|
|
|
|
|
Families can be hazardous
Dangerous Corner
Malvern Theatres
**** UNDER a veneer of polite, charming and
elegant social graces, JB Priestley’s first play explores the truth of
the characters and relationships among the apparently successful Kaplan
family and associates. An argument over a cigarette box is sufficient to
trigger an exposure of decadence in the whole group - adultery, drugs,
theft, marital disasters and a brother's suicide all lie beneath the
surface. The truth is likened to a sleeping dog - 'let
sleeping dogs lie' the saying goes - but this compact group of family
and close friends cannot let the truth lie. Curiosity and pride lead to
exposure and humiliation.
This play, like Priestley's better known An
Inspector Calls, leads us from one character to the next in the pursuit
of truth. One after another confesses to their role in Martin Kaplan's
demise. Here there is no lead 'Inspector': the group collectively turn
the spotlight on successive individuals to bring about their confession. There is no one who escapes the spotlight and
there is, in this wordy piece, a somewhat contrived feeling. This is compounded by the inevitable Priestley
twist at the end which offers a kind of alternative course to the
development of the plot. Ultimately we are left to question whether we
are better not to revisit past failures and expose truth in a way that
leaves us questioning our own validity or reason to carry on living.
Such exposés are like driving at excessive speed round dangerous
corners. Bill Kenwright's production of this play is
beautifully acted. Michael Praed's cool Charles Stanton and Kim
Thomson's Olwen Peel held our attention in a strong cast that has great
experience, strong stage presence and delivered the lines with excellent
clarity and projection. The set is an Art Deco drawing room which
provided a sense of the affluent and sumptuous. It was a satisfying and
pleasing backdrop for the action. The lighting and the sound likewise
were effective and complementary. The action however is a bit laboured and
contrived. Priestley himself described it as an 'ingenious box of
tricks'. It is certainly amazing that he composed it within a week. We are gripped by the slow unravelling of mystery
and the thickening of plot despite some long-windedness. On the inside
the characters are all coping with guilt, fear, pride and illusion. As Bob Dylan wrote: “If my thought-dreams could all be seen They’d probably put my head in a guillotine!” This is consequently a play for the slightly
sophisticated, cerebral and patient theatregoer, but it is produced with
brilliant style and polish. It provokes reflection on the place of
truth-telling, the amount to which we all live in levels of pretence and
illusion in our views of life and others. To 15-11-14 Timothy Crow
10-11-14
|
|
|
|
