Review: Breathtakingly complex acting in challenging play at Leamington’s Loft

Jerry (Dave Crossfield) has been betraying his best friend Robert (Richard Ely) by having an affair with his wife, Emma (Libby McKay).

The affair takes place during stolen afternoons in a rented flat. The set - as mirrored by the relationships and dialogue - is claustrophobic. There is no escape. The emotions are raw and the piece rests on every flicker of the eye and every gesture, no matter how small, is a loaded one.

Questions are asked and not answered and the whole thing - moving back wards through time - takes on the air of a sophisticated ‘whodunnit’ - but with an unknown, possibly deadly serious, consequence.

The acting of this challenging and difficult piece is breathtaking in its complexity. The characters swoop on each other is an ever decreasing circle of desperately trying to fulfill their own individual needs. No one really cares about the fate of the other and this cruel, yet very human, trait is superbly acted out.

Director Sue Moore has cleverly managed to keep her actors at a distance in this very small space, but mingled with this is a feeling we are intruding and voyeuristically involved. The very awkward silence between lines makes the characters’ facial expressions even more important - and each actor has been blessed with strong and forceful features that subtly allow expressions to interplay with the dialogue and oddness of the word play.

The whole package is worthy of positive comment. The set, designed by Michael Moore, and the ease with which the set was moved around is commendable. The lighting score supported the whole emotional content of the play and the sound effects - the music - also let us know we were in for a difficult 90 minutes.

Not and easy play to direct or to take part in, but the whole team effort here has paid off.

Monica Troughton