This is a 90 minute evening of three short plays written by Hilary Bell and directed by Francesca Savige.
Each playlet is delightful. (As is the word ‘playlet’, if you think about it. Like ‘spiderling’, it’s a diminutive that manages to only partially hide the thrilling, ferocious potential of the thing it labels.)
Summer of Harold opens the night. It’s a monologue, delivered beautifully by Hannah Waterman. Her character recalls when she and a friend spent a summer housekeeping for Harold Pinter. The acclaimed playwright is portrayed as daunting, at least to the young protagonist. It’s a charming piece about the passing of time and where we direct our fears.
Enfant Terrible is performed by Berynn Schwerdt. Gareth has just returned from an award night honouring his long-time friend, a world renowned ceramicist. It’s a terrifically amusing portrait of smallminded envy.
Lookout is a two hander. Jonathan is about to set off on a life changing road trip with his new love. Waterman and Schwerdt combine wonderfully to tell a tale of the need to grow, even in age.
So what do the three pieces have in common? They’re all told with a captivating humour. They’re all superbly performed. And they’re all tightly constructed; each is like a little mousetrap (though without the ghastly consequences.) This sort of clever tightness is so valued by the production that I was warned by the publicists not to write spoilers. Such a warning might seem unnecessary, but if the snap of the trap is both satisfyingly and sufficiently loud, there are some of my oh so noble profession who can’t but help let the echo sound in their review.
Another connection between the pieces is that each is about our relationship with what might be called size. Two of the playlets are clearly fascinated with fame and our response to it. (And here I’ll point out that Summer Of Harold references Pinter’s cricket team, the Gaieties, and it’s important for everyone to know that I am personally acquainted with someone who played in that team.) The closing piece alludes not to fame, to those of us who appear larger than Life, but is instead an exhortation to acknowledge Life is larger than us, and to embrace it, regardlessly.
Paul Gilchrist
Summer of Harold by Hilary Bell
at Ensemble until 14 Oct
Image by Jaimi Joy
Theatre Red 