London.
VINCENT RIVER
by Philip Ridley.

5*****

Park 90, The Park Theatre, Clifton Terrace, Finsbury Park, London N4 3JP to 14 April 2018.
Tues-Sat 7.45pm Mat Thu & Sat 3.15pm/
Runs 80 mins No interval.

TICKETS: 020 7870 6876.
www.ParkTheatre.co.uk

Review: William Russell 24 March.

A superb story of love and coming to terms with a death

Anita, middle aged East Londoner is moving in to a new flat, having been forced to leave her former home. She is brassy, sharp tongued, well dressed and likes her gin with, or without, tonic. She has invited a young man, Davey in. He has been following her for several weeks. She wants to know why.

Philip Ridley’s play sets up a situation which could lead anywhere and, although this is a revival, the problem of spoiling enjoyment means just what emerges is for the theatregoer to discover. It is a bleakly funny, heart breaking experience and also a chilling account of a hate crime and its aftermath. The play first surfaced at Hampstead in 2001 and then had a West End run seven years later. This latest staging directed by Robert Chevara is very good indeed. There are fine performances from Louise Jameson as Anita, immaculately tarty and poised, a woman who can fight her corner, but the veneer hides her grief for her dead son Vincent and Thomas Mahy as the gangling Davey who claims to have discovered the body and cannot get it out of his head. Both are damaged people, finding out why this has happened to them and how the find in their different ways absolution of a sort is enthralling. Unmissable is not something one should say very often, but this really falls into that category.

Anita: Louise Jameson.
Davey: Thomas Mahy.

Director: Robert Chevara.
Set & Costume Designer: Nicolai Hart Hansen.
Lighting Designer: Martin Langthorne.

2018-03-26 10:43:07