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Scenes from a marriage: Jab @parktheatre

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Jab takes us back to five years ago when no theatres were open. Instead, it was staying at home watching endless television, clapping for the NHS, mask-wearing and hand washing. Against this backdrop, isolation from a married couple of 29 years slowly drives them apart and to the brink. But while it captures the period well, you want to know more about this couple on the edge. It's currently playing at Park Theatre after its premiere run at the Finborough Theatre last year.  James McDermott's play is loosely based on his parent's lives during the pandemic. It opens with Ann (Kacey Ainsworth) and Don (Liam Tobin) watching the then Prime Minister Boris Johnson inform the nation they need to stay at home. She is an NHS worker, and he runs a vintage shop. As she is an essential worker, she has work to do, but he is forced to stay at home while his shop is closed. There's also another source of tension in that Anne brings in all the income in the household. And so we watch ...
Theatre: Aristocrats

Life does go on. On Friday evening I caught the Brian Friel play Aristocrats at the National Theatre which turned out to be an interesting evening of Theatre. Friel wrote this play in 1979 and it tells the tale of a rich land-owning Irish Catholic family that gathers for a wedding and secrets begin to unravel. There is a hint of Chekhov to the goings on as well.

But the first two acts I found heavy going. A lot of exposition (and Irish history to absorb). And after observing a minutes silence for those killed in the bombings prior to the first act commencing, I found it all too hard to focus on the intricate story. But somehow after the interval it just felt like the story all came together, and I don't think it was the interval drinks that did it. It was just the story then began to move.

The most enjoyable part of it was actor Andrew Scott. He played the twit son who perhaps was not so stupid as everyone believed him to be... The rest of the cast were just as good (and included a couple of well regarded Irish actors) but I particularly took a liking to this character. All told it became a very enjoyable evening - once one got past all the exposition.

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