Have always admired Rory Kinnear as an
actor – his Iago is currently stealing the show in the National
Theatre’s production of Othello. He’s also admired by those
important theatre biz people who hand out awards having had two Evening Standard's, an Olivier and an Ian Charleson
bestowed on him in recent years. But what’s he like as a
playwright?
Promising, is how I’d describe him.
His family drama, at the Bush Theatre, has some
wonderful moments in it, raising laughs in between its darker
moments but it isn’t perfect.
Set around the preparations for Andy’s
21st birthday lunch, tensions are running high. Andy is severely
disabled and mother Carol (Amanda Root) distrusts his carers at the
home he is in. Daughter Claire (Louise Brealey) has announced a male
“friend” Mark (Adrian Bower) is to join the gathering and
grandmother (Anna Calder-Marshall) just can’t help being nosey.
If all that weren’t enough tension
for one family gathering, Carol’s ex-husband Ian (Adrian Rawlins) turns up out of
the blue.
With its cosy kitchen/living room
set it almost feels like you are spying on a genuine family get-together. The hidden dynamics of the family unit – the quips, the
irritations are all too familiar, or degrees of it are. Despite
sniping at each other there is a warmth to the routine and
familiarity that the family possess.
The darker issues Kinnear addresses
surround the care of Danny and the strain that puts on the family,
something that is only heightened with the appearance of the father
who abandoned his wife and children some years earlier with only
sporadic contact since.
Where I think it worked best was in the
lighter family moments, the banter, the nosey grandmother, the
affable grandfather (Kenneth Cranham). Where it didn’t was in the arguments. There
are a lot of arguments or rather rows which are often full blown and got tiresome. That level of emotion, that frequently just lost its impact.
This feels like a personal play for
Kinnear to write and certainly there were issues I could relate to
but perhaps the balance isn’t quite right at the moment. A bit less
dark and a bit more light.
Naturally with that cast it is superbly
performed. I wouldn’t suggest Kinnear gives up the acting just yet
but his first play did hold promise.
The Herd is on at The Bush Theatre until October 26.
RS/BW 6DS
Rory Kinnear of course. The two have worked together several times – Hamlet, Richard II and most recently Skyfall.
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