Continental drama, in this era of Brexit negotiations, seems to be rarer and rarer on British stages. But, luckily, there are some venues which buck this parochial trend.
It’s about three in the morning on a Saturday night in the living room of a one-bedroom flat in Crouch End. Laura is a 38-year-old managing director, and it’s the tail end of her housewarming party.
Small is beautiful. And that is because two-handers can sometimes reach parts that other, bigger, plays fail to touch. This is certainly the case with Stewart Pringle’s Trestle.
I think I should start off by saying Heisenberg: The Uncertainty Principle that launches a brave new commercial venture in the West End by director Marianne Elliott and producer Chris Harper, had me hooked.
As you’d expect from the playwright who wrote Visitors (2014) and Eventide (2015), this new one is an ideal studio piece, in which it is important to hear every word and intonation, and see even the smallest gesture.
For its reopening, Younis has looked across the pond for a new play. He has chosen Rajiv Joseph’s Guards at the Taj, which was first staged at the Atlantic Theatre, New York, in 2015, picking up an Obie Award along with other plaudits.
There are many powerful metaphors for our way of life: a casino economy, the society of the spectacle, a modern Babylon. But there is plenty of room for another one, something strong, something memorable.
