Homerton Auditorium
Wednesday 19 - Saturday 22 November
Dir. Nic Pollard and Lauren Davis; HATS

Four Stars

However much I resented the long walk to Homerton, I greatly appreciated the walk back. Jim Cartwright's Two is a play that, having been uncorked, benefits from being allowed to breathe. Two presents a series of monologues and duologues between the coupled clientele of a pub, which is run by a couple whose marriage has long since grown bitter as their pints. An entirely Homerton undergraduate cast, performances varied from slightly stilted, perhaps nervous, to some evidently seasoned entertainers.

The couples and singles who frequent the pub appear only briefly and as such have a limited time during which to present their particular variety of dysfunction. The challenge for co-directors Lauren Davis and Nic Pollard was to avoid caricatures. Salman Chaudhry and Swyn Haf, playing a violent manipulator and his meek wife, had a single conversation into which to condense years of torment and conflict. For the most part this was achieved to an admirable degree, and where caricatures were created it was done so intentionally and to great comic affect: Luke Aylward’s outrageous lady's man was oddly coupled with Nikki Hill, whose performance as the put-upon girlfriend was by no means as bold as her counterpart.

Alongside Haf as an exquisitely drunk “other woman”, four actors shone through this quiet play: Tilda Stickley and Alex Town as middle-aged couple Alice and Frank, young at heart and utterly delightful, and pub-owners Gary Marinner and Emily MacCallum. Marinner is a slightly nervous landlord initially, taking time to find a comfortable pace; his second role as an aged widower, however, allows him to deliver a tender and amusing monologue which alone makes the play worth seeing.

The beacon of the evening was fresher MacCallum, who as the heart-warming, gin-swilling landlady was variously endearing and harrowing but consistently convincing. I look forward to seeing more of her in the next few years.

This play was remarkable for the short time from germination to performance; most of the cast, moreover, hadn't acted since school: Marinner has previously only done pantomimes and the charming Chaudhry has never acted before. Even without these considerations the performance is enjoyable and entirely worth the (long) walk; with them it is nothing short of miraculous.

Charlotte Fleming