“An unexpected collision between two strangers navigating the invisible fractures of abandonment and grief”
Review by David Delve.
Billed as ‘a gripping new play’ we experience two strangers, Ross (Tom Wells) and Lily (Harriet Chomley) meeting in her flat. Panic and confusion lead to unravelling their very different lives. He is a sullen northerner, a field-fencer anxious for his passport to arrive so he can head off to Australia for a new outdoor life. She is in nervous crisis having the inability to read an acceptance speech for a science award for her late mother. Slowly slowly each reveals their inner pain through loss of a loved one, and how they carry it still. It becomes a Stop& Start dialogue, almost a psychoanalyst session. Both confused characters are from different worlds – He the outdoors man, driven by his heart, whilst she is the scientific analyst leading with her head; both in need of therapy. It has moments of humour, but the script (Tom Wells) needs more work to tighten and energise the piece. Tom is good at the sulks, and scared inner self, and Harriet has her moments in simmering frustration, though her articulation makes her inaudible at times. Jay Ford directs on a simple set, favouring a ‘stripped back’ technique. This is fine, but I found by the end that I felt dissatisfied – I wasn’t involved with the characters, or liking them much. A play full of good ideas, with still a way to go.
CAST
Harriet Chomley — Lily
Tom Wells — Ross
CREATIVES
Tom Wells — Writer / Performer
Jay Ford — Director
