PERFORMANCE & COMEDY

Alma Tavern Theatre, Bristol (Tue 15-Sat 26 Nov)

THEATRE Sam (Andy Kelly) is going off to university; his divorced parents, Ellie and Jim (Suzannah Hampton and Dan Winter) are seeing him off.

Sam’s blind, but he copes with it pretty well – he’s been that way since he was six and just accepts it. Ah, but everyone talks darkly about “what happened” on the day he lost his sight; and even more darkly about another day two years later.

Heather Lister’s play is one of those pieces where characters are allowed to step out of the action and talk straight at the audience. Sam’s the narrator and holds the thing together. He’s instantly engaging, and very funny when throwing cynical teenage one-liners at his parents. His story emerges in flashback: having met Sam as a teenager, we work back to “that day” when Dad encouraged the blind eight-year-old to cross a treacherous river where he nearly drowned; and eventually to the painful memories of the accident which cost him his eyesight.

It’s well carried off: we are shown convincingly how three people can see the same event differently. We see the disintegration of Jim and Ellie’s marriage through Sam’s eyes, and it’s unncomfortably true to life. Two perfectly reasonable people spend years arguing pointlessly about trivia because they can’t face the real problem (it isn’t that much fun to watch people bicker convincingly for twenty minutes, though).

So what have we learned? Sam doesn’t blame his father for the original accident, and never has done; he genuinely hated him over the near-drowning but is ready to move on. If everyone had faced up to their feelings earlier, a lot of things - including Jim and Ellie’s marriage - might have turned out differently. “So, we did regret and remorse,” says Sam - and then adds, before shutting the door behind him, “Kids, eh? They break your heart and then they bugger off.” And that’s the problem with this nicely put-together dysfunctional family drama: it’s all a bit obvious. The destination doesn’t quite justify the journey, even if it’s been an interesting trip. (Andrew Rilstone)

Copyright Andrew Rilstone 2011; pic copyright Farrows Creative 2011