Entertainment

A Review of ‘The Lover’ by UWE Students

Harold Pinter is very sex orientated within his plays, particularly in ‘The Lover’, where a married couple adopt the idea of role-play into their sex life, releasing the image of both openly having an affair. An unidentified “No Small Talk Theatre Company”, brought up the courage to portray this play in a very secretive space in Bristol. The upstairs of a pub, was the chosen location for which some of the public witnessed such phenomenal yet hidden talent.

The two main characters made their audience feel at home with their welcoming preset living room, where they went about doing their regular routine. Even though they never directly acknowledged their viewers, it automatically made the seated audience part of their home, just like the furniture or statues. The set was as charming as the couple; as soon as it started it was very heart-warming and homely. The audience are left shocked when the conversation suddenly changes with the character Richard asking his wife “is your Lover coming today?” It is even more outrageous when Sarah then openly reveals that she will have another man with her in the afternoon while Richard is at work, exposing the dysfunctional relationship to the audience. However, after researching relationships in the 1960’s, it appeared this situation was quite common yet was just not spoken about very often.

To confuse the storyline further, the other man Sarah mentions is actually Richard role-playing the character Max. The psychological twist is that the couple are not actually cheating on one another, although some argue they are due to them fantasising about being with another person. This did strain the audience’s power to understand and follow the storyline. With the use of bongo drums and referring to their encounters as “teatime” made the sexual tension lift suddenly, a very in-yer-face theatrical aspect, where the audience felt uncomfortable and wanted to look away however did not want to miss it. As soon as the scene reached its peak of heat and passion, there was a gasp, followed by silence and the lights going down, there was an interval which made an audience member eagerly blurt out, “best timing for an interval, ever.”

The actors left the audience mind-blown with their sexual tension, Corey Gingell-Elkins portrayed Richard/Max as a laid-back, comical gentleman with a smirk here and there to extend the audience’s laughter. Furthermore, Leah Judge gave a graceful image for her character Sarah, which made her mood swings more vibrant and tense when giving her husband the silent treatment and the desperate need for him to switch back to Max. There was a great feeling of a long-term marriage as soon as the play started, the magic between the two actors was beautifully balanced. Jacob Gardiner-Smith who played the milkman helped ease the audience, allowing them to laugh-out-loud at his over obvious innuendos and the expression he used when emphasising the word “cream”. This is the biggest twist in the play, portraying the stereotype of housewives in the 1960’s, (having affairs with the milkman) but also shows that Sarah is in fact a loyal housewife. This is all down to the Director, Chelsea Chapman, a very approachable woman who sold the tickets, greeted every audience member with a smile and even sat amongst the audience and acknowledged all feedback very professionally.

For an epic play filled with psychological aspects and control, the theatre group did itself justice. Although most audience members were baffled, they could still relate to the language used. Overall, this play was a pleasure to watch and received much praise from the viewers, myself included.

UWE Drama Students starting their company.

UWE Drama Students starting their company.

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