THEATRE REVIEW: Harper Regan
- Posted on April 17, 2008 5:45 PM
- 5 comments
Harper Regan
National Theatre 16th April
Review by Kate Spieg
Harper Regan, as both play and character, pulled no punches, was not afraid to shirk round any of the issues of grief, racism, paedophilia and love.
Set against a minimal and effective backdrop, desolate London scenes and echoing sound effects of snippets of conversations, we followed Harper Regan and her family in their journeys over three days.
In the opening and slightly wooden scene, Harper is begging her boss for time off to go and see her estranged dying father, who interspersed refusing her request with pontifications on his enthusiasm for ‘these immoral last days of the enlightenment’ where you can ‘get anything you want from the internet’.
The audience was gradually drawn into Lesley’s compelling performance, following her as she left her husband and daughter, job, and financial crisis, without a word of explanation, and headed North to be at her father’s side.
She was too late. And was a 2 day trip to Stockport turned into an epic including a stabbing in a pub at 11am, an elicit encounter with a strange man in a hotel room met on the internet, and the discovery from her mother after a gap of two years that her father was not the hero she’s always thought him to be.
‘When you think you know what’s happening, that’s when it’s dangerous’
The complexity of family relationships was subtly explored through the gradual revealing of Harper’s husband’s arrest 2 years previously in a child pornography scandal, in which photos were discovered on his computer and he was put on the Sex Offenders register, unable to find work. Fiercely defended as innocent by his daughter, Harper’s parents cut off all contact with their family, and the elephant in the room took over.
Conversations between Harper and her teenage daughter were as close to the bone as only a mother and daughter relationship can be, with occasional insights so cleverly scripted as to make you catch the eye of the person sitting next to you in the darkness.
How we live in a godless world, in which people live by, and rely on the internet, googeling all the news they need, where sixth-formers don’t speak to each other, and family feuds can fester for life-times and more…were all explored in this play.
Despite the slight over-sentimentality of the ending, the possibility of redemption alongside and acceptance of the imperfectness of humans was both powerful and clear. Harper summed it up; ‘Do you know what’s poison?. Regret, regret, fear and jealousy’.
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Comments (5)
Kate Spiegelhalter
'Review by Kate Spieg'..heh
Posted on April 17, 2008 6:07 PM
Peter
I couldn't disagree more. This was a truly awful play, badly directed and badly performed.
I'm afraid that for the first time in may years I left at the interval - and I was not alone!
The whole thing was played at a funereal pace, the dialogue was wooden and unconvincing, the direction slow and ponderous.
I neither knew nor cared why this idiotic woman was behaving so stupidly. Only the daughter was at all convincing.
The only hope for this play is to do it really fast and snappy - take about 30 minutes out and give it some pace and attack.
Posted on April 22, 2008 10:27 AM
Tej
Peter i couldn't agree with you more. The cast was stellar the play was pretty pointless. As someone who sat through to the bitter end i was quite upset that i'd lost nearly 3 hours of my life over this production. No great statements, insights or revelations about contemporary society in this kitchen sink drama. Other than it is indeed a kitchen sink that needs to be sunk. a self indulgent script has never been a bigger turnoff ..
Posted on April 24, 2008 2:59 PM
AnotherPeter
I disagree heartily. The dialogue, while occasionally jarringly unrealistic, remained despite that highly communicative of intimate relations. The first scene has problems caused by the uncertainty of the 2 actors about each other, but other than that an excellently performed and beautifully designed production that eloquently expressed an anxious uncertainty about life and role-playing within society and family.
Posted on April 24, 2008 3:18 PM
Nick
I loved every second, as did my companion. Each character was finely written and played with conviction by a confident cast. Along with Happy Now it is great to see another thoroughly enjoyable contemporary play at the Cottesloe that I related to on many levels.
Posted on April 25, 2008 12:31 AM
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