25 July – 5 August
In thinking about last night’s performance the word ‘late’ keeps suggesting itself; as in Beethoven’s Late Quartets or ‘late flowering love’ or, more pertinently, late self-realization. The play is about a gay relationship that seeps into the bones of the two protagonists, Frank and Percy and indeed us, the audience. Whilst the title hints at goings on in the allotment committee it is down to earth in another sense, a particularly early twenty first century sense.
Two chaps who happen to meet on Hampstead Heath whilst out walking their dogs, a retired widower, Frank (Roger Allam) and Percy, a sociology professor (Ian McKellen) casually strike up a conversation. The early chat is the usual men-of-a certain-age stuff about ailments and social irritations and the writer, Ben Weatherill, cleverly stays his hand in not suggesting where the relationship might be heading. The chumminess develops over a series of meetings on the heath, then via a tea-shop and bar to the bedroom. What makes it so twenty first century is not that the relationship happens, but that it is surprising given what we know of the characters, whilst at the same time being unremarkable. The only hint that this might still raise an eyebrow is in Percy’s anticipation of Frank’s reaction having casually dropped into the conversation that he had been in a same-sex marriage. From there the play moves through the ups and downs, the warmth and petty arguments that form the basis of any relationship.
To begin with the banter is light although never slumping into tedium, a testament in no small part to the high-grade acting. Ian McKellen plays with his voice like a virtuoso musician, his modulation and emphasis bringing subtleties of meaning any writer would be cheering from the back row of the gods to hear. His face is similarly volatile with changes of emotion and thought being a perfect counterpoint to the dialogue.
Roger Allam for his part has raised the art of the even-tempered into something to be celebrated; it becomes the canvas upon which small fluctuations of emotions seem to shout with a kind of ease that seems guileless, but is nonetheless hard won. Both actors purvey the kind of high definition acting that is reward in itself.
Director, Sean Mathias, examines the delicate moments with sensitivity, for the most part allowing the actors the air in which to breathe life into the script.
The pared back set of Morgan Large is rich in its simplicity, suggesting a cross between a classical amphitheatre and a clearing on the heath. Making full use of the possibilities are lighting designer, Nick Richings and sound designer, Andy Graham, the latter having fun with the business of dog walkers.
★★★★☆ Graham Wyles, 26 July 2023
Photo credit: Jack Merriman
