27 – 28 May

Mediocre suggests ‘nothing special’, a generality perhaps, Everyman possibly. So the character in this piece by Will Close and Joe von Malachowski could stand for any one of us caught in a web of inflexible woke rectitude. Played as a tour guide, the living statue of an imagined Elizabethan, Fulke Treville (whom I supposed was Fulke Greville, one time owner and now supposed ghost of Warwick castle, having been gruesomely murdered by his manservant) is like the Ancient Mariner who, ‘stoppeth one of three’, he seems impelled to unburden himself of the guilt – for which he feels no guilt.

The statue is like an island which is revealed by the waning tide of public morality that once surrounded its subject. So actions which may have passed without note in previous times, in the harsh light of a new age are less than creditable. Relationships which may once have provoked little comment are now deemed totally inappropriate. The monologue is addressed to the spirit of a dead girlfriend and takes a canter through his teens and up to her funeral wake where he is rejected by the girl’s family and friends. At the time of their relationship she was a mere fourteen. What form the relationship took is not mentioned, although he does protest a real love.

Mr Close is a master of nuance. An engaging conversational style is punctuated by comic declamatory outbursts in the character of the actor/statue. His delivery is anything but monotonous, painting his mood changes with conviction and easily read emotional light and shade. It’s an assured performance; he’s not afraid of a ruminating silence and has the essential gift of making the moment seem like a spontaneous thought. The overall tone of melancholy is punctuated with humour – sometimes dark, but never maudlin.

‘I’m sick of change’, he declares with some venom and thereby sounds a complaint that has no doubt echoed through time. The question is do we learn to tread carefully in the new land paved with eggshells or do we sweep them away? The piece does not offer any answers, but like any work of worth encourages us to think about the way we are and more importantly, the way we could be.

Some pieces of theatre show a confidence of touch that make one look forward to more from the same performer or writer. This is one of those pieces.

★★★★☆  Graham Wyles  28th May

Photo credit:  The Other Richard

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