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Review: In Praise of Love (Orange Tree Theatre)

Review by Sam Waite

 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

 

One of the last plays written by Terence Rattigan, In Praise of Love features a leading role based on actor Rex Harrison, who would go on to originate the role on Broadway. Where audiences were welcoming of Mr Harrison’s performance, playing up the charm of the role and cheekily giving away a second act twist, Rattigan himself carried a good amount of frustration at this perceived abandonment of a central theme. I would wager that this new production, at Richmond’s Orange Tree Theatre, would more than please the playwright.

 


That theme, the unwillingness to share the truth with those we hold close, is baked into the very bones of In Praise of Love. Lydia, a refugee from Estonia, is keeping from her husband, Marxist literary critic Sebastian, her diagnosis with a life-threatening illness. From their friend Mark, and from herself, she keeps just how short her remaining time may be, while Mark makes no secret of his longstanding affections for Lydia. Completing the cast is the couple's son Joey, whose admiration for his father is kept partially concealed, though Sebastian makes no secret of his contempt for Joey’s then-modern liberal ideals.

 

Set in one room of the Cruttwell families’ Islington home, the play takes a natural approach to its events – the interval is the only real scene change, the rest happening in real-time aside from an imagined moment bypassing the half hour where characters watch Joey’s written-for-broadcast play. Director Amelia Sears keeps to this naturalist approach, with Sebastian's typewriter heard from just offstage and movements never being too eccentric or showy. Sears’ direction allows the actors’ already strong performances to flourish, keeping the story grounded and painfully believable. Wry humour feels authentic to her ensemble's personalities, and the audience are allowed to slowly interpret what in their interactions is covering up a painful truth.



 Even though a physical resemblance can be hard to find without casting actual family members, Dominic Rowan (Sebastian) and Joe Edgar (Joey) leave little doubt that they are father and son when sharing the stage. While the pair are wildly different in their beliefs, each actor allows components of the other’s character to seep into their performances – Edgar’s Joey has traces of his father’s stubbornness, whereas Rowan embodies hints of the need to impress that have shaped both men’s careers as writers. Each gives an impressive performance, particularly when Rowan gives into the more loutish, uncaring elements of Sebastian’s marriage, but some of the most powerful moments come when they share the stage.

 

Also strong is Daniel Abelson as American writer Mark, a friend to both spouses who wears his love for Lydia on his sleeve. His relationship with Sebastian is amiable if antagonistic, Abelson and Rowan playing nicely into their longstanding habit of one-upping other. Rattigan centred much of their shared stage time on a carefully-played game of chess, a metaphor which the actors are able to put across clearly in their playing and their performances. However, the strongest player is undoubtedly Lydia herself, a magnetic and devastating Claire Price. Hers is the kind of performance which makes it difficult to focus elsewhere, as her subtleties are as emotionally weighted as her more brash, intense moments. A devoted housewife, an Estonian rebel, a woman longing for more, and a human being simply trying to be, Price is capable of putting across so much feeling with such minute actions.


 

The production is served well by Peter Butler, whose attractive costumes and sparse, homely set help to sell the period of the piece and the status of its characters. When Mark arrives at the Cruttwell home, his tailored suit reminds us immediately that this is a man who has had a great deal of success, while Lydia’s simple ensemble allows us to see how little she has always had, and how resigned she is to this lack of plenty. Bethany Gupwell also greatly helps in setting the scene and the tone of the work, her muted and natural lighting bringing the set subtly to life.

 

On a performance level, dialect coach Aundrea Fudge must be commended for helping to shape the varying accents, from Sebastian’s accent which instantly sells a sense of superiority, to Mark’s American twang, right through to Lydia’s muted but ever-present Estonian roots. Set in a time when Estonia did not exist as its own nation, the delicacy of this accent is particularly poignant to In Praise of Love’s storytelling. In one of the show’s more heated moments, fight director Alex Payne does a fine job of bringing to life a moment of passionate rage, which never stepped outside of the naturalist tone of the production, but helped to put across an anger both circumstantial and long-building- so effective was this moment that I caught at least one muttered response to this sudden display of violence.

 


A play worthy of its reputation, and a production here worthy of the Orange Tree’s own strong notices, In Praise of Love is a favourite among repertory theatres decades after its premiere, and in Amelia Sears’ powerful production it is so easy to see why. Thematically strong, wryly funny and deeply moving, this is a play I won't soon forget, and one which will likely encourage myself and other Rattigan newcomers to dig deeper into his catalogue.

 

In Praise of Love plays at the Orange Tree Theatre until July 5th

 

 

Photos by Ellie Kurttz

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