The older man, Robert (John Gaden), has the overweening pomposity that often characterises experience and John (Akos Armint) the brash eagerness that is the prerogative of youth. Both, it is soon revealed, are immensely anxious. Robert needs John to validate his acting performance and John, believing he is being invited to give an assessment of Robert’s performance, backtracks once he realises he is mistaken. Both men use the ubiquitous response “hmm” and in the pauses before and after each utterance, the mental decisions and revisions of both actors can almost be heard.
As their enforced relationship continues it undergoes inevitable change as John’s star rises. Eventually the younger man is no longer able to pretend to listen to Robert’s outdated homilies on acting telling him brusquely to “shut-up” and when finally Robert lights John’s cigarette, their status is completely reversed. John is not unmoved by his one-time mentor’s anguish but he is on an upward trajectory and Robert in inevitable decline.
The sadness is balanced by the zaniness of the excerpts from the company’s repertoire. These scenes are played facing away from the audience who in a nicely authentic touch view them on backstage monitors. An enthusiastic Robert and John ham up the well-tried formulas for success: the soldiers-in-the trenches, the call to action on the Paris barricades, the two survivors at sea in a small boat. They are ably assisted in their craziness by a very busy stage technician whose attempts to create a wind-tossed French flag or wind-blown sea foam are absurdly overdone.
Finally, the decision to show the actors changing clothes between each of the many excerpts gave this performance a distinctive flavor. While it emphasises the notion that actors are people always playing other people, it also highlights the pressure that actors must work under. The intense effort they may make to learn lines, to be in character or several characters, to be on cue, to be ready, will seem fruitless if the audience is unresponsive or the critics pan their performance.
They are especially vulnerable, dependent for a sense of wellbeing on factors they cannot control. Yet, like Robert, they hold onto their uncomfortable course to the end led on by the brilliantly flashing star revealed as the curtains part and he looks into the darkness of the auditorium.
Altogether a well-executed production that provides an enjoyable and thoughtful night’s entertainment. Special congratulations on the stage design, a realistic backstage clutter showing the bare bones of the theatre and contrasting with the illusory world of performance. In addition, the window deserves a special mention for comical ingenuity.
