Post by joem on Nov 10, 2019 18:11:20 GMT
Written by up and coming US playwright Jacob Marx Rice, the first part of a trilogy abut mental illness. Steph and James meet at a clinic; she is a manic depressive veteran of three failed suicide attempts and he has a successful career but inexplicably ends up self-harming.
This is "Love Story" in the age of big pharma. But it is, more than that, a play about ideas and, in particular, the nature of mental illness. Each character represents a differing viewpoint - is mental illness a condition to be treated or a lifetime curse? Does giving someone a condition help to manage it or end up worsening it by creating a dependence on prescription drugs?
A simple but attractive stage design encloses the pair inside a kind of electric boxing ring, separating them from the audience and containing them within their respective maladies. The play is a two-hander and is beautifully acted by Caoihme Farren and James Mear. Excuse the pun but there is real chemistry in how they work together.
Many theatres in the West End would be pleased to present an emotive play on a difficult subject with the class and dignity which director Alex Howarth and the Finborough manage here.
This is "Love Story" in the age of big pharma. But it is, more than that, a play about ideas and, in particular, the nature of mental illness. Each character represents a differing viewpoint - is mental illness a condition to be treated or a lifetime curse? Does giving someone a condition help to manage it or end up worsening it by creating a dependence on prescription drugs?
A simple but attractive stage design encloses the pair inside a kind of electric boxing ring, separating them from the audience and containing them within their respective maladies. The play is a two-hander and is beautifully acted by Caoihme Farren and James Mear. Excuse the pun but there is real chemistry in how they work together.
Many theatres in the West End would be pleased to present an emotive play on a difficult subject with the class and dignity which director Alex Howarth and the Finborough manage here.
