Someone Who'll Watch Over Me; Old Mill Theatre

Disclaimers first, I have good mates in this show. And I am completely untrained and unqualified to make any comment of any kind. That having been said...... Last night I saw Lawson Productions’ “Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me” at the Old Mill Theatre. This morning, I am still carrying it around with me. I’m not sure if the play affected just me so deeply or if everyone else in the audience felt the same way. The reaction from the audience at the final fade was mostly shock. Followed by hearty applause, which I am pretty sure would have demanded a second bow if it wasn’t for the intrusion of the house lights. Which is not to say the show is all doom and gloom. I actually laughed more than I have in ages in a theatre, proper hearty laughter. And there were some moments that were so hopeful and beautiful that they could restore your faith in humankind. To turn to specifics, the play its self is wonderful. I read it years ago and loved it, and I mentioned it to some drama students at uni yesterday and their eyes all lit up. And the story behind it is fascinating so make sure you read the program. The performances were uniformly amazing. I am one of those oversensitive audients who needs to feel safe in the hands of the actors or I just don’t enjoy the show, and no matter how silly the play got, or how moving, I felt completely safe, safe enough to get lost in the relationships on the stage. It is rare to get an entire cast which never misses a beat, especially when they spend the entire show on stage and particularly as it was opening night. The performances were completely assured, and attacked without a trace of vanity or ego. Without wanting to undermine the mercurial and earthy brilliance of Kingsley Judd or the incredibly layered and complex performance of Stephen Lee, I have to say that David Gregory’s performance is the one I can’t get out of my mind. I think the best word for it is devastating. He broke my heart. I stuck around afterwards to chat with some mates in the cast and crew, but I honestly spent most of the time trying not to burst into tears. There are moments, beautifully composed moments, of his performance that I’ll think about for a long time. It is the kind of role that just a shade less or a shade more and it would be ruined, and Dave was note perfect. His best. As for the direction, Peter is obviously a guy who brings out the best in his actors. The relationships were completely believable. The direction was assured, never boring, and completely engaging throughout a very long first act. The second act was much shorter but again, completely engaging (and hilarious). The pacing was very even, in fact a little too even. I thought there were some places where the pace could be picked up significantly and other places where it could have been slowed right down. There were one or two places where changes in mood were a little fuzzy, but that kind of thing can only really be perfected in front of an audience. Not being a techie I don’t have much idea about that side of things, but it all looked pretty good to me. The lighting design was very nice, although fooled me into a misinterpretation of the ending (probably more my fault than Josh’s). I go to the theatre to be entertained. But I also go to be educated intellectually and emotionally. The best shows are ones that open your mind to an event, a relationship or an experience, and also open your heart to a different side of human nature. This show does all that. It is fun, interesting, hilariously funny, deeply moving, beautifully performed and directed and just very very good. I think you should go and see it.