A challenging, but rewarding, watch
Just back from the second revival of the week, this time Tennessee Williams’ Two Character Play at Hampstead Theatre, where it originally premiered in 1967.
This is a play which owes much to both Becket and Pinter as Williams visits some old tropes of his in an entirely new manner (for him).
This is a demanding watch, as brother and sister actors (with real problems) play brother and sister characters with even worse ones.
The play within a play, and the play itself, offer little resolution and just a tiny sliver of hope.
Very well performed by Kate O’Flynn and Zubin Varla who start off English, as actors and play Deep South as the characters; they manage to move between characterisations relatively seamlessly and convincingly.
Like Pinter (and Becket) what is real (within the context of the overall play), what is imagined and what is being lied about are not always easy to discover – but what is real is relationship (deteriorating) and angst (growing).
Psychological drama meets surrealist staging. The use of both live projection on stage and back projected footage adds to the impact – and the feelings of alienation – so maybe in the staging a nod to Brecht as well.
There are moments of real tension (for the audience), if not terror.
Well worth a visit even if the Hampstead has decided to make no concessions to Covid rules relaxation, with blanked seats throughout the auditorium still cutting the capacity by 50%.