Patrick Marber’s much performed drama ‘Closer’ is a sensible choice for the first in-house production of The Hope Street Theatre, ‘the first in a series of thrilling revivals’. ‘Closer’ has been around for over twenty years, winning the 1998 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best New Play of 1997 and named as Best Comedy of The Year at the 1997 Evening Standard Drama awards. Comedy may not be the most obvious category for this very British, four-hander play about love, sex and betrayal and was certainly not the focus of this production, but it was not without humour. The elegant styling offers a minimalist set with three broad white vertical stripes that drop from the ceiling and run along the floor. Intermittent images of London landmarks and venues are effectively projected onto the stripes, as are months of the year to reflect the passage of time of around three years. Costume and background music set the production firmly in the dying days of 90s Thatcherite Britain where ‘yuppies’ counted their money, mobile phones the size of bricks were reduced to tiny devices and internet was accessed on desktop computers. There is a restlessness to the characters that reflects the age and the cast capture this well. Low square black stools provide movable furniture arrangements. Only three rows back my sight was annoyingly obscured which is an easy fix by simply moving the action further down stage.
Marber puts everything on the page including some very funny moments which Jake Norton seizes as dermatologist Larry, who first meets the young and beautiful Alice (Amber Blease) when she is brought into A&E by obituary writer Dan (Sam Donovan). Dan has ‘rescued’ stripper Alice, after she is hit by a London taxi. A year later, Dan is in a relationship with a needy (still stripping) Alice but begins an affair with the more mature, independent and equally beautiful photographer Anna (Ariana Fravel). Dan stumbles on Dr Larry in a sex chat room, pretends to be Anna, and sets up a meeting. Anna marries Larry despite Dan’s pleading, but their affair continues. The intense Dan is played by Donovan initially as a twitchy geek wearing spectacles and an unfortunate ‘flasher’ mac, typical of the time. When he makes his play for Anna, we see him much more self-confident. Despite this unlikely sexual success, he’s still an obituary writer and remains the more sensitive of the two, a trait not lost on an increasingly vicious Larry who exacts his revenge on the cheating Dan with only a little hesitation.
The plot explores a male sexual fantasy world of willing strippers, damsels in and out of distress and explicit sex, or rather talk about sex. There’s plenty of sexual tension but it’s very middle class and frightfully British. ‘Closer’ is from the male gaze and a bit dated, which could have been an opportunity to have fun with it, but first-time director Adam McCoy takes it very seriously and sets a ponderously slow pace. Every line is overthought, searching for hidden meaning in an explicit script where the language tells it all. The online chat scene, played out hilariously by Dan and Larry, could have been done in half the time. There was opportunity for more ‘banter’ in the exchanges although I did enjoy Dan’s well timed, ‘this is going to hurt’ remark to Alice before confessing to his affair with Anna, conveying insight to Alice and himself with his careful delivery.
The two women’s roles are written with commendable female insight that sustains the story of dysfunctional relationships. It is through the interconnected couples, and couplings, that the characters uncover their baser human instincts and their darker sides, feeding off one another’s weaknesses to love and hurt in equal measure. Amber Blease plays a convincing stripper-on-her-own-terms, teasing one minute and showing her vulnerability the next. Her rival, the very cool Anna is surprisingly apologetic to Alice for ‘stealing’ Dan but ultimately no-one comes out unscathed. Fravel plays Anna as sophisticated with a low voice that was a little hard to hear at times. It’s a tense play, not as shocking as when first performed in 1997 but still powerful and with a relevant message. I’d like to see more, natural charm captured from the start to provide greater contrast, but this is only the second performance of its first already sold-out run and I’m sure it will come. The Hope Street Theatre is on its way to becoming Liverpool’s first choice for new theatre attracting both local and world-wide performers and audiences and it is a credit to them that they provide a supportive space for new and emerging performing and technical talent to explore their craft.
Reviewer - Barbara Sherlock
on - 15/11/18
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