory (Noah Huntley) wakes up in a strange place surrounded by blank canvases, he assumes it’s a dream. Then, when his long since deceased ex, Pippa (Sarah Pearcey), arrives to tell him this is not a dream and he is in fact dead, well, it’s hardly surprising he doesn’t quite believe her. Especially as he claims he hasn’t thought about her for over thirty years.
But where is here if not a dream? As Pippa explains, this is an ‘uncoupling’ – a chance to unclog all those hang-ups Rory had in life that got in the way of just living. Because when you are dead it’s time to realise that nothing really mattered, and maybe if he had realised that while he was alive, he may have been a whole lot happier. It’s a fun concept that is well executed, giving ample space for some deeper musings on why we allow the little things to consume so much of our lives.
There is some deft writing in T.J. Elliott’s piece, which has already been a success off-Broadway. Each character offers a clever counterpoint to Rory’s obsessive artist. Pippa is a poet – a woman of words while Rory is a man of images. Similarly, Jasmine Dorothy Haefner’s art critic, Z, adds words to his work when he wanted none, while fellow artist Clint (Benjamin Parsons) has a cavalier attitude that’s counter to Rory’s obsessive behaviour: as Pippa points out, when they were married he still spent more time with his paintings than he did with her. Instead, Clint was more interested in the trappings that come with being a famous artist. These opposites allow for some clever back and forth as Rory argues his case with each character and they attempt to discover what is clogging their passing into the next stage of death.
While it’s all very clever and at times deep, the story maybe hangs around just a little too long. As we approach the end it’s clear concentrations within the audience are starting to slip, with people shuffling around, clearly dreaming of the bar upstairs. This does mean that the final denouement is almost lost to us. A little trimming of the edges to bring the running time down from its 90 minutes straight through could do wonders.
But small gripe aside, the play is still a lot of fun. Its clever musings over how we waste too much time worrying about life instead of just living it is mixed up with whimsical silliness that is wonderfully performed. Pearcey’s Pippa especially has plenty of fun reciting poetry that is rather… interesting to say the least. Then there are the moments when questions are being answered by the mystical winds, their words accompanied by dance moves from the three companions, getting more and more outrageous each time. Again though, maybe this silliness is relied on once or twice too often, and there are opportunities here to snip a minute or two from proceedings. But it does means there is plenty to laugh at as well as ponder about Elliott’s views on how we risk wasting the short time we have alive.
Retrospective certainly has lots to offer, with an interesting concept well executed. It’s great to see a successful show from Stateside testing the waters in a small fringe theatre in Barons Court.
Written by T.J. Elliott
Directed by Liviu Monsted
Lighting design by Mehran Mortezaei
Produced by Marjorie Phillips Elliott for Mon Sans Productions in collaboration with Knowledge Workings Theater
Retrospective runs at Baron’s Court Theatre until Saturday 23 May.
