All that glisters...
Is this a highly topical look at free, and hate, speech in an academic setting? - once again does the Menier (in early Preview) set out to intellectually challenge as well as (instead of?) entertaining?
The Power of Sail (originally a vehicle for Bryan Cranston in the US) initially pits an academic intent on exposing the flaws in extreme views against a holder of such views, as students agitatedly recoil from such a confrontation.
But is this just a McGuffin? This is certainly a play about deception, self- and otherwise, about sincerity and conviction, about truth and lies, about betrayal.
It is, in many ways, a thriller, and it happily betrays viewer expectations.
The set is complex – we are in elegant Harvard and its surrounds - as elaborately built elements are moved around to create multiple fully established settings (maybe more smoothly and quickly into the run), the actors (particularly Julian Ovenden, Giles Terera and Tanya Franks) are expert and convincing, even as they shift their stances. It is nice to be kept off-balance here, and the audience, at the end of an unbroken 105 minutes was suitably appreciative.
Nothing, it would seem, is as it seems – and yes, it was entertaining.