Road is a play by Jim Cartwright, featuring the nightlife of a derelict road in 1987 Lancashire. It is typically staged as a promenade whereby the audience follow the impromptu guide Scullery (Dan Wood) to the stage area, in this case the Drama Barn. The performance then goes on around and through the standing audience, giving a feeling of spontaneity and immersion. This was a high-stakes play choice; done right it is very impressive, but equally it is very easy to get it wrong.
The play was hugely top-heavy, with the first half running to ninety minutes and the second barely topping forty; this isn’t an ideal arrangement for any play, but in a performance where the first half is spent standing it is almost intolerable. This said, the play was very watchable – a quality facilitated by good acting – and as such was easier to forgive than it might have been.
The acting was of a consistently high quality, and did justice to a challenging and nuanced script. Stichomythic dialogues and immense monologues were each handled with impeccable pace and timing, highlighting as appropriate the linguistic and semantic convolutions of the script. Maddy Crowe in particular portrayed a wide range of characters, showing an incredible versatility- the characters portrayed by other actors were not always so easily distinguishable from one another, but this had no significant impact on the coherence of the play. Alcock was interesting to watch in his initial role, as a nostalgic old man; clearly, and to his credit, he had made the character his own. However, his use of facial expression was perplexing (he seemed often to be on the verge of laughter), and for me chipped away at what was otherwise one of the more affecting characters in the play.
In terms of production values, a number of challenges had obviously been faced- but in triumphing over them, the play really comes into its own. The performance made full use of the space, playing with levels, varying the tempo- lighting was simple, but managed to operate constantly throughout despite moving actors and moving audience. Costume changes were usually understated and always appropriate, drawing a line under certain characters whilst allowing an ambiguous continuity between others.
The introduction and interval in V-Bar were better in principle than in practice; the idea of a promenade is appealing, but really very little was done outside of the Barn. So saying, it did set the tone of the performance. I had suspected because of the play’s enigmatic strapline “Less of a play, more of an evening out” that this might be somewhat immersive theatre, and the introduction at least prepares you for what’s in store, just as the interval maintains it. The quality of improvisation was distinctly average, and became quite paltry in comparison with the scripted acting.
I have no qualms about recommending Road to anyone with any interest in theatre – although I would suggest that the performance is probably best enjoyed with a group of friends. It is experimental without being inaccessible, and also one of the highest quality pieces of student theatre I’ve seen.