Low Down

In nine short sequential scenes, Pinter tells the story of the breakdown of marriages in friendships as a result of various acts of betrayal. Skillfully crafted, moving backwards in time, Pinter reveals various layers of disinformation, ambiguity and assumption built on the foundation of a lustful relationship, to show how this ultimately affects - but also defines - the quality of the relationships between the characters.

Review

Much of the success of this play depends on the actors' ability to bring Pinter's often sparse dialogue to life, as the characters' personalities are as much a key to the unfolding of the events as their dialogue and often more is communicated in the unspoken, the timing, the gesture than in the words themselves.

Alex Howarth as Robert is the most successful in the cast in handling this challenge, while Sam Fowles as Jerry improves as he regresses through Pinter's timeline, best at the start of the romance, where fewer layers of complexity in terms of characterisation are present and the innocence with which he plays the role is compelling.

The star turn is provided by Sunny Moodie who plays the role of the waiter - a name to watch out for, and a cameo role worth sitting through the whole play to see - for he is the only one in the cast that takes the role in both hands, ingests it and makes it his own, rather than placing it in an internal vase and admiring it from a distance.

This performance could have benefited from some plant food in the form of an energy boost from the main characters throughout. Torn-knee jeans, rather than cord trousers could be accepted by a stretch of the imagination, but worn lower than the hips ... no. The distinction between polyamory and the breakdown of trust which is implicit in the play was not made sufficiently clear. Despite some fine moments, this production drooped - not least because the young actors failed to inhabit the middle-aged landscape and its rugged features, in which the play is so specifically planted. 
 

Reviewed by Leon Conrad 05 August 2008

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