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A CurtainUp 
London Review
London ReviewThe Faith Machine
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Against all empirical evidence and rational enquiry I continue to believe in the human being.
— Agatha quoting Sophie
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Ian McDiarmid as Edward (Photo: Stephen Cummiskey) |
The opening scene has us looking back at 2001, with the decade on from 9/11 perspective, that is uppermost in everyone’s mind this week. In their New York apartment, Sophie (Hayley Atwell), an English investigative journalist challenges her American boyfriend Tom (Kyle Soller) about his working for an advertising agency on a pharmaceutical company’s account where there have been some unethical experiments using Ugandan children as the guinea pigs. They met on a student drama production when Tom had ambitions to be a novelist before he was seduced by the earning power of a Madison Avenue copywriter.
The 2001 scene is haunted by the figure of Sophie’s father Edward (the magnificent Ian McDiarmid) who eggs on his daughter in her condemnation of the drug company’s research. In Act One Scene Two, we go back three years to Sophie and Tom arriving at her father’s house on the Greek island of Patmos. Here Edward is revealed as an Anglican bishop in debate with a Kenyan bishop Patrick (Jude Akuwudike) about the Church’s attitude on gay marriage. Father and daughter both have truths they don’t want to reveal to each other until the closing hours of their time together.
Act Two Scene One is set in New York in 2006 at a gay wedding. Act Two Scene Two sees Edward early in 2001, after two strokes, incontinent and angry. Act Three Scene One is set in 2010 in New York where Tom and Sophie, temporarily reunited, look back on their relationship and the final scene forms an epitaph.
Through these discussions we look at the shifting meaning of faith and what we believe in, the basis for decisions as to what is right and wrong. The Faith Machine engages the intellect as few other plays do with a contemporary analysis of ethics. It is a big subject and congratulations to Alexi Kaye Campbell for tackling it and making it accessible.
The first act is near perfect, an exciting new play which allows us to laugh in the middle of serious debate. Tom’s character generates much of the laughter with his self revelation, reminding me of those loud, analytical reflections voiced openly and loudly in New York restaurants by the self involved. Compulsive listening! Alexi Kaye Campbell has a superb ear for dialogue.
It is an amusing performance from Kyle Soller’s Tom, under attack from Sophie, who explains to her what funded her post graduate degree at Columbia and paid for their apartment. Hayley Atwell maintains Sophie’s sincerity and her principles without ever being a prig but it is McDiarmid’s night with an acting tour de force, so strongly witnessed that he returns from the grave to prompt his daughter.
This is probably the nearest any of us non-believers will get to an afterlife. I loved the ecclesiastical debate between Edward and Patrick and the very funny interjections, laced with political incorrection, of Edward’s candid, Russian housekeeper Tatyana (Bronagh Gallagher). After the magnificent debate, it is distressing to see Edward having lost control of his bodily functions and cantankerously resisting attempts to clean him up although there are still moments when he makes good sense. Act Three provides some closure but is the shortest and the least developed of the three acts.
Jamie Lloyd’s imperceptible and excellent direction brings these characters unquestionably to life. Mark Thompson’s set has two walls set at a slight angle ready for the impact of Lorna Heavy’s projections of 9/11 but this is a production where nothing will distract from the acting. Neil Austin’s lighting gives us the purity of Greek sunlight. As Edward blames the Hebrew inheritance as opposed to the later enlightened Greek influence for the Church’s stance on homosexuality, he sums up The Faith Machine when he says, "God changes with us, that’s all"
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| The Faith Machine
Written by Alexi Kaye Campbell Directed by Jamie Lloyd Starring: Ian McDiarmid, Kyle Soller, Hayley Atwell, Jude Akuwudike, Bronagh Gallagher With: Alan Westaway, Maya Wasowicz, Kezrena James Designed by Mark Thompson Lighting: Neil Austin Music and Sound: Alex Baranowski Video and Projection Design: Lorna Heavey Running time: Two hours 45 minutes with two intervals Box Office: 020 7565 5000 Booking to 1st October 2011 Reviewed by Lizzie Loveridge based on 31st August 2011 performance at The Jerwood Theatre Downstairs, Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square London SW1 W 8AS (Tube: Sloane Square) |
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