03 Jul 2023
There’s no place like it… Deborah Heath explores a poignant masterpiece at the Abbey Theatre.
The final play in the Company of Ten’s 2022-23 season, ‘Home’ by David Storey, is a mesmerising exploration of the relationships between five fascinating characters in an initially unestablished setting. They could be in a park, a hospital or a care home for the elderly.
However, as we gradually realise the inner sadness of each person it becomes apparent that we are in fact at a 1970s mental asylum. This is a relevant play for the St Albans area with our history of similar institutions such as Napsbury Park and Highfield. This play is gentle and funny yet incredibly poignant – in my view it is in fact a masterpiece.
Staging ‘Home’ in the Abbey Theatre studio was entirely appropriate – it is an intimate space for some personal stories and with the audience seated on two sides of a square at a 90 degree angle we felt extremely involved in the action.
There were no issues with sightlines at all which was both refreshing and a sign of meticulous direction.
The set was intentionally minimalistic as is suggested in the script; an outside wall, table and two chairs and a scattering of autumn leaves beneath. It said everything it needed to say and left more to the audience’s imagination. I really liked this approach because when the audience need to fill in the gaps themselves it makes the story more personal and hard hitting.
Having said this, I would have liked some outdoor sound effects in the opening minute of each act just to reinforce the setting.
It takes a very talented group of performers and an experienced director to pull off a successful performance of this play because with a lack of traditional story structure, the play could in the wrong hands be an extremely boring series of personal ramblings.
However, director Rosemary Goodwin treated the text with great care and cast the roles with skill.
Harry and Jack open the play as they meet for what we assume is a regular morning chat in the courtyard. Dewi Williamson’s performance of raconteur Jack demonstrated a wealth of experience in character portrayal. It was distracting that he played it script in hand but I am sure there were good reasons for this decision and it certainly didn’t prevent him from giving an authentic performance.
Tim Hoyle’s Harry provided a beautifully gentle counterpart to Dewi William’s confident Jack.
They were later joined by female residents Kathleen (Jacqui Golding) and Marjorie (Cassandra Fothergill) who, like their male co-stars worked together extremely well. I could sense that they had all invested in a great deal of character development work.
I liked the tiny touches of brilliance that gave each character authenticity such as the way Tim Hoyle arranged his belongings symmetrically, Dewi Williams’s upward glances as he recalled anecdotes about probably invented distant relatives, Jacqui Golding’s infectious laugh and Cassandra Fothergill’s disapproving pursed lips. The impression of other distant characters, observed by our main foursome was very well executed.
Again, giving the responsibility of visualising them to the audience, it relied on the actors’ superb reactions to guide us. The verbal meanderings of four people can only take you so far so Danny Smith’s entrance as ex-wrestler Alfred provided a welcome change of energy. He was funny and strangely charming despite the insane glint in his eyes – some great character realisation here.
The play hints at the author’s own mental illness and his view on how such issues should be treated.
It causes the audience to question whether our current care in the community approach is in the best interests of those with mental health conditions. This is a sad play yet I felt strangely uplifted because even though these relationships are friendships of convenience it shows the British way of making the best of a bad situation and the human need for interaction.
I would like to commend Company of Ten for an excellent 2022-23 season. They chose such a wonderfully diverse mix of plays, demonstrating that they can handle anything from farce to psychological drama. ‘Home’ is a wonderful script which has been extremely well-realised by Company of Ten and I would recommend you catch it before the end of the run.
