THEATRE REVIEW: The Offing - The Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough.

Scarborough is a beautiful seaside town, much larger than I remembered it being from my youth, and their superb retro-fronted Stephen Joseph Theatre had a warm, genuinely friendly, and relaxed atmosphere waiting for me. It was my first time at this theatre, and despite living in Manchester, I have vowed it shall be by no means my last!

However, to the show...

'The Offing' is an interesting piece of theatre, co-produced by both Stephen Joseph in Scarborough and Live Theatre in Newcastle. Adapted from the novel by Benjamin Myers of the same name, it is a fictionalised and romanticised account of a relationship between German poet, Romy Landau (a real person born in Bavaria in 1912), who was found drowned off the coast in Robin's Hood Bay in 1940, and, as far as I can research, the entirely fictional Dulcie, a rich, bohemian, life-loving 'romantic'.

Although the play brings Romy (played by Ingvild Lakou) to life - flashbacks to their life together before her tragic suicide; the majority of the play is in the "present", which is just after the end of the World War 2. In this present, a young 16-year old lad comes down to Robin Hood's Bay from his mining town in Durham. He knows he is a square peg in a round hole, but cannot articulate this to his family, and so just sets off one day walking wherever manual labour and people's kindnesses take him. He finds himself at Dulcie's doorstep, and a most unlikely friendship between the two develops which lasts a lifetime. They didn't know it, but they both needed each other. He needed his horizons expanded and his knowledge broadened, whilst she needed another muse. Dulcie had not only befriended Romy, they were also lovers, but more importantly, Romy needed Dulcie to push her and to inspire her to write her poetry; and now Robert, (for that was the lad's name) had come to replace her, and Dulcie concentrated all her efforts in educating and inspiring him, and in so doing releasing Romy's spirit and laying her own ghosts to rest.  

The two central characters of Dulcie and Robert, played respectively by Cate Hamer, and James Gladdon, were unsurpassable. A certain chemistry and sensuality existed between them, that sadly (perhaps because her presence was more spectral) wasn't palpable between Dulcie and Romy. Hamer and Gladdon both were able to display such a dizzying array of subtly to their performances, that it was almost impossible to focus on anything else in the production. Realsitic and totally magnetic performances from them both. 

When I first took my seat and saw the set (Helen Goddard), I immedaitely liked it. It was evocative, creative, realistic, and impeccably thought-through. A square opened at its edge to show a large barn-like room, a little unkempt, dusty, with ivy growing through. However, as the play progressed and the scenes changed swiftly and cinematically, I began to realise that although I liked the design, it was not optimal for this production. Sometimes the scenes changed so quickly, it was very difficult to know where each scene was being set: outside, inside, which room, which house, and which door, and there was even a hotel room in London which went completely under my companion's detection.

Creative lighting (Sally Ferguson), was used throughout, and the hues and shadows created were delightful. I enjoyed the background music (Ana Silvera) - always apt, and never too intrusive. The whole being most sensitively directed by Paul Robinson, who obviously had a great affinity with the text and its themes. 

In short, a hugely enjoyable production being performed in a wonderful venue! Go see it!

Reviewer - Matthew Dougall

on - 19.10.21