Neil LaBute’s The Mercy Seat at York Theatre Royal, reviewed rather enthusiastically by Jessica Peace (@poetryinboots) …
I have the desire to simply write ‘GO AND SEE THIS’. I’d like to push you into the auditorium and lean myself against the door so you can’t leave. But then I remind myself of the content.
Terrorism, sexual positions, infidelity, female dominance, marriage, life, death, moral conscience … 90 minutes of this with no interval in an incredibly intimate space.
Potentially NOT your thing?
As the lighting dawned on the opening scene, without warning the entirety of my body filled with a heavy dread, for two reasons …
My god, I have to write about this and it may be crap.
Did she say strong sexual content? … I’ve brought my Mother as my plus one.
9/11; those two numbers read out consecutively will fill a person at very least with a dull sadness or remembrance. It may even annoy people. But the terrorist attack,although present, is not what the play centres on and this is the brilliance of the script… We are witness to two human beings unable to comprehend the madness around them and their guilt and excitement at the prospect using the 9/11 attack to the advantage of their affair. This play was apparently the first theatrical response to Twin Towers attack and last night I was grateful to the Theatre Royal for bravely choosing to stage this production.
Slightly slow start to the play I personally felt. But as I write that I question my impatience and the intention of the scene opening. The set was an un changing minimal New York loft apartment with the backdrop covered in ‘MISSING’ posters. This allowed for the focus to be gently steered back towards the masses of victims whilst watching Ben and Abby try to equate the thousands dead outside their apartment and debating the moral and sexual substance of their relationship.
Lesley Harcourt and Andrew Macklin were remarkable. The rapport between the two characters and individual characterisation from both actors was extraordinary, as was the direction of Ruby Clarke who managed to conduct a UK performance of a very naturalistic American play astonishingly well. Throwing roses on the stage for all of you.
The play is not performed on the main stage of the Theatre Royal but in their small studio. The studio is a slick space, similar to The Donmar if you are familiar with the West End, similar to watching a play in someone’s living room if you are not.
Words for LaBute’s writing … simple/glorious/dirty/divine. It’s been 24 hours and I’m still hearing Ben and Abby’s voices around my mind. So many thoughts provoked by his script.
Is any reaction to shock or grief questionable?
When are affairs justified?
Is it better to believe your Dad is dead than know him as a disappointment?
If you are an unmarried financially successful woman without children, are you deemed as less of a woman than a mother by society?
I must add this production is also incredibly funny. Essentially, what I’ve really derived from last night is that even if a tragedy is happening in front of us, as human beings unless we are directly involved it is hard accept the gravity of it. And often our immediate thought is of how the event has affected us. Perhaps this is survival.
The Mercy Seat, York Theatre Royal
Thu 06 Jun – Sat 15 Jun
Playwright/ Neil LaBute
Director/ Ruby Clarke
Design/ Morgan Large
Lighting/ Mike Redley
There are regular trains all night between York and Leeds. York does food and booze VERY well.
Absolutely terrific performances. Loved the play.