Nightfall

by Barney Norris

seen at the Bridge Theatre on 10th May 2018

Laurie Sansom directs Ophelia Lovibond a Lou, Sion Daniel Young as Ryan, Ukweli Roach as Pete and Claire Skinner as Jenny in this new play about a Hampshire farming family (Jenny and her children Lou and Ryan) still numbed by the loss of the husband and father; Pete is a friend of Ryan's from their early schooldays, subsequently romantically involved with Lou.

The scene (designed by Rae Smith) is the yard space outside the farmhouse - neither the ground nor the house is particularly attractive, subverting the cosy urban view of idyllic pastoral life. In fact, a gigantic oil pipe snakes across the stage, providing both an image of rural despoliation and the trigger for the expression of dangerous tensions between all he characters - the play opens with Pete and Ryan installing a hosepipe to divert some of the oil into the farm's fuel tank without Jenny's approval.

The Father

by Florian Zeller translated by Christopher Hampton

seen at Wyndhams Theatre on 7 October 2015

The play is directed by James Macdonald and is designed by Miriam Buether. It stars Kenneth Cranham as Andre, an 80-year-old retired engineer, and Claire Skinner as Anne, his daughter. Kirsty Oswald plays Laura, a care worker, and Nicholas Gleaves plays Pierre, Anne's partner.

The subject is the onset of dementia, and Zeller has achieved the remarkable feat of presenting the situation through the confusion of Andre's mind. It appears that he is in his own flat being visited by his daughter after an altercation with a carer. However, our understanding is soon destabilised by the appearance of two other characters who contradict Anne's statements, and then by Anne's own assertion that Andre has in fact moved to her flat. The techniques of theatrical trickery have been used to disconcerting effect in illuminating the crippling uncertainties of dementia as it may be experienced by a sufferer.