The essential instability of human relationships is well conveyed by the unsettling angles of the stage design. The action takes place upon a horizontal ramp representing various interior urban spaces, and the characters mostly enter and exit via concealed stairs. The effect of the characters, either descending, often in turmoil, or ascending, often expectantly, effectively invokes the emotional reverses of a small but complex human world – parents and children, Jewish and Baptist, white and black, heterosexual and homosexual, well-off and underprivileged.
The major conflict of the play is within the two younger characters, Charlotte (Contessa Treffone) and her childhood friend and confidante, African-American Jonny (Thuso Lekwape), who both struggle with their sexual orientation. In the opening sequence Charlotte both confesses her confusion over discovering she is attracted to a girl on campus and tries to seduce the unwilling Jonny. When she tipsily asks ‘Doesn’t it seem inevitable to you?’ Jonny dryly counters with ‘An inevitable way to ruin a friendship.’
While Baptist Jonny’s respectful restraint seems quite believable as Charlotte literally bares all, his continued reiteration of his celibacy eventually rings false, and when his secret is revealed it is hardly a surprise. Surprise is not the point. What is important is that his tangled emotions are threat to his own wellbeing and also a barrier to an honest friendship with Charlotte. In addition, Jonny’s eventual sharing of his conflicted feelings towards Charlotte’s well-meaning but unaware father (Nicholas Papademetriou) goes some way to maintaining what began as a valuable second-family relationship.
While at the close, it may seem that the future of both Charlotte and Jonny is assured, the rocky marital relationship of Charlotte’s parents might indicate that long life expectancy brings new challenges and tests. While Howard may find happiness (or just complacency) with mousey Carol, we are left wondering whether the more adventurous and likable Lucinda (Deborah Galanos) will find the renewal she seeks.
The lovely inverted tree, its roots in the sky, might suggest that there are not many certainties, for as symbol, the tree itself is both the tree of life, and of death, of knowledge and of ignorance. While the final scene takes place in a garden, at the same time, the Edenic moments of life are transitory, yet memory of past joy – the childhood friendship, Lucinda’s recollection of early marriage – allow forgiveness and sustain enduring affection.
Thoughtfully and delicately directed by Anthony Skuse and well supported by an imaginative creative team, the funny and troubling The Mystery of Love and Sex is good theatre entertainment.
