Just as the completion of Bristol Old Vic’s redevelopment breathes new life into the theatre, this first production mirrors the desire to come back from the brink.
Touching the Void dramatizes the autobiographical account of Joe Simpson’s near fatal experience during the perilous climb of the Siula Grande mountain in the Andes. As with most real life stories where ultimate death is averted the trick is in driving the pace and tension so that the outcome is still kept uncertain. This production provides heart stopping moments along with shovelfuls of snow and ice.
The narrative is neatly divided into two parts with the first very much the ascent phase beginning with an imagined wake for Joe in a Scottish mountaineering pub complete with juke box, functional furniture and a door to the Gents. Along with Joe’s final climbing partner Simon who has come to terms with what he had to do to survive are Sarah, Joe’s angry and expletive ridden big sister and Richard the gap year student hoping for a story to call his own.
David Greig’s well-paced and at times ferociously frantic script starts with Sarah’s incredulity at the stupidity of mountain climbers’ obsession at the base of the scramble to understand why they do it. Pub furniture is, in the manner of ‘jumpers for goalposts’ used to represent walls of solid rock and ice as she impressively scales the heights of the stage walls. Sarah’s induction into the closed world of mountaineering allows her pop into Joe’s head in the second half as he fights for his life on the descent after falling and shattering his leg.
Josh Williams as Joe captures the laddish nature of an enthusiast who is driven by his nerdy passion while Edward Hayter’s Simon has an underlying passive melancholy. Both actors exhibit incredible strength and physical dexterity as they manoeuvre over the obstacles presented, sweating under the weight of their packs and straining to keep on the rocks.
Designer Ti Green’s mountain is a wondrous thing, at turns tilting and bending like an alien space ship as it peers down on the climbers clambering below.
Patrick McNamee’s Richard has the best laughs and punctures the tension with his puppyish enthusiasm, all the more so when he deliciously recounts tales of awful Alpine disasters. Sadly his own account of the story, ‘Avoiding the Touch’ is never to be written.
The first half ends with a literal cliff hanger after one of the most thrilling episodes you could spend in a theatre, even one which has been going since 1766. Simon’s decision to cut the rope and leave Joe for dead to save himself is handled with a visceral reflex.
Director Tom Morris continues his run of hits with this electrifying production. The actors may be dangling on ropes above the stage, but the technicalities are handled in a sure footed manner.
Like the Old Vic itself, Joe’s desire to fight on and survive in the face of adversity shines through and ultimately triumphs.
★★★★★ Bryan Mason 19th September 2018
Photo by Geraint Lewis
