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Pinter’s women come out on top, as always
THELOVER/THE COLLECTION
Comedy Theatre
HAROLD Pinter is usually associated with intense, brooding dramas, but as Jamie Lloyd’s excellent revival of The Lover/The Collection shows, he is in possession of an under-acknowledged ear for comedy.
The first of these one act plays is well-trodden ground – the oddities of middle-class marriage.
The sexual tensions and power games might be theatrical staples but Richard (Richard Coyle) and Sarah’s (Gina McKee) relationship still raises eyebrows and remains relevant in today’s climate of “kiss-me-quick: just make sure you sign the pre-nup” marriages.
The fractious pair must sink to the depths of depravity – assuming new identities and acting out wild sexual fantasies, which humorously end up with them romping under the tea table to sustain their listless marriage.
There is little doubt that Sarah handles the whore-Madonna split persona better than Richard, who is never as comfortable with the charade.
As the curtain falls, in typically Pinteresque fashion, it is the female of the species who reigns supreme, with a broken Richard prostrate at her feet.
Logistically, The Collection is the more challenging play – testing the audience’s ability to suspend their disbelief.
The transition from small screen, where it was first aired in 1963, to stage poses a number of obstacles – most apparently, the quandary of conveying three very different locations to a West End audience used to big budgets and “impossible-is-nothing” expectations.
The cast are joined by acting demi-god Timothy West, who plays the endearing crotchet Harry.
The story is pinned on an alleged infidelity in a Leeds hotel room between already-taken Stella and urbane fashion designer Bill, played by the trans-Atlantic heart-throb Charlie Cox.
As the audience dissects three different versions of events, what becomes clear is that the truth doesn’t actually matter.
Four lives are being irreversibly drawn together and things will never be the same. The chemistry between Bill, and Stella’s husband James is electrifying, as their sexual insecurities become the impetus for some bizarre horse-play.
If the Lover is about sexual deviance, The Collection is about sexual insecurity. In both plays the master of suggestion gives us a timely reminder that sexuality is not fixed but an inanimate, ever-changing force that cannot be tamed.
Until May 3
CNJ Booking line
0870 040 0070 |
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