Review: SPLENDOUR at Kelvin Players Theatre, Bristol
I popped along to Kelvin Players Theatre on Tuesday 11th July to see their newest show, a production of Abi Morgan’s 2000 play, Splendour, a play in which nothing happens, a number of times, never precisely the same, and by gods is it fascinating to watch.
The premise is as follows:
“Four women are trapped together in a dictator's palace during a civil war in an unnamed eastern European country, united only by the missing tyrant himself.”
© All photographs copyright McPhersonPhotography
It’s a great choice of script, directed here by Jacqs Graham, compelling enough itself even without the particular spins that she and the production team have brought to it. I am put unavoidably in mind of Samuel Beckett (specifically of course Waiting for Godot) but naturally if Beckett weren’t a raging misogynist. It’s that same sense of isolation, pointless yet significant repetition, and the volumes that are spoken in the unspoken.
Graham’s specific mounting of the script is, I think, a triumph of performance and stagecraft. The effort and passion that have gone into this show are palpable the entire way through and all facets of this performance are deserving of applause. The technical aspects are marvellous. A purpose built in-the-round stage with built-in lights from underneath, as well as projections on the walls, build an intimate, engaging atmosphere right from the get-go. The manner in which the minimal set and projections are reset as the action itself resets only furthers this, meaning that, even though the same conversations play out time and time again, the plot and tension still move forward and build to an intense crescendo.
But of course, this show is principally marked by the performances from a superb cast, comprising Fiona McClure as Micheleine, the unseen dictator’s wife, Fiona Morrison as Genevieve, her best friend, Amy Quick as Kathryn, a foreign journalist, and Lydia Williams as Gilma, her interpreter. McClure’s performance is simply stunning, with many layers of depth but still suitably restrained enough as not to overshadow the rest of the cast. Morrison carries her character with a grounded subtle sadness. Quick gives her role a knife sharp frustration that aids in energising the piece, and Williams knows how to bring levity to a character and a scene, without sacrificing the integrity or dramatic weight.
Together, these performers create a quartet that is handily able to keep the rapt attention of the audience for 95 minutes. In combination with the direction, they sell us the world and scenario of the play effortlessly. Even though, naturally, all dialogue is rendered to us in English, there are points where it is clear, via dialogue, body language, and the way the actors play off each other, that certain characters cannot understand each other. Even though the audience ourselves hear no language barrier, we understand and believe that one is there.
There are some sound elements that are perhaps a tad artificial and border on breaking immersion but only in a very minor way, but that’s a matter of budgets and the tech they have access to. At the end of the day the Kelvin Players are an amateur theatre company after all, although you often wouldn’t think it from seeing this show.
All in all, a truly Splendid performance. One well worth seeing in the criminally short time it has left.
★★★★ and a half.
Tickets for Splendour can be purchased at www.kelvinplayers.co.uk/tickets.