WORLDS END

Chelmsford Theatre Workshop at the Old Court

18.05.10

Worlds End or World's End ?

As Lynne Truss famously observed, an apostrophe can be a matter of life and death. The playwright seems to favour his title unadorned, but Ben, his central character, living in Primrose Hill, must be familiar with the well-known World's End on Camden High Street. Maybe the ambiguity is all.

Sara Nower's gripping production starts with This Year's Love on the CD player, sodium street lamps spilling down into Ben's basement flat, and a slide-show of snaps from happier days on the wall. Followed by an awkward, eloquent silence, the sighs and body language of a relationship turned sour.

Joe Kennedy was superb as the not-very-likeable Ben. He's a waster, a blocked writer, a bit of a shit. He knew that his ex [an equally strong Lois Jeary] would have to come back to collect her stuff. He's been anticipating the moment, and now he won't leave.

In the age of the iPod playlist, will this generation be the last to endure the ritual of dividing the music collection ? Kat is packing, her aggressive parcel tape punctuated by the occasional moment of tenderness, and shaky shared memories of souvlaki.

Philippa Spurr was the enigmatic “friend” who muddies the water, and Ian Willingham the suit who is everything Ben is not, and Kat's new man.

The play is a blend of naturalism and symbolism. I wasn't sure about Ben's writerly flights – the lone magpie on the leafless tree, the constant reminders of death in the opening pages. But one of the reasons this production was so powerful is that we really care about Kat, and with her we hope that Ben can really change. A really telling image was when he fell crumpled against the bare wall, stripped of her books and his memories.

Jim Hutchon saw the piece for the Chelmsford Weekly News.:


Sara Nower chose Paul Sellar's short, stark play for her directing début, and with a sense of commitment and great attention to detail turned what could have been a fairly depressing experience – a voyeur on a disintegrating relationship - into an absorbing production which drew the audience in.

This was all helped by a superb cast and enormous slabs of memorable modern dialogue which brought the characters to life. Lois Jeary was Kat, the jilter, who, while stripping the flat, expertly walked a tightrope between contempt and concern for Ben, her ex, who had failed to live up to his earlier promise. Joe Kennedy created a seriously real character as the ex, awkward, manipulative, pathetic and loving by turns, but devastated by his world ending. The new love of Kat’s life – Josh - was played with a great sense of dignity by Ian Willingham in the face of great provocation, and Kat’s loyal and feisty friend and support was Philippa Spur.

Though some laughter lines were lost, there were nice touches which gave the play flavour, like the opening sequence of snapshots of happier times, the gradual emptying of the flat to mirror the emptying hope as the play progressed and the lighter that worked in the end.