With its striking bedsit ideally sited in Soco’s crumbling attic space, you can tell from the outset this production is paying attention to details. Staying faithful to Osborne’s seminal play of economic recession and class repression, SJC avoid drawing attention to obvious modern-day parallels, allowing the text to speak for itself. The cast is subtle and engaging, building a claustrophobic atmosphere with fiery verbal exchanges and icy passivity. At the centre of it is Alistair Nordgate’s Jimmy, pitched between savage misanthropy and desperate vulnerability. His menacing presence keeps the show energised, even if the pace slackens after the taut, tense opening. Though the material is more than fifty years old, this production remains fresh, powerful, political and relevant.
C Soco, 3 – 29 Aug (not 15), 7.10pm (8.15pm), £7.50 – £11.50, fpp276.
tw rating 4/5
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Sections: by Dave Fargnoli - ED2011 Theatre Reviews - tw rating 4/5 | Tags: C Venues, SJC Productions
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