Interiors at the Lyric Hammersmith
Interiors is a devised piece, drawing its inspiration from
the 1891 play Interior by Belgian playwright Maurice Maeterlinck
and marks a return to the Lyric for Vanishing Point, following the
sellout run of Subway, as part of an international creative
collaboration with Napoli Teatro Festival Italia and Traverse
Theatre.
We all like actors to play the believable ‘fourth wall’, but when faced with an actual glass wall closing off the set to the audience, it can be quite disconcerting. The reflected faces of the audience in the glass partition set the scene for the voyeuristic journey we would be taking for the next hour and ten minutes. Without ever hearing the action, we indulged in ‘spying’ upon a dinner party on a cold, unforgiving night in a Northerly country, where residents have to take significant measures to protect themselves.
The show is slickly directed by Mathew Lenton – at all times the audience is looked after and directed through the action seamlessly by the deliciously teasing narration of Elicia Daly’s angel-like character, the only character to speak. Daly’s narrative allows the audience to really feel the moments of poignancy and to be moved; the actors don’t do all the work for us, but we have to get there by ourselves. On the whole the actors were wonderfully still and did not fall into the trap of over gesticulating or doing too much as compensation for not speaking. The sparse use of the spoken word and the actor’s economy of movement encourage the audience to engage its own creativity – to sit up and take notice, and allow our imaginations to run wild creating stories of our own.
Andrew Melville was superb – his stillness and subtly played gestures allow the audience to share in his moments of grief, happiness, sorrow and confusion. When engaging in spying, speculating is infinitely more satisfying than being spoon fed, and Melville allows us to speculate. The pace started to drag slightly towards the end, which is a shame because the stillness that Melville captured in the closing moments was captivating, and would have been more so had his stillness been contrasted by a speedier exit from the other characters.
The story takes delight in the mundane and shows us how extraordinary ordinary can be, and this is a major key to the success of the piece. Any of the characters could be us or people we know, so not only are we sympathizing and laughing at the actors but also with ourselves, relatives and friends. Indeed for just over an hour the audience becomes the most important cast member. We are reminded of the brevity of life and the curious preoccupation we develop in protecting ourselves and our interests - how human we actually are. The piece illustrates our hilarious quirks, and the moments of great humour are based on this identification with humanity. A must see.
INTERIORS
Lyric Studio, Hammersmith
21 Apr – 09 May
Box Office: 0871 2211722
Online: www.lyric.co.uk
We all like actors to play the believable ‘fourth wall’, but when faced with an actual glass wall closing off the set to the audience, it can be quite disconcerting. The reflected faces of the audience in the glass partition set the scene for the voyeuristic journey we would be taking for the next hour and ten minutes. Without ever hearing the action, we indulged in ‘spying’ upon a dinner party on a cold, unforgiving night in a Northerly country, where residents have to take significant measures to protect themselves.
The show is slickly directed by Mathew Lenton – at all times the audience is looked after and directed through the action seamlessly by the deliciously teasing narration of Elicia Daly’s angel-like character, the only character to speak. Daly’s narrative allows the audience to really feel the moments of poignancy and to be moved; the actors don’t do all the work for us, but we have to get there by ourselves. On the whole the actors were wonderfully still and did not fall into the trap of over gesticulating or doing too much as compensation for not speaking. The sparse use of the spoken word and the actor’s economy of movement encourage the audience to engage its own creativity – to sit up and take notice, and allow our imaginations to run wild creating stories of our own.
Andrew Melville was superb – his stillness and subtly played gestures allow the audience to share in his moments of grief, happiness, sorrow and confusion. When engaging in spying, speculating is infinitely more satisfying than being spoon fed, and Melville allows us to speculate. The pace started to drag slightly towards the end, which is a shame because the stillness that Melville captured in the closing moments was captivating, and would have been more so had his stillness been contrasted by a speedier exit from the other characters.
The story takes delight in the mundane and shows us how extraordinary ordinary can be, and this is a major key to the success of the piece. Any of the characters could be us or people we know, so not only are we sympathizing and laughing at the actors but also with ourselves, relatives and friends. Indeed for just over an hour the audience becomes the most important cast member. We are reminded of the brevity of life and the curious preoccupation we develop in protecting ourselves and our interests - how human we actually are. The piece illustrates our hilarious quirks, and the moments of great humour are based on this identification with humanity. A must see.
INTERIORS
Lyric Studio, Hammersmith
21 Apr – 09 May
Box Office: 0871 2211722
Online: www.lyric.co.uk
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