Review: The Other Place (Lyttlelton Theatre)

Review by Daz Gale

⭐️⭐️⭐️

The three shows currently running at National Theatre have a recurring theme - they are all updates of classic or have been inspired by them. With Shakespeare's Coriolanus in the Olivier Theatre, and the King Lear inspired A Tupperware Of Ashes in the Dorfman, it falls to The Other Place at the Lyttlelton to finish the trilogy. Inspired by Sophocles Antigone, specifically After Antigone, the bar has been set high with the other two titles concurrently running. Will this be able to match that high standard?

The Other Place sees two sisters return to their old family home on the anniversary of their father’s death. Finding that their uncle has remodelled the home, plans to honour their late father soon turn into a heated argument over what to do with his ashes (another recurring theme in the current shows at National Theatre) and as conflicting personalities clash and differing forms of grief are explored, some surprising family dynamics come to the surface.

Alexander Zeldin’s writing takes the essence of Antigone and puts a new spin on it in this family drama. His writing is full of intrigue and suspense as you attempt to work out the connections in the family and what history they may all have, with various aspects alluded to. With a dashing of humour, predominantly in the first half before this subsides to less frequent comedy and more of a sombre setting, The Other Place certainly captures your interest throughout.

While there is nothing to fault in Zeldin’s writing, per se, it felt to me as if the play was unfinished. Running at a speedy 80 minutes in its singular act, the pacing never quite felt right to me and I wondered if adding a bit more on to it would have benefitted it. While I love a single act show ordinarily, I wasn’t quite convinced this was the right fit for this show, but this of course comes down to a matter of opinion. My other disappointment with this show was in its failure to connect with me. I found some of the story cold and confusing. Perhaps that speaks more for my own intellect, but I struggled to understand how the big leaps in character development were made in a story that challenged boundaries in a deeply unsettling way. Feeling uncomfortable in the theatre is something I weirdly enjoy, as the ability to feel is what makes theatre so special, but with The Other Place, I felt rather numb to it all.

Zeldin also directs, allowing for his writing to be brought to life as he envisioned. A great use of the stage gives plenty of scope for his vision to be executed, but I didn’t always love the choices when it came to characterisations. With characters describing themselves as weird, the direction more than lived up to that challenge with these characters, particularly in the character of Chris (Tobias Menzies) who is given some immensely strange things to do. Whether this direction is inspired or just plain weird is open to interpretation, but to this reviewer, I found it quite jarring, with vague characters who never quite saw their full potential.

The cast are without a doubt one of the strongest aspects of The Other Place with some great talents to be found on the Lyttlelton stage. Tobias Menzies has a captivating nature about him and showcases his own talents with the unconventional direction his character has been given in a performance that can be described as memorable but speaks of his talents as an actor. Emma D’Arcy is the undoubted standout as Annie, the sister who arrives and disrupts everything. In a heightened and emotional portrayal, there is a constant intrigue with this character and D’Arcy relishes the chance to use all their talents to convey this in the best possible way. Alison Oliver’s Issy shows huge promise initially but at times threatens to be side-lined by the other characters, when a bit more depth to her character and backstory would do wonders for understanding the overall family dynamic. In the scenes where she is given the opportunity to shine, Oliver  proves to be mesmerising.

The three other characters all suffer from being drastically underwritten, often acting as a spare part. While Jerry Killick provides great comic relief as Terry, he very much feels like a spare part, coming and going, never quite adding anything to the story, with a more sinister turn later on brushed off too quickly, again making me feel as if a bit more added to the play would do wonders for how impactful it is. Nina Sosanya and Lee Braithwaite are criminally underused as Erica and Leni. Both threaten to steal scenes in their early appearances with Braithwaite’s joyful nature bringing something new and different to the story, while Sosanya has the unrivalled ability to knock out any line she is given to full force. I found it more disappointing than anything else in the play how much they were absent for in the show’s second act, with even a crucial bit involving Sosanya’s Erica annoyingly minimised.

Another of the more enjoyable elements of The Other Place is in Rosanna Vize’s consistently impressive set design consistently. The realisation of the family home and surrounding garden gives the cast plenty to work with, and where Zeldin’s direction really comes to life. It also lends itself to a brilliant reveal midway through the play. James Farncombe’s lighting design features an intensely ominous, large and looming light above the stage that moves to assist with the aforementioned reveal. Visually, The Other Place is a delight, always inspired and executed flawlessly.

Upon writing this review, I had a scout around and saw that this opinion is very much in the minority and the vast majority of people have been completely blown away by The Other Place. What was the reason I didn’t share this overwhelming excitement? So many factors can affect your experience of a show but, of course, theatre is subjective and that is what is most beautiful about it. Perhaps it was because I was so profoundly moved by A Tupperware Of Ashes last week that this show had a lot to live up to. While it is never fair to compare one to another, its inability to connect with me or move me at all resulted in more of an indifference to this show than I had expected. Nonetheless, I still found the show enjoyable - the amazing cast and fantastic set design make The Other Place worth seeing for that alone. It just happened that, in my opinion, there were a few too many imperfections to rate this any higher.

The Other Place plays at Lyttlelton Theatre until 9th November.

Tickets from www.nationaltheatre.org.uk 

Photos by Sarah Lee