"Sometimes
you have to go a long way out of your way to come back a short
distance correctly!" A sentiment similar to this is said
several times by Jerry played by Phil Nichol.
Peter
(Graham Elwell) is sitting quietly reading on his usual bench in Central
Park, it is a quiet Sunday afternoon and he is enjoying the
peace and quiet. Suddenly he is bothered by a wasp, after
Peter has chased it off, Jerry appears and walks past, the wasp
returns and Jerry watches fascinated until Peter is pushed too far
and kills the wasp.
It
is in that moment fate is set and the battle for the bench if not
life itself began/begins.
I
had not seen or heard of the play before and went in with no
expectations. Although Geoff has followed Phil Nichol's stand up
career for some time I have only managed to see him in plays. I
have admired his acting talents in '12 Angry Men' 'One flew Over
the Cuckoos Nest' and 'The Odd Couple', but was bowled over by
this performance, starting off seemingly simple, progressing to
overly animated, degenerating to manic and finally totally
animalistic.
Graham
Elwell is a new entity to me, his character goes from slightly annoyed
submissive listener to defender of his privacy and routine until
he too is dragged down to the basis of human nature one step up
from animalistic.
I
didn't read (couldn't suss out) the direction in which the playwright
Edward Albee was going at all and it was one heck of a shock when
we reached the end! I
came out shaking all over thinking 'Oh My God! Oh My God!' it has
taken me nearly two hours to calm down a little.
The
direction by Maggie Inchley is extremely clever and sensitive, but
I would like to know how much input the two performers had.
I
have seen some very good shows this fringe but very few with such
an immediate reaction, or the incessant
wish to sit through it all again immediately.
Sadly
though I am restricted to five stars, as I would have given it at
least a six!!
*****
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