top of page
Search

Review: In Other Words (Arcola Theatre)

Review by Sam Waite

 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

 

In Florian Zeller’s 2020 film The Father, an adaptation of his own play La Père, we follow the character of Anthony through the confusing reality caused by living with dementia. A thought that struck me midway through the film, and has stayed with me in the four years since, was how easily the narrative could be interpreted as supernatural until the penny drops – characters change faces, scenes repeat themselves, the very house in which Anthony lives seems to alter itself from moment to moment.

 


Such mistakes are not possible when viewing In Other Words, a captivating two-handed making a welcome London return at Dalston’s Arcola Theatre for one week only. Where Anthony was presumably years into his illness when introduced to us, here we meet Arthur as a charming young man, at the very moment he first meets Jane. Spilling her glass of red wine over her, he will insist for years to come that “the incident” was all part of his plan – one which clearly worked, as we watch them bond and enter into married life together. And as you may have already guessed, we follow them as Alzheimer's disease gradually affects Arthur, Jane, and the couple as a unit.

 

Matthew Seager’s script steps in and out of the story-proper, treating us as the audience of a show-within-a-show, or perhaps an attentive crowd of guests at an anniversary party. The way Seager has his characters speak to one another is totally natural, the realistic banter of a couple telling a story each has heard the other’s version of so many times they can correct it without really listening. As said story progresses and a harsher edge is called for, Seager also does well with managing the confusion of Arthur’s later life, finding a balance between the character needing near-constant reminders and the script simply falling into repetitions. There’s a tenderness to the writing, a genuine affection for the characters, that allows for Arthur to keep his dignity and presence even as the play charts his decreased understanding of the world around him.

 


Playing opposite writer-star Seager is a splendid Lydia White, so easily charming that the audience is left with no doubt of Arthur’s continuing love for her. As the character who remains painfully aware of the goings on around the house and in their day to day lives, White is tasked with reflecting both the couples’ reality and the sometimes-warped version of it Arthur endures. In one particularly visceral moment, she must move from an enraged, shrieking presence to a comforting, concerned spouse in an instant. Her emotions bubble to the surface with delicate ease, and the script is smart enough to never truly reveal if these perceived fits of rage have any truth behind them.

 

Alongside White, Seager also gives a pitch-perfect performance, bringing us along with him through the pain and confusion of Arthur’s illness masterfully. In the opening moments, I wondered whether his performance as a frail old man, capable only of confused grunting, would grate or feel caricaturish, only to find that the move backwards and presentation of a steady decline would make perfect sense of it. His Arthur is so genuinely charming in their youthful courtship, so affable and well-meaning in the early days of his cognitive issues, that despite only 70 minutes onstage we feel we have known him a lifetime – vitally, we understand the world he lives in, and the one we see him begin to lose.

 


Perhaps what I’m underselling is how joyful those early days of the relationship are – under Andy Routledge’s direction, Seager and White’s easy chemistry springs to glorious life as Arthur and Jane fall head over heels. The play’s title, In Other Words, comes from what we see become their song in many ways, “Fly Me To The Moon,” with Sinatra songs the only music the pair ever seem to listen to. With Routledge deftly handling their awkward but “all part of the plan” first dance, coinciding with that classic closing line, “In other words, I love you,” it becomes even easier to see how they fell so deeply in love. Later, the song’s use as a tool for him to be quickly forgiven, and for her to remind him of happier times, brings a real weight to the selection.

 

Bringing us in and out of the story, back to that warm scene of the pair telling some unseen onlookers their love story, Will Alder’s lighting successfully shifts moods in an instant several times. Placing us firmly inside Arthur’s mind is some of his more troubled moments with less natural, more striking moments, and in that of Jane’s unchanged but never-the-same reality with less grounded choices, Alder’s work is essential to the frequent emotional shifts of the production. Endlessly changing the simple but effective staging, (designed originally by Paul Brotherston, with additional work credited to Bethany Wells) Will Alder’s lighting design is utterly dynamic, and totally essential.

 


A touching story of finding the person who completes your world, and the agony that can come with losing your grasp on that same world, In Other Words is not only a tearjerking play, but a testament to the enduring love between two people, and how firmly emotional memory can be connected to, in this case, a song. The love they’ve built together never truly fades, even while Jane and Arthur go through hardships both shared and individual. Where life throws hardship and pain their way, they continue to find ways to move forward. Perhaps Frank put it best, in the first bit of a music we hear as this wonderful show begins: “That’s life.”

 

In Other Words plays at the Arcola Theatre until May 24th

 

 

Photos by Tom Dixon

bottom of page