7 – 11 March

How we have changed in a little over a decade; language that might have induced giggles of audacity now has a different kind of frisson. The challenging oxymoron of the title is scant preparation for the tasteless opening exchange which, as bold as you like, uses the kind of undressed misogynistic language that gets buttocks clenching and hackles rising. But as it turns out it was all right, the woman, ‘Woman’ (Nina Bright) gives as good as she gets with some equally squirm-worthy nob banter at the expense of ‘Man’ (Jack Bannell). We’re in playwright Philip Ridley’s apparently desolate landscape populated by Man and Woman and a tribe of monkeys.

The play is constructed around a series of flights of fancy, duelling imaginations little more sophisticated than the, ‘my dad’s bigger than your dad’ type. Here ‘dad’ is replaced by fantastical scenarios plucked at random in a stream of consciousness tussle that becomes more and more outlandish: abducted by aliens, swallowed by sea monsters and riding on unicorns. All good fun and delivered in a self-consciously poetic style that seems at times like a 1960’s sex war taken to a kind of reductio ad absurdum in which combatants end up imaginatively exhausted.

For the most part Ben Jenkins’ direction keeps us guessing as to the nature of their relationship. They direct their imaginative sketches at each other rather than making them for each other. The situation isn’t helped by the fact that much of the play is made up of narration as they take it in turns to try and trump the other’s story. Memory is juxtaposed with the scenes in a way that makes the past indistinguishable from the imagination. The overall effect is like an impro’ without the usual tension of actors’ minds buzzing in search of a relevant response.

There is, thankfully, a change of gear towards the end when we appear to be at an eighteenth birthday party and Man becomes a real in-the-moment person and Woman his tender comforter. The revelation of a lost parent made me wonder if all the forgoing was not little more than their imaginations engaging in some creative displacement activity. But however we got there the performance ends where, but for the storytelling, it might have been all along, with the expression of tenderness that comes from love, and the emotional rough and tumble that secure love can enjoy. Having been released from their jobs as narrators Ms Bright and Mr Bannell do what actors do best and flesh out the script with emotion.

★★★☆☆   Graham Wyles  8 March 2023

photography@jgdphotography