You may be attracted to it because of the fabulous actors Imogen Stubbs and Anna Carteret. But Anna Calder-Marshall and Roger Evans hold their own with ease, and if you go, expect to be very close to them indeed. Studio 2 is an intimate place, so close and personal, which is definitely how it will be for you - and them. Hamish Pirie, the director, has no intention to let you off easily. You will become part of this play, and however much elderly Americans who strayed into this second evening tried to avoid it by looking down, at the end they looked just as awed as the rest of us.
The play starts in a kind of dream world, and it's as if the two old twin sisters are mermaids dancing to a very different tune - a couple of blissful, blissed-out dancers, the lilting Welsh songs mesmerizing us. This idyll is broken by the visiting daughter (Imogen Stubbs) who is a wreck, pathetically anxious, a severe phobia plaguing her, hands enrobed in plastic gloves to fend off the polluting world.
When she tries to put order into this shambolic household, we witness that world crumbling and extremely pertinent questions become the issue. How do we deal with old age? With Alzheimer’s? What rights do people have to end their lives?
If you think this is too ghoulish or serious a way to spend an evening, think again. I don’t think I’ve giggled as much in the theatre for a while. Tim Price’s wondrous writing makes you see the absurdities so clearly, yet so poetically. This very humane exploration of important themes will be a runner without any doubt. It’s heart-warming to see a theatre take such a risk, but Londoners seem ready tackle difficult thoughts in these difficult times. The Donmar at the Trafalgar is a place to go if you want to think about these life and death issues. Just be sure to bring someone who wants to explore that path with you!
Salt, Root and Roe runs through 3 Dec 2011 at the Donmar Warehouse at Trafalgar Studios.
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A Price To Pay - The Inside Story Of The NatWest Three
