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Set in the round, you are instantly, almost voyeuristically placed in whichever room the characters are in, strengthening the sense of investment you have in the truth and the outcome. With just a staple of four benches as the set, and additional purposeful props smoothly brought in when needed for a location change, the starkness deliberately pulls your focus to the phenomenal acting and storytelling. Everything that is there is there for a reason and not simply to dress the set, whether it be a hanging lamp, a piece of art, a remote control, or a baby monitor. The thought that has gone into minute detail is breath taking, and this extends to every creative element. Lighting will mess with your mind, taking you from a plunging darkness to feeling almost naked and vulnerable in the sudden and glaring strip lights. A particularly gut-wrenching scene is played out via candlelight, offering up yet another story telling filter where just like the characters, you are forced to listen, because you don’t have easily accessible visual clues. Costumes are designed to lead us into snap judgements. Barry first appears with impeccable detail, chunks of vomit on his top, and later with holes in his t-shirt and jeans with an unwashed grime in them. Even the make up on his wrists shows of his struggle with self-harming. In contrast, Steven wears a crisp white shirt, expensive and trendy trousers, smooth, tailored, immaculate, with not a hair out of place. We think we have seen the truth based solely on their appearances before we have even bothered to listen. Kacey Ainsworth as Liz, the bereft mother, brings a haunting authenticity to her role. Her loneliness is palpable, and her journey from loss to acceptance is both heartrending and relatable. Katie Bucholz, as the disgruntled Debbie, deftly embodies the struggle of dealing with a partner whose behaviour has become increasingly erratic. Her performance is powerful, her frustrations and fears mirroring the audience’s as the narrative progresses. Philip Ridley’s Leaves of Glass is regarded as a modern classic; the show premiered at Soho Theatre in 2007 in a critically acclaimed run which starred the now BAFTA-awarded Ben Whishaw. Now, 16 years on, Lidless Theatre brings us a new thrilling production of this four-hander. Credit: Mark Senior The play is about two brothers, Steven and Barry. Steven is the head of a successful graffiti removal company and Barry, his younger brother, works for him as he is struggling to get income and recognition from being an artist.
Sometimes, very rarely, you witness something that transcends words, lives in its own universe, and has no sense of comparison to anything that went before or is likely to come after. It becomes your story to try and relay because you were the one that observed it. No one else saw what you saw. It was intimately revealed to you, and to you alone. Leaves Of Glass at Hope Mill Theatre has pulled me into this mystical web of confusion, for I now have the challenge of unravelling the very real sensation that I was watching four actual people, and not four actors perform a play. Their truths, their lies, their realities, their distorted and fractured manifestations were presented with such authenticity that it became real. And I was eavesdropping on their intensely private family secrets. Director Max Harrison's lean revival punches well above its weight. Catch it while you can’Daily Express As time goes on severe accusations towards Steven and dark moments from the past start to bubble to the surface; abuse, domestic abuse, extra marital affairs. Barry is also making accusations, which Stephen is keen to bury, to rewrite. The main theme in Leaves of Glass is memory, recounting stories from the past and the unreliability of any one person’s account and how these accounts can be swayed to portray them in a positive light; a key example is Liz saying she wished she had one of Barry’s paintings on her living room wall, when earlier we saw her say how horrible she thought these paintings were and why would anybody want them on their living room wall. Our Rating LEAVES OF GLASS OS ONE OF THE MOST THOUGHT-PROVOKING AND BELIEVABLE SHOWS YOU WILL EVER SEE - TRULY OUTSTANDING!
Cast & Creatives Highlights
The play unfolds not just through dialogues but also through introspective monologues, lending a distinct depth and breadth to the narrative. In these moments of solitude, the characters come into their own, allowing the audience an intimate look into their lives, pasts, and psyches. These monologues are profound, poignant, and strikingly raw. The play was commissioned and directed by Lisa Goldman after being greatly impressed by Ridley's previous adult stage play Mercury Fur. [2] The production was Lisa Goldman's first in her tenure as artistic director of the Soho Theatre. [3] Like Mercury Fur the play starred Ben Whishaw in its premiere production. [4] The real triumph of Leaves of Glass is its ability to draw the audience into the very heart of its narrative. There’s no stage, per se, just a designated acting area that invites the audience to become part of the story. The proximity to the performers and the intensity of their emotions lends an air of voyeuristic discomfort as the audience is made privy to raw, private conflicts about depression, guilt, and regret. The drama is punctuated by shouting and brawling, heightening the sense of unease and making the audience feel as though they are not mere spectators, but complicit in the unfolding events. That’s the way it works in this family. Believe what you wanna believe. Twist this. Ignore the other. That’s how we survive.’ It is the second entry in Ridley's unofficially titled "Brothers Trilogy", having been preceded by Mercury Fur and followed by Piranha Heights. [5] [6] [2] Story [ edit ]
Leaves of Glass plays at Park Theatre until 3 June. Bookings and further information can be found here. Lidless Theatre and Zoe Weldon in association with Park Theatre and Theatre Deli present the first major UK revival The cast, however, is first-rate. Debbie, I felt, was an underwritten character, although Buchholz does brilliantly to make what could easily have been a one-dimensional, nice-but-dim personality into someone altogether more substantial. Costello’s Steven has good stage presence, which is just as well given his various soliloquies. Potter came across as someone relishing playing the complicated and somewhat flamboyant Barry. Ainsworth’s Liz was highly convincing, unapologetically forthright when the occasion calls for it but otherwise possessing a warm and welcoming charm.LEAVES OF GLASS is quite simply a masterpiece of storytelling, a fragmented tale of love, hate, memory and loss, and simply has to be seen. It is raw, unflinching and a masterpiece. Casting announced for the first major UK revival of Philip Ridley’s Leaves of Glass at Park Theatre in London. Steven (Ben Whishaw) runs a successful business in east London. He is sharp and dapper, but his cheek muscles are so tight you fear they might ping like overstretched elastic bands. You wonder how he ever managed to get his wife Debbie (Maxine Peake) pregnant, because when he holds her, he does it at a distance and pats her like a dog. He cannot meet the eye of his younger brother, Barry (Trystan Gravelle), who is falling apart, and when he visits his widowed mum Liz (Ruth Sheen), there are spectres in the room along with the cosy tinkle of tea cups. Produced by Zoe Weldon / Lidless Theatre, the revival is directed by Max Harrison with set & costume by Kit Kinchcliff and sound design by Sam Glossop. Casting consultant is Nadine rennie CDG.