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A CurtainUp 
London Review
London ReviewBecky Shaw
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You are a rich man who puts his family into a two star hotel! — Susan
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Daisy Haggard as Becky and David Wilson Barnes as Max (Photo: Hugo Glendinning) |
The key point of the play came for me near the end when the mother Susan attempts to pass on her experience of life to her daughter Suzanna, "Your generation is fixed on intimacy. That's why your marriages don't last. You think marriage and family require absolute honesty. They do not." Susan has just advocated having "pockets of mystery" in marriages. Is this double speak for turning a blind eye to infidelity? Presumably not as she counsels Suzanna in that unforgettable line from Becky Shaw, "No-one respects a woman who forgives infidelity. It kept Hilary Clinton from being president." Susan's point seems to be not to ask like an ostrich, so you don't find out about it. You can't turn a blind eye to something you don't know about. But Susan herself is in a new and probably disastrous relationship with a younger man Lester, which is of paramount importance to her.
The production has come to London with one of the key actors from New York David Wilson Barnes as Max and the original American director Peter DuBois. As a bracing comedy there is much to amuse much of it from Max's quick witted acerbic if cruel retorts. He reminded me of the young Kevin Spacey with his brilliant delivery of fast patter. Sign up David Wilson Barnes for The Iceman Cometh now!
Haydn Gwynne is memorable as the reflecting family matriarch with her perfectly coiffed hair and walking stick to support her legs weakened by MS, and although we only see her at the beginning and end of the play, she has insight and an important role in cutting through the layers of pretence. Anna Madeley is excellent as Suzanna, the daughter who is often a foil for Max's humour and who is excessively attached to her dead father, argues with her mother and is controlled by Max.
Vincent Montuel is Suzanna's goody two shoes husband who gets his kicks serially rescuing emotional women who then need his intervention as much as he needs them to rely on him for his sense of self worth. Daisy Haggard as Becky seems a disaster area although she is adept at using sympathy to get what she needs and sticks like a limpet. She is the last person I would have fixed up on a date with the caustic, cerebral Max.
Jonathan Fensom's sets change either side of the divide so giving us seven authentic looking locations smoothly, with rock music marking the changes. The play seems to have crossed the Atlantic well, undoubtedly helped by David Wilson Barnes' excellent patter fast performance and Peter Du Bois' seamless direction.
Gina Gionfriddo has written an intricate and provocative comedy full of zinging dialogue with an undercurrent of the pain that can surface in many relationships. With so much of the dialogue being about hurt, there is laughter all around us in the audience but plenty to think about as well so Becky Shaw may well earn a transfer to the West End.
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| Becky Shaw
Written by Gina Gionfriddo Directed by Peter DuBois Starring: Anna Madeley, David Wilson Barnes, Haydn Gwynne, Daisy Haggard With: Vincent Montuel Designed by Jonathan Fensom Lighting: Tim Mitchell Sound: John Leonard Movement by Arthur Pitta Sponsored by Coutts and Pinsent Masons Running time: Two hours ten minutes hours with one interval Box Office: 020 7359 4404 Booking to 5th March 2011 Reviewed by Lizzie Loveridge based on 21st January 2011 performance at The Almeida, Almeida Street London N1 (Tube: The Angel, Islington) |
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